Public Transportation

[DJS]

My wife was DX on May 5, 2012, and off Cytoxin by Jan 1 2013 and off Pred by March 1 2012.
She has been off all drugs starting around the first of August, because her white cell count was so low that the Azathioprine was too much.

She says now that she feels as good as she always was, and she is walking a couple of miles a day, and also biking some. Not bad for a 70 year old.

Problem now is that she feels so good that she wants a vacation in January to someplace warm. I told her that a cruise ship is out but she thinks flying would be ok. Any experience with this? I told her that I'm happy to drive but she doesn't like to sit that long.

To her a three hour flight and a rental car would be the clear deal. What do you think?

[Dirty Don]

If she's that far along in remission/recovery, then why not go? She should take along a mask, hand cleaner, tissues, etc. for comfort on the flight. Get as much rest as possible before and during. My pulmy (works on WG, Crohn's, and CS patients) told me not long ago that once we are in 'remission' we are the same as anyone else at risk for infections, etc. It's just that the fragile conditions of WG makes it difficult to fight off infections. A sudden infection of any proportion can be fatal if not dealt with immediately, and sometimes not even then. I've been traveling just a little...been driving tho...but been in and out of hotels (public exposure) and outside of being disproportionately tired at times, I'm OK...keep hands clean, etc. Best of luck...at least you two can think about traveling. I'm 'paranoid' about flying now anyway as that's where I was exposed to whatever 'lung' problem I started with and went off the edge with a WG dx 3 months later. Hehe!

[drz]

My wife was DX on May 5, 2012, and off Cytoxin by Jan 1 2013 and off Pred by March 1 2012.
She has been off all drugs starting around the first of August, because her white cell count was so low that the Azathioprine was too much.

She says now that she feels as good as she always was, and she is walking a couple of miles a day, and also biking some. Not bad for a 70 year old.

Problem now is that she feels so good that she wants a vacation in January to someplace warm. I told her that a cruise ship is out but she thinks flying would be ok. Any experience with this? I told her that I'm happy to drive but she doesn't like to sit that long.

To her a three hour flight and a rental car would be the clear deal. What do you think?

if her doctor thinks its OK, I would go for it. Maybe one of those package deals at a resort near good medical facilities. Get good trip insurance to cover emergency travel costs and care if needed and you should be OK. A short three or four day cruise might also be doable and safe enough since they do stop at ports where you could fly home if necessary.

[gilders]

I think I mentioned this in my New Member Intro, but the first time I flew was while I was still on high dose pred and aza. My family were going crazy about me flying to a fairly poor country without high quality health care (Dominican Republic).
So I think you can guess that I'd say a 3 hour flight should be fine.
I was 18 at the time and having come close to death, just wanted to make every day count. I'm now 36 and my health has got to a point where I don't take many risks, but in your wife's case I'd say go for it!

[Wegetarian]

Get good trip insurance to cover emergency travel costs and care if needed and you should be OK.

Will the insurance cover Weg related issues? To my knowledge they can be tricky if it involves a disease which was diagnosed before the travel started. I would be interested in hearing more, since its of course a concern for myself although I don't have any travels planned.

For any EU people here, there is a card called EHIC - European Health Insurance Card. I got it free of charge and it should guarantee health care in the EU for the same price as the people who live in the country would pay. (Sorry, I know its a bit off-topic but figured its good info for those it applies to).

[drz]

Will the insurance cover Weg related issues? To my knowledge they can be tricky if it involves a disease which was diagnosed before the travel started. I would be interested in hearing more, since its of course a concern for myself although I don't have any travels planned.

For any EU people here, there is a card called EHIC - European Health Insurance Card. I got it free of charge and it should guarantee health care in the EU for the same price as the people who live in the country would pay. (Sorry, I know its a bit off-topic but figured its good info for those it applies to).

Plans vary in benefits but those I have taken out in the past for expensive trips indicate they have no exclusions but they usually have to be purchased at time you book the trip. I currently have an emergency evacuation plan that will assist in getting me to where ever I need to be for whatever treatment i need. For example, if I had a serious accident at home and needed to be transported quickly to a distant faculty for some specialized treatment they would make the arrangements and cover all the costs. In one example that sort of sold me on the policy was spending a couple million to fly a guy out of Africa by air ambulance to his home in USA after a serious accident while on a trip. I figure it is worth the $10 month it costs for peace of mind.

I would need another policy to cover the actual costs of treatment if I travel out of the USA. In some places paying for medical care would be very expensive and a problem like in Japan where I heard a friend had to pay for her husbands care in cash only on a daily basis. Other places would be no strain. On one trip I was on, a lady in our group broke her hip in Norway and only paid a couple dollars for a newspaper that she got when in the hospital. So pick your destination carefully.

[gilders]

For people in the UK, insurance is what restricts people with illness from travelling. We are not covered for any pre-existing conditions unless a special policy is purchased where you declare your illness. This means that you can have premiums over a thousand pounds and the excess can also be over a thousand pounds.
Then there are cases like mine where if I disclose all my illness' then I am unable to get cover. I usually pick my 3 main problems, W.G., renal failure and heart failure. If I were to include haemochromatosis, high cholesterol, hypretension, osteoporosis, neuropathy, morton's neuroma, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, seizures (these are just some of my conditions), then I can not find cover. You also have to disclose previous illness' as well.
If you try to make a claim they will scoured your medical history until they try and find a connection to an illness you have, or had, so they don't have to pay out.
The worst case I heard was for somebody who had a test for something (I forget what) when he was a child, the results was NEGATIVE, but years late as an adult his claim got rejected due to a negative test when he was a child. I don't know if he got it sorted out in the end, but he would have still been in a great deal of debt while he was waiting for it to be sorted out.

As Wegetarian mentioned there is an EHIC card for European residents to receive medical at the rate that locals in that country would pay. In many countries this is free. BUT over the last year or two tourist in Spain have been denied this treatment and told they have to go private. This is completely against EU rules and it is being looked into, but when you need hospital treatment you're not in a state where you can argue it out and just have to go along with where they send you.

[Wegetarian]

We are not covered for any pre-existing conditions

This is what worries me the most. I mean there are such a ton of symptoms and things that could be related to Weg, so how on earth can we even prove that something isn't related. Sigh.

[mishb]

I travelled twice - once to Fiji when just diagnosed and awaiting first rheumatology appointment and then last December to USA.
I am not in remission, and with my doctors permission, was able to travel the 15 hours to USA without a problem.
I have mentioned before that I used a mask on the flights and also sanitiser etc. Also between my mum and I, we took a complete medical kit, which also included a fold up walking stick, should I have needed one. The kit included the usual, bandaids, bandages, panadol, sick bags. It also included medicine for Gastro issues, medicine for constipation issues, cold and flu tablets, cough mixture etc.........and I didn't need any of it.

I was able to get Travel Insurance for WG and RA for about $70 extra.

DJS, I don't see the travel as a problem for your wife, especially if the flight is only a couple of hours long.
I made sure that I was aware of where a hospital was - should I have needed one of those also.

Gilders, Great Lakes UK do a travel insurance package that would cover you for a few of those things (I know the one in Australia does).

If you travel within your own Country then you wouldn't need the Insurance for your health conditions anyway - would you?

[drz]

The cost can be a big issue if you get sick away from home but access to good and quick care would be the main concern. Many places in our own country don't have the expertise to treat Wegs so it might be extremely risky to try get adequate treatment in a foreign country where they had no idea of your medical history even if you had full insurance coverage to cover the treatment costs. Unless you need an air ambulance with a special duty nurse and lot of IV tubes in you, you should be able to get home from almost any place in a few hours at most. Basic trip insurance to cover the lost trip and evacuation back home may be the most important and likely insurance to get used while traveling. I got 90% of my trip cost back for a trip I that I had booked months before I decided to go spend several months in a hospital instead of seeing the polar bears in northern Norway. Insurance for travel expenses and lost trip expenses are also likely to cost a great deal less than those for full medical care abroad.

[gilders]

Unless you need an air ambulance with a special duty nurse and lot of IV tubes in you, you should be able to get home from almost any place in a few hours at most.
Insurance for travel expenses and lost trip expenses are also likely to cost a great deal less than those for full medical care abroad.

As far as having my WG flare/relapse, then I would have enough time to get myself home for treatment. But if I was to have an accident, this is where I'd need full medical cover AND if I don't declare ALL illnesses I wouldn't be covered on the policy.
An example,
I fall down some steps and break a bone (or even worse my skull)
My claim would probably be turned down for a couple of reasons. The insurance company could check my medical records and say I'm not covered because I have previously passed out, had seizures, get dizzy, etc and any of these could have contributed to my fall.
Secondly they could say that the fact that I have osteoporisis is why my bone/skull broke, so I'm not covered again.

In the above situation I couldn't make my own way home for treatment and would have to pay for it out of pocket.

[malin]

I live in the UK but am from Sweden and I fly back home quite regularly. I just take extra precautions like someone already mentioned.
I use a face mask, a nasal spray that helps "fight" off airborne stuff, hand sanitizer with a low alcohol content (if its too high/flammable you are not allowed it past security) and also, if you are using a mask, don't forget to take a straw! then if you want a drink you don't need to take the mask off.

If you feel self-concious about using the mask (I do!) then bring a lightweight scarf to wrap around you or put over your head. I usually have a "snood" and use this to cover my head, also helps if you want to have a sleep as you can pull it over your face! Haha :)

[pberggren1]

Nice to see you again Malin. I hope you are doing well.