Flying Post-stroke
Flying…mmm… where do I start? I suppose in the words of Maria Von Trapp, “Let’s start at the beginning; A very good place to start.” Pre stroke I hated flying due to the intense motion sickness I suffered from and for which I had seen a neurologist about. My motion sickness was something I experienced daily as it was bought on by my own driving, movies, advertisements, computer games and so the list continues. Interestingly, my stroke, which occurred in the cerebellum and that I had in 2013, has alleviated a lot of that.
When my husband and I decided to take our first holiday post stroke I was filled with trepidation as I contemplated the logistics of flying and being away from the safety net of home and familiarity. I also felt quite anxious about wanting everything planned so I knew exactly what was going on.
That first flight was a bit of an eye-opener for us but we now know what to expect and plan accordingly. That flight resulted in me stepping out of the toilet to the worried faces of four flight crew waiting for me, a check with my husband, Nick, that medical assistance wasn’t required and then constant checking for the rest of the flight. On that flight we discovered that flying brings on the same effects as sensory overload, namely my speech, cognition and walking are all adversely affected and left side neglect can occur.
My last flight was a bit of a hike from our seat to the toilets and I was quite badly affected so my trip to the toilets was a very slow shuffle, with Nick walking backwards as he helped with my balance. As we did this a queue accumulated around the toilets as no one was able to walk past us. Obviously I felt like quite a spectacle as all eyes were on us. Once back in our seats the chief steward came and told us to use the first class toilets as they were much closer. Unfortunately this was a small plane so my expectations of beautiful soaps etcetera were dashed as the first class toilets were no different to economy :) Due to disembarkment taking place on the tarmac a portable lift was brought up to plane to get me off.
When booking flights we now request special assistance and at check in always double check that there will be a wheelchair available for dis-boarding. This has always been met with a look of disbelief as I am quite able bodied at this time but once the motion of the reverberating engines begins so starts my decline and dependence on others for assistance. For overseas flights we now know it needs to be noted that Nick needs to stay with me. We hadn’t done this and at both Dubai and Gatwick they weren’t going to let him travel through the airport with me; luckily some compassion was shown when they saw me struggling to communicate. I also get a letter from my doctor stating I have had a stroke, the medications I am taking and that I am cleared for flying. Despite this letter the supervisor at the check in desk at Dublin nearly made me get clearance from the airport doctor but that may have been because she was training someone.
There is a positive to all this happening; on every flight I have shared my stroke story with the flight crew and on each occasion I hear, “I didn’t know stroke could affect people this way.” They’re even more amazed when I tell them that generally within an hour of getting off the plane the majority of the deficits they have observed will have resolved.
about 11 km into a 13 km/ 5 hour hike at Nitmiluk NP. By this stage I was getting exhausted and suggested that may be we should call an uber :)