Re: Traveling by Airplane

[Guest guest]

Gosh Ginny, what a nightmare! You must have been paralyzed with fear.

I just don't fly anymore. Tried to put a flight/cruise together and couldn't afford all the extra charges for O2 so didn't go.

MamaSher; 70, IPF 3-06, OR. NasturtiumsDon't fret about tomorrow, God is already there!

Traveling by Airplane

I had the worse experience on my flight from my hometown of Richmond, VA to visit my daughter in Arizona two weeks ago. Was on the airplane for about 2 hours when my oxygen saturation dropped down to 81. (I had brought my oximeter). I told my other daughter who was flying with me to get me some help. She called the stewardess over and told her I needed oxygen immediately. The stewardess looked at us and said she could not give me any oxygen as the bottles they had were only for the pilots. By then my fingers were tingling from lack of oxygen. I started crying and begging for oxygen. Again she said she was sorry but the rules could not be changed. My daughter asked her how long before we landed in Arizona and she said another two hours. Then the stewardess said, "Don't worry, if she passes out, we are trained to give CPR." My daughter stood up and said, "Get my mother oxygen NOW or you'll have a dead body on your plane!" The stewardess said she would have to go talk to the pilot. A couple of minutes went by (I thought I was actually dying) when we heard over the loudspeaker, "Is there a doctor on board? Or a nurse? Or an EMT?" And just two rows ahead of me a man stands up and walks over to me and said he was a doctor. He immediately tells the stewardess that I need oxygen NOW!So to make a very long story short, I get my oxygen and am sitting here typing to all of you. I've been on home oxygen nightly for over 3 years. I'd flown the year before and didn't have any problems with breathing. When my daughter in Arizona picked us up she had my oxygen bottles as whenever I travel I always have oxygen delivered in advance. To fly home I had to rent the oxygen concentrator that operates on batteries and fits under the airplane seat. It cost $300.00 for it, big expense for me. Well enough of this story. Anyone else who had an experience like this? Thanks for listening. Ginny

[Guest guest]

Ginny,

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Am I understanding correctly though? You were flying without oxygen even though you use it at home? Or do you just use it at night? Next time before you take that kind of trip I would highly recommend discussing it with your doctor. He would probably have suggested you might need oxygen on the plane. One thing to remember about flying, commercial aircraft are pressurized to about 8000 feet. That means that there is significantly less oxygen in the air around you and someone like you or like me will definitely need oxygen to be able to fly safely.

In the future you can either use a portable concentrator again (sometimes our O2 companies will provide them for a trip as part of their regular service) or some airlines will provide oxygen at a cost of $100 per flight segment.

I'm glad you got where you were going safely and that there was someone on the plane who was able to make the flight attendant understand the seriousness of your situation.

Beth

Moderator

Fibrotic NSIP 06/06 Dermatomyositis 11/08

To: Breathe-Support Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:07:09 PMSubject: Traveling by Airplane

I had the worse experience on my flight from my hometown of Richmond, VA to visit my daughter in Arizona two weeks ago. Was on the airplane for about 2 hours when my oxygen saturation dropped down to 81. (I had brought my oximeter). I told my other daughter who was flying with me to get me some help. She called the stewardess over and told her I needed oxygen immediately. The stewardess looked at us and said she could not give me any oxygen as the bottles they had were only for the pilots. By then my fingers were tingling from lack of oxygen. I started crying and begging for oxygen. Again she said she was sorry but the rules could not be changed. My daughter asked her how long before we landed in Arizona and she said another two hours. Then the stewardess said, "Don't worry, if she passes out, we are trained to give CPR." My daughter stood up and said, "Get my mother oxygen NOW or you'll have a dead body on your plane!" The stewardess said she would

have to go talk to the pilot. A couple of minutes went by (I thought I was actually dying) when we heard over the loudspeaker, "Is there a doctor on board? Or a nurse? Or an EMT?" And just two rows ahead of me a man stands up and walks over to me and said he was a doctor. He immediately tells the stewardess that I need oxygen NOW!So to make a very long story short, I get my oxygen and am sitting here typing to all of you. I've been on home oxygen nightly for over 3 years. I'd flown the year before and didn't have any problems with breathing. When my daughter in Arizona picked us up she had my oxygen bottles as whenever I travel I always have oxygen delivered in advance. To fly home I had to rent the oxygen concentrator that operates on batteries and fits under the airplane seat. It cost $300.00 for it, big expense for me. Well enough of this story. Anyone else who had an experience like this? Thanks for listening. Ginny

[Guest guest]

We usually drive and fill up the back of our Jeep with my liquid oxygen tanks

and lots of the green tanks too. We know ahead of time where other branches of

my oxygen company are and make it part of the trip to go by the offices and

re-fill the containers or change out the empty green tanks. Of course even at

that, we have to schedule with those offices to ensure someone is there that can

fill my liquid oxygen tanks.

When we do fly, (I am on six-seven liters of O2), a month ahead we contact the

airline, who sends their forms to my Pulmonologist and gets his/her orders faxed

to them. Then they call and confirm all my oxygen needs on flight. It is

always $100 per leg of the flight, which is crazy to me. Even if someone is

only on O2 at night, please get your doctor and airline together so you will

have oxygen available to you. The air is thinner and you will need it during

the flight. Always take your pulse oximeter with you too so you know the real

story! I am able to borrow an Inogen, which most airlines allow now on board

(portable concentrator), however it only goes up to five liters so it isn't

enough for me anymore. That may be an answer to some also...

You know we each learn by doing, or in our case, we can learn by asking everyone

on this Board for their experiences/opinions too :)Thank goodness there was a

doctor on this one flight and you are ok....that was an awful experience for you

to go through and frightening to say the least:( I haven't had a trip yet where

there wasn't some hiccup along the way, that's why we can't plan too much when

it comes to our oxygen needs! Jan O.

> >

> > I had the worse experience on my flight from my hometown of Richmond, VA to

visit my daughter in Arizona two weeks ago. Was on the airplane for about 2

hours when my oxygen saturation dropped down to 81. (I had brought my oximeter).

I told my other daughter who was flying with me to get me some help. She called

the stewardess over and told her I needed oxygen immediately. The stewardess

looked at us and said she could not give me any oxygen as the bottles they had

were only for the pilots. By then my fingers were tingling from lack of oxygen.

I started crying and begging for oxygen. Again she said she was sorry but the

rules could not be changed. My daughter asked her how long before we landed in

Arizona and she said another two hours. Then the stewardess said, " Don't worry,

if she passes out, we are trained to give CPR. " My daughter stood up and said,

" Get my mother oxygen NOW or you'll have a dead body on your plane! " The

stewardess said she would have to go talk to the pilot. A couple of minutes

went by (I thought I was actually dying) when we heard over the loudspeaker, " Is

there a doctor on board? Or a nurse? Or an EMT? " And just two rows ahead of

me a man stands up and walks over to me and said he was a doctor. He

immediately tells the stewardess that I need oxygen NOW!

> >

> > So to make a very long story short, I get my oxygen and am sitting here

typing to all of you. I've been on home oxygen nightly for over 3 years. I'd

flown the year before and didn't have any problems with breathing. When my

daughter in Arizona picked us up she had my oxygen bottles as whenever I travel

I always have oxygen delivered in advance.

> >

> > To fly home I had to rent the oxygen concentrator that operates on batteries

and fits under the airplane seat. It cost $300.00 for it, big expense for me.

Well enough of this story. Anyone else who had an experience like this? Thanks

for listening. Ginny

> >

>