Air Travel Advice Needed

AdyChicago

Hi everyone,

My mom had breast cancer lumpectomy and radiation last year. She had 15 axillary nodes removed. She already has breast lymphedema and is at high risk for arm lymphedema. She is traveling for the first time since her cancer treatment. I need advice about air travel.

I want to know if A) one 8 hours long flight is better for her than 2 flights - 3hrs and 6hrs long (with rest for 1 day between her flights).

I have read the air travel article on lymphedemablog.com. It's a great article but I am still not clear about which option is better. Is it important to keep the flight duration short and take more flights or is it better to take fewer longer flights ? Thank you and best wishes to all of you.

hugz4u

No air expert here but for me I would break up the flight and make sure she has a compression tee on. She should ask her therapist if maybe she needs compression sleeves and gauntlet or glove even though she doesn't have arm Le.the whole side can be affected.

Put le gear on about a hour or so before flight and keep on hour or two after flight. Drink tons of water. Walk around a lot. Belly breath frequently. Stick affected side arm straight up in air and pump every so often 25 times slowly. Even though she doesn't have arm le this will help move staging fluid up the arm and help prevent it from building.

Stay away from salty meals. Pak your own. Pitless avocado on rice cakes. And protein nuts without salt hold you down for three plus hours. Salads with quinoa is great protein and keeps you full.

MinusTwo

I have breast & truncal and always wear sleeves & gauntlets for flying, in addition to a compression top/vest/tee. I'm trying to keep progression at bay. If it's not too inconvenient, yes I would split up the flights. I recently did some car travel and my LE therapist said to stop, walk around & stretch at least every two hours. All of hugzs other tips are spot on.

tsoebbin

Boarding my plane in a few minutes. Sleeves, gauntlets, compression cami have been on for an hour.

Lots of water and walking today but I'm a bit puffy this week.

Looking forward to our trip and trying not to stress/worry!!

Hopefully I'll check in with a very positive travel report soon!

Traci

ksusan

Travel well, Traci.

ChiSandy

Splitting up the flights over two days also helps combat jet lag. Good call on BYO food—airline food (whether economy, biz or first class) is salty as hell because taste buds lose sensitivity at altitude. I am amazed that airlines worry more about their food being too bland than about putting their passengers at risk for not just LE but garden-variety peripheral edema and DVT. After my last 10-hr. flight (Premium Economy) from Rome—during which I ate salty stuff, drank prosecco, and then slept--I gained 9 lbs. of water weight, could barely fit my sandals on my feet, and my toes looked like little Vienna cocktail weenies. Took 2 days of Lasix and elevating my legs to lose all that water…and then some. Going to London this Sunday—opted for Premium Economy because the lie-flat beds in Business can keep you from moving enough to prevent DVT. (My DH, a cardiologist, swears that’s what killed Carrie Fisher—she was either in First or Business Class and when she had what passengers described as a “heart attack” it was probably a pulmonary embolism from DVT).

Your mom should move around as much as the flight attendants will allow. She shouldn’t be afraid to “play the cancer card” should it come to that.