CELLULITIS + FLYING :COULD I BE GROUNDED?

Moogie! That is so sad, and maddening, and plain horrible! And 13 hours on a train with cellulitis is not anybody's idea of a fun trip either. Awfully glad you had the Keflex with you -- is the infection improving? How in the world are you?

I have to fly wrapped. No way around it. Gives the TSA people a good scare and confuses the heck out of them, so I have to give myself plenty of time to process through those minions of anti-terror safety. Or whatever. The upside is I never have to deal with my luggage because one look at me and people are always willing to help. Dubious privilege, but there you go. Take what you can get.

Shoot, moogie, I live in a big valley and can't drive more than an hour in any direction without a significant altitude change, so I have to wrap for car trips.

At any rate, always a good idea to tote all the wrapping gear along whenever you're away from home, even just overnight. It allows for handling even minor emergencies, much less something of this magnitude.

So -- no, not grounded. You'll fly again, but wrapped. This is doable, honest!

Please take care of you: drink plenty of water, elevate, rest, eat brownies.  How can we help?

Hugs, prayers,
Binney

Moogie, I never tried to fly without wrapping. I once drove out of the Valley without wrapping and my arm hurt so bad, it was just scary (and incredibly frustrating). Fortunately I'd packed the bandages along so we stopped and wrapped, but after that I knew I'd never try flying without it.

When I've remainned at an altitude it's adjusted, but we're only talking about 7500 feet. I'm conservative about it, though, and spend the first day and night wrapped and switch to garments the next day. Whatever works.

Glad you're getting better! Be well, and keep us posted,
Binney

Moogie, you should get a refund for the flight home, yes? With a letter from your doctor? Worth a try anyhow.

Hope you're feeling even better today. Rest up!
Binney

Moogie,

 You seem to be living one of my nightmares.  I am so sorry.  Hang in there.  

Sue 

Moogie, my LE therapist used to work with Robert Lerner MD, the pioneer of LE treatment in the US, and he had this three day rule--any insult to the arm, and you got three days of antibiotics.

I would think that you'd consider taking keflex the day before travel in the future, to get good blood levels for the flight.

I used to get instant sinus infections with flying--it's a long story, but after 5 surgeries, I discovered low dose macrolides (azithryomycin, erythromcyin, biaxin) for chronic sinusitis, and my ENT thought it was a great idea, and it has been. Knock on wood.

The most recent LymphLinks was all about cellulitis (newsletter from the NLN) and there was a specific article on prophylactic antibiotics by Paula Stewart--a patient with monthly episodes who settled right down on prophylactic antibiotics.

Smart move to have the keflex in your purse. Feel better.

Kira

Lynn, it has precipitated LE in some women, there is controversy about compression sleeves for flying if used for prevention, but it seems wise to have one--and a gauntlet, so fluid doesn't get pushed into the hand. Some LE therapists will have patients wear a low compression sleeve--15-20mm, only made by Jobst (which comes small, medium, large and fits a large variety of arms), paired with a higher compression gauntlet, 20-30mm

Here is the NLN paper on compression and flying:

http://www.lymphnet.org/pdfDocs/nlnairtravel.pdf 

And here is a great article by Andrea Cheville MD of Mayo Clinic of why you'd wear hand protection with a sleeve--it's on the lymphadiva site:

http://lymphedivas.com/lymphedema/gauntletandsleeve/ 

If you can't get good fitting compression before your flight, be sure to drink a lot of water, and frequently raise your hand over your head and close your fist to pump the fluid out.

Have a good trip

Kira 

bump for rianne: I'm glad you flew without problems, but please know that your experience is not universal and if you get LE from flying, it's an incurable disease.

Please read the NLN position paper on flying and remember that in the NYU study, Jane/onebadboob was the 180th or so woman who had gotten LE from flying.

Women need to understand their risks and then make the decision that best benefits them. 

http://www.lymphnet.org/lymphedemaFAQs/positionPapers.htm

Kira