Hello, I’m a newbie and hoping that someone has some experience of what we need to know and ask that they advise.
My husband (age 58) was diagnosed with PD just over a year ago although he had been showing and ignoring symptoms for several years. He is working and has fortunately got a job that allows him to be up and down which helps his mobility. He works 12 hour shifts 4 days a week. He finds walking difficult although he manages to hide that at work as he only has to walk short distances but it means he is pretty exhausted on working days and basically takes a day to recover. He has difficulty dressing and showering and stiffens up if he doesn’t keep moving. I’m telling you this so that you have an idea of where he is at strength and mobility-wise.
My question is about long distance travel. For family reasons we need to fly to Australia and my question relates to whether to fly direct of have a stop-over. We appreciate we can request assistance on the ground and will do. We had pretty much decided to fly direct even though it will cost more. Reasons being as follows: Flight will be about 23 hours but it will only be one boarding and one landing to deal with. Our thoughts were that a stop-over would involve disembarking and boarding a second time as well as time spent sitting around without actually being able to properly relax. In addition there is the concern about medications if there is a problem and we get stuck in a country where gabapentin or co-codamol are illegal (in transit isn’t allowed but what if something delays us there?). Now someone has put doubt into our minds and we are in a quandary as what we should do. This person is younger (in their 40s with no mobility problems) but has commented that a straight 23 hour flight is horrendous and they would always have a stop-over. It would be invaluable to have comments from those who have more experience than we do. If you have managed to get this far reading this, thank you. Any advice or comments will be gratefully received.
Hello Suzi … I am 70 years old & have Parkinson’s. I was diagnosed in June last year after a positive datscan. I retired from a travel business 18 years ago & have been on many long haul flights. For the past 10 years I have been spending 6 months in
Florida . In my working life I had many trips to Australia & NZ.
Although recently diagnosed I have had “gait freezing” problems for a number of years not realising what it was. So when booking my flights I also booked as disabled & had someone push me in a wheelchair in the UK & US. This is a tremendous help as I cannot queue as I cannot stand for more than about 2-3 minutes. So do tell the airline when booking. It doesn’t cost but I always gave $5 - £5 to the wheelchair gent or lady.
My personal choice would be to fly direct as I would find it far less tiring.
As for medication I am on a number of drugs. I have always had them in my cabin bag & never questioned. I would take old prescriptions & maybe diagnosis letters.
Maybe tell the airline your husband has Parkinson’s & ask for more leg room.
Thanks Steve, I appreciate your reply. Both husband and myself have done a lot of long distance travelling but not for the last couple of decades and not with disability. I will request assistance as you suggest as I really don’t think he would manage the walk and queuing. Nice advice about the tipping.
I’m glad to hear about your choice to fly direct … it reinforces what we are thinking but had begun to wonder about due to other’s ideas. We spoke to the physio yesterday and she was positive. We will take prescription and letter from specialist nurse or specialist as proof of need. I don’t believe Australia is a problem for the medications … it would be more if we were to disembark on a stop that a problem may occur. A direct flight would negate the latter. Thank you for your good wishes. Suzipoo
Taking my partner on long flights has been smoother lately because we try to book seats with extra legroom and plan plenty of breaks at the airport. I found bookinglane.com useful for checking flight options that include accessibility info and easier layouts. Also made sure we booked wheelchair assistance in advance, which saved loads of stress at boarding and security. Keeping meds in hand luggage helps too, just in case.
Thanks Eclipsion. We have booked extra legroom and also assistance for the airport. We are flying direct to Perth with a 3 hour stopover there before onward to Melbourne. That way we have the long journey first and avoid stopover in any countries that medication may be difficult if there is a problem. We have booked the night before our flight beside Heathrow so that we should be fresh to deal with the longest part of the journey. Definitely keeping important stuff in hand luggage as always! Will look at bookinglane.com. Thanks again.