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ivig and travel


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for those of you who's children have had ivig, but had to travel to get there, how did you do it?

it would be a 2 day drive (taking in account stops and such) or a 2 hr plane, and i dont know which would be better.

can a child even fly after ivig, or is it not recommended?

i cant imagine traveling if she is sick from the procedure, so i was hoping to get some insight from those of you who have done it.

 

thanks,

dan

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Hi Dan,

 

Many of our children have had to travel post treatment. We flew home the evening of day 2 and the "massive headache and nausea" came in the air, right on cue. The docs can prepare you for this and give you a plan. Dr. K armed us with two doses of prednisone for the trip home (which is good bcs I dropped one in between the plane seats :huh: )

Itdepends on how you look at it and who will be going. It was just my dd and myself alone. She felt TERRIBLE on the plane, but all I had to do was tend to her, I wasn't driving;having to worry about the road and my child. Our flight was very crowded and I didn't get much sympathy from the crew, but I did advocate for us. When boarding, I told the gate attendant I had a child with special needs who had a medical procedure and I needed to board early, so we got on right after first class (do it, don't be a martyr!) Planes are very noisy and noone heard of noticed her moaning or thrashing except the man sitting next to us who was very understanding. When we reached our destination, I told the flight attendant to have a wheelchair waiting for us at the gate which is a must do!!! They were happy to wheel her out so I could just worry baout carrying our belongings.

It is definitely doable! Just don't be afraid to speak up and get a little help when needed.

jill

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You definitely want to plan this ahead. My dh and pandas son had a layover in Atlanta when my son got a headache and started laying across the seats. My son cannot ignore any symptom he has and will lay down or sit down anywhere. Some airport staff member singled him out and tried to keep him off the plane. The H1N1 flu has probably caused some changes in airport procedures. My husband had to argue with them and they let him fly. He said it was very emotional. Definitely plan this ahead and carry documentation.

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Depending on where your treatment is taking place, your child might have a "hospital bracelet" on which might help.

Poor bubby and with a layover! We got stuck on the tarmak cause Obama was coming home to Chicago for Memorial Day Weekend and one entire side of the airport needs to be cleared for Air Force One to land.... c'mon, is that really necessary :huh: ?

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Dr K is ok with flying the same afternoon after IVIG. He says "thats fine. Been there done that" LOL. He is so practical. However I was in touch with a few moms prior and heard mixed stories about side effects. Plus with the airline delays etc, we decided to arrive in Chicago two days prior and stay 2 days after IVIG just so Dr K is handy and we're over the immediate side effects. It was a wise move as DS8 did get headaches, vomitting etc 12 hours after IVIG and was better 24 hours after so at 40 hours post we travelled fine. He was herxing/flipping the pages with old tics coming back from 4 to 5 years ago but overall enjoying his TV show on the plane ride back so it was ok.

Jodie

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I can't say enough about how glad I am that Dr. B gave my dd prednisone prophylactially to prevent a headache. She had NO symptoms whatsoever until the second day after the IVIG and then it was only a headache that went away with Advil. She had 40mg each day of the ivig and then 30 the following day, the 20 the day after that. It was on the 20 day that she got her first headache. She got a head ache each day after that until day 6, so I know the prednisone helped. Advil took care of those headaches for the most part.

Angela

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for those of you who's children have had ivig, but had to travel to get there, how did you do it?

it would be a 2 day drive (taking in account stops and such) or a 2 hr plane, and i dont know which would be better.

can a child even fly after ivig, or is it not recommended?

i cant imagine traveling if she is sick from the procedure, so i was hoping to get some insight from those of you who have done it.

 

thanks,

dan

If you can...

go a couple of day's early and try to stay a couple of day's after so you can have Dr.k there

with just a phone call away. and rent a GPS if you rent a car it is a must

Our dd wasn't that bad as long as I was with her,she did great on the plane and she didn't understand

eveything that was going on,we just told her that we were going to go and get special meds for her to make her feel better

my husband was more freeked out on the plane than she was :huh:

Anyway yes he will not feel good after the treatments our dd felt fine a couple of day's later so we are glad we stayed over a couple of day's.

As for the Hotel we stayed at the Holiday Inn it was nice and it is only 5 minutes away from the surgical center,and it had room service I am not a fan of room service because it is expensive BUT you will be in no mood to go out and eat something

and bring something to do!!! while the ivig is going.. laptop,dvd player with movies ,books, games,and snacks,you can go out and get something for lunch and bring it back in.

I hope this helped

pm us if you need more info

Tracie&Doug

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