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Ten Travel Tips for the Sick and Tired
Thu, 08/11/2011 - 5:15pm
Whether traveling for fun or for business, getting ready for a trip is often half the battle. But, if you happen to suffer from chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, asthma, or cancer, you might use up your energy resources even before you leave the house. Planning ahead is a good idea for any traveler, but it’s absolutely essential for those who are sick or live with chronic conditions. Spending the time now to plan will save you from frustration later. These ten tips will jump-start your travel success: 1) Make a list of medications/supplements/medical supplies/foods you’ll need while you’re gone. Having required medications and a healthy snack ready-to-go is invaluable for those unexpected travel delays. (Don’t skip list making even if foggy-thinking isn’t one of your symptoms.) 2) Make a list of “before we go” to-do’s needed around the house (i.e. turn off/on automatic watering systems, put mail/newspaper on vacation hold, leave extra key for house/dog sitter, toss leftovers in the fridge, secure windows/doors, etc.). 3) Make a list of clothing to pack (looking at items on paper helps to organize and coordinate outfits maximizing the use of your luggage). 4) Plan ahead for personal accommodations necessary for air travel. Book bulkhead or exit row seating for extra room. Call airlines, if applicable, to verify that your needed medical supplies may travel as carry on items. (You DON’T want to learn what’s acceptable and what’s not as you go through airport security.) 5) Drink water. Being properly hydrated helps to improve pain levels, memory, digestion, and fatigue, so start your trip off right. Drink plenty of water and, if applicable, bring it with you as you travel. 6) Include rest/relaxation opportunities on your travel agenda. PLAN to take frequent breaks to stretch, breathe, walk, or exercise. 7) Consider breaking longer trips into shorter segments. For instance, a one or two night stay in New York City makes a nice break when traveling to Europe from the west coast. 9) If luggage space isn’t at a premium, bring along your favorite pillows, neck rolls, heating pads, and blankets to make travel away seem like home. 10) Above all, be kind to yourself. Be patient as you enjoy new and unfamiliar surroundings. Setting your health as a priority will assure you’ve begun with your best foot forward. Happy trails!
Travel is stressful.
This should be obvious, but pack comfortable shoes and clothing. Also, even in the summer, pack scarves, jackets, etc. for that too-chilly airplane, museum, or restaurant.
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Sue Ingebretson is finding herself a successful leader in her latest career as a health educator and advocate resulting from her experience as a person who has found her way to determining and managing chronic illness. Her exceptional book "FibroWHYalgia: Why Rebuilding the Ten Root Causes of Chronic Illness Restores Chronic Wellness" is available on Amazon.com as well as other locations. She is developing many helpful tools with the collaboration of leading programs in California and is an invited and welcome contributor here at Lumigrate.com. Her website is: www.rebuildingwellness.com.
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e-mailThis forum is provided to allow members of Lumigrate to share information and ideas. Any recommendations made by forum members regarding medical treatments, medications, or procedures are not endorsed by Lumigrate or practitioners who serve as Lumigrate's medical experts.
This is GRATE, Sue! Thank you so much for contributing it to Lumigrate. I believe it's appropriate for the functional/occupational therapy forum due to this really being about functional adaptations. "Compensatory Techniques" and "Energy Conservation", "Activity Modification" are all the fancy words academia and insurance companies taught us to use in our documentation and billing, all of which are represented in this wonderful piece.
You'd have made a wonderful OT, I have no doubts. Fortunately for us you're a wonderful writer and educator and learned as much from the school of life as well!
I'd like to add something to the list, since I live in Colorado and today the first snow fell on one of the passes I heard from someone who lives here in Grand Junction but travels for her work.
FLEX when you're going to do things so you're more apt to not have your travel time extended due to bad roads and runways. Snow and ice as well as volume of cars have hampered my travels at Christmas in the past 5-10 years. Why NOT do Christmas in July? American Furniture Warehouse does it! The answer to that is 'tradition', but it is an opportunity to at least consider starting NEW traditions.
Perhaps I was fortunately liberated by my family's all being public school teachers or retired and we flexed birthdays all over the place. Mine was usually celebrated in June after school got out or at spring break as it falls in April.
My other biggest tip for travel has to do with my 'BGF' -- that stands for Best Gel Friend.
Elsewhere in the Lumigrate forums (Products section - Mardy's favorite things), I talk about my favorite gel cushion. I'll put the link below for people to follow along to that piece and then out to find a resource to purchase it from if they're interested. The thing's been in my car holding up well for many many years. I affectionately call it the "Slab o' Gel", but it's formally known as the AliMed Gel Cushion. It has a price tag that makes people hesitate but this is how I'm going to break that down for people. $150.00/10 years = $15/year. That's $1.25/month. And this is the deluxomundo version of gel cushion, there are others that are good for $50. I realize I'm opening myself up for all kinds of ridicule, but my butt can tell the difference between an AliMed Gel Cushion at $150 and the others. (And it is the type of gel that won't get brittle with heat so you can leave it in the car.)
The thing looks and feels brand new. I thought I'd bought it 7 years ago when I moved to Junction but realized that I'd bought it after I found out about it from Jan Casserly of Affordable Positioning Alternatives, who I first crossed paths with just after "9/11", so that was 2001! I think I was thinking it was over here because I ordered SO MANY OF them for patients when I was working in home health. They were beneficial for people who were 'chairbound' and were getting skin break down on their sacrum or coccyx.
It comes in a black lycra cover which has handles on both sides so you fold it up like a taco and carry it with you wherever there is a hard seat ... restaurants, etc. The downside is it's heavy AND the NTSA people might not properly know their gels and think it's bomb material. I traveled with it to California and put it in my checked luggage for the trip out but on the trip back didn't want to pay the overage charge for the weight plus I'd wished I'd had it with me on the way out because what was supposed to be a 7 hour trip turned into a 12 hour day with lots of sitting in airports on on the airplane while they were deciding whether to get us a new one or not. I might point out that it took me longer to fly to Vegas than to drive because of that and that I prefer to drive. Oddly I am not the least bit afraid of flying, but I am afraid of sitting too long and getting into a multi-day long recovery from it.
Again, thanks for this top 10 list and I hope you welcomed my two additional things. Looking forward to people adding anything else on here as we go! ~~ Mardy
Slab o' Gel piece in Mardy's Favorite Things forum (Products section) is www.lumigrate.com/forum/pain-double-s-slab-o-gel-under-me-car-restaurants
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!