Dangers of long flights

[dsaundry]

Well the past few weeks have been very stressful and I thought I would share a bit of info for all you people. My wife and I finally took a vacation during the labour day weekend..a short flight to Vegas..Had a nice time away from the stress of work except she wasnt feeling well on the sunday.Came back on the monday. Tuesday we were heading off to get a tv from Costco and halfway there my wife says something is wrong and she needs to go to the hospital right away. She is having pains in here chest and neck area, I am thinking she might be having a heart attack so I rush her to the hospital..Several hours later the doctor comes out and says she isnt having a heart attack but the bloodwork shows she might hava a clot...Cat-scan later and two clots in her right lung..Very, Very serious..Dr asks us about long flights and earlier this year my wife had taken a non-stop flight to Australia. Dr states it could be the reason for the clot as my wife had had minor pain after that..starting in her leg and finally working its way to the lung. He then states that they are seeing more and more of this situation from people that fly long flights. The airlines dont tell you that..So if you are going on long flights, make sure you stretch your legs and move around a bit. It almost cost my wife her life and scared the crap out of me. Good news is she appears to be on the mend but three weeks of injections in her stomach and the next 6 months on medication and bloodwork every week makes for a very uncomfortable spouse. Needless to say that we wont be taking any long flights for a while as this has grounded her, and should we ever have to fly any distance again, she will have to go on special medication to help her through the flight..personally I think I would rather get a motorhome and just see the continent we are on than risk her going through this again. Thought I would share this with you as some people are more likely to have this happen than others.

[Veng68]

Glad to hear your wife is going to be ok.

DVT is pretty serious stuff. I always stretch during a flight as well as take aspirin and drink plenty of fluids.

Cheers,
Vic

[Aquattro]

Yes, I get up and stretch at least every hour on any flight.Even flexing your legs while seated helps.

Glad your wife is ok..

[Delphinus]

Scary stuff. Good luck with her continued recovery.

[Lance]

Man; That is scary stuff! I've never heard of that before. I know that sitting for too long of a time was hard on the circulation, but I never knew it could cause a clot. I'm glad she's Ok and mends quickly. Take care.

[justinl]

yikes, that is scary. I'm glad to hear your wife is on the mend.

I wonder if the danger doesn't really lie in the actual flight (high pressure and altitude) but the actual event of sitting in a single position the whole time. I usually get up and stretch and take a walk once in a while during a flight, but only for the sake of being comfortable... I never realised it could be a health issue.

[Aquattro]

http://www.airsafe.com/issues/medical/dvt.htm

[Ken]

I heard about that too in a newspaper awhile back with people in that situation on long distance flights. Companys are realizing the effects of long distance flights. Glad that your wife is much better. Regards Ken