Crohn's Disease Mile High Club

[michaelearnest]

I am showing my age here, but lets jog back to 1998 and flying. A flight from New York's Laquardia airport to Richmond, Virginia. The days when you could show up to the airport 5 minutes before your flight and run to the gate. Crohns was around and traveling then was better than it is now for Crohn's patients.

On two occasions, close to the end of the flight, I had to go to the bathroom. On both occasions, the plane landed with me sitting on the toilet. The next thing I hear is the flight attendant asking me if I was OK. Now days, a police officer would be waiting for you to exit and take you into custody under suspicion you were up to no good in the bathroom.

I can honestly claim that I am a member of the Crohn's Mile High Club now, are there any others?

I don't travel for business anymore, but I would like to hear how others manage on flights in those situations.

 

[Ozboz]

This is why I don't travel by air only by car

 

[michaelearnest]

Ozboz - you are so right, thats exactly what I do now days. I could not imagine traveling by air now with Crohns.

 

[tots]

I was flying pregnant(5 months) with 4 and 6. Leaving Virginia on the tail end of a hurricane- On a plane thats held no more than 20. I had such bad cramping I had to talk them out of landing the plane to deliver the baby! Sry just Crohns!! Oh and my 4 yr old was sick the day before we left- turns out he had ecoli. Great trip all the way to Washington State! ( on a second plane ofcourse!)

Ya wanna know how small the bathroom was? To damn small!

Lauren

 

[Thermo]

I agree! I read this one story of exactly this type of issue. He was having a very bad flare over a long flight and went about 7-8 times while flying. Right before landing he had to go again but there was a line in the back about 5 people deep so he ran to the front where there was nobody waiting and tried to use the first class bathroom, where the flight attendants blocked him and told him to return to the back. He tried to tell them it was a medical emergency but they still refused. So he then ran back and forth up and down the isles trying to find a bathroom before a nice person let him cut the line. It is rough in a lot of different situations in making sure you are not up the creek without a paddle, sometimes it gets exhausting just planning things.

 

[PattyLynn]

I've never had a problem on a flight but once when I was going through security at the airport the guard who was scanning me with the wand pointed at the area of my stoma (the bag did need to be emptied) and said "What have you got under there?" I told her it was an ileostomy. And she said, "A what?" So I replied, "I don't have a colon, so I **** in a bag." That shut her up.

 

[Thermo]

I told her it was an ileostomy. And she said, "A what?" So I replied, "I don't have a colon, so I **** in a bag." That shut her up.

LOL that just made my day Patty!! I can picture a rude TSA agent with an attitude in shock, hopefully she learned a lesson some of them are a real pain to put it nicely.

 

[tots]

Patty -

That was classic!!

Lauren

 

[Mitchell A]

I have a 52 total hours of flight time coming up next month... not looking forward to it at all haha