So I love holidays, always
have. And I love the travelling bit too,
but it’s so much more complicated now than it used to be. Travelling with small children is hard, any
parent will tell you that while you are in that car/plane/train etc, no amount
of gin will make you think that it was a good idea and I would happily sell my soul for a tardis to be able to transport myself instantly. They get bored after about 3 seconds, they
need feeding every hour, they need the loo 5 minutes after you leave the house.
And the stuff….sooooo much stuff!!
We went on a trip to Cornwall with
my parents when Alfie was only a few months old. We had a family sized car but the stuff we
crammed into it, bloody hell. By the
time we had got there and unpacked it was time to come back! But aside from the amount of stuff we needed
to take, being on holiday in the UK is fairly easy, if you really needed to
come back you could and if you needed an emergency prescription for something,
it wouldn’t be impossible to get it.
Going abroad is a little more
interesting/stressful! I spoke briefly
about us flying out to Lee in the USA when Alfie was 13 months old; oh the
paraphernalia!! So flying is harder now
anyway than it was when I was a kid, You can’t take any liquids, creams, sharp
implements on planes with you…..erm but what if you need to?!
Obviously, Alfie needs regular
access to creams, many of them paraffin based, as well as needles to burst
blisters and scissors to cut dressings.
At the time of us flying to Boston, we also needed bottles of ready
mixed high calorie prescription formula.
We contacted the airline and they gave us an extra baggage allowance to
accommodate all of the creams, dressings, milk etc and they told us that we
could check that bag in with the rest of our luggage. We got a letter from our dermatology team
explaining Alfies condition and that we needed to take more than the permitted
100ml of creams and milk as well as needles and scissors into the cabin. We also had a printout of Alfies prescription
just in case questions were asked.
And then we got to Heathrow and it
all went Pete-Tong!! The day we were due to fly was the day that the luggage
system at heathrow had died, there were mountains of luggage everywhere and
when we checked in we were told to leave our bags in a random pile next to the
check in desk and that the cases would be loaded manually. I refused to let the case with Alfie’s cream
out of my sight because I suspected that our luggage wasn’t going to make it
with us to Boston. We had to be escorted
through the security checks and every single bottle of cream and milk (and we
had around 4 a day for 2 weeks!) had to be scanned which took age, the guy on
the scanner wanted to kill me, could see it in his face! We nearly missed our flight and didn’t have
time to get Alfie creamed up and into his pjs like we had planned (so we had to
do that on the plane in the toilet, so far from ideal, especially as it taxis
down the runway!) And as we thought, our
luggage didn’t arrive with us and took 3 days to get it back so I’m so glad I
refused to let go of that suitcase of supplies!
On the upside, we got new clothes courtesy of BA!
After that experience I always
make sure that we check the bag of creams but that we are permitted to take it
through security and hand it over to be put in the hold when we get to the
plane. The thought of being overseas
without our regular supplies terrifies me.
And then there was the time that
Lee and his friend James decided to cycle London to Paris to raise money for the ISG. Sophie (James’ wife) and I thought that it
was a good idea to meet them in Paris and take Alfie and their two boys Seth
and Dylan to Disneyland. We thought the
train would be fun...! The boys went off
with their bikes and 3 days later we set off, 2 mums (I was also 6 weeks
pregnant), 3 small boys under 5, 2 pushchairs, 2 huge suitcases and a bag full
of child snacks and games to play. For
some reason I thought taking the train would be easier than flying but it was
just as stressful!
We got to London
without any problem, we even got from Kings Cross to St Pancras without losing
any kids, and then Alfies suncream decided to spray its entire contents in my
suitcase. All of Lee’s stuff was covered
in factor 50. And then we had no suncream and there was nowhere to buy any. Anyone with ichthyosis knows that finding the
right suncream is a bit of a nightmare, especially the high factor kids ones as
they tend to stay white on the skin and look awful. I phoned Lee and sent him on a mission in
Paris to locate a suitable replacement!
The rest of the journey went as expected, kids asking if we were nearly
there yet 1 million times over, no one napped and Sophie and I were in need of alcohol
(oh yeah I was pregnant, no booze for me!)
After about 10 hours on trains, we were in Disneyland and very
tired. Poor Alfie had blisters on his
legs and bottom from all the sitting down and from the heat on the train. But we all went on to have a lovely few days
and the boys all really enjoyed it (even though Lee smelt very strongly of
banana boat kids spray for the whole weekend!)
So my top tips for travelling with
ichthyosis:
- .Get doctors letter explaining the need for creams etc
- - Get a printout of your prescriptions
- - Ask for extra baggage allowance for medical supplies from the airline
- - Take extra supplies in your hand luggage
- Check your medical bag but ask to take it through security to the gate to ensure it is on the flight
- Pack your medical bag well and ensure all bottles of cream are in the locked position
- Leave lots of time to get through security as all of your stuff will have to go through a special scanner one by one
- If the airport has a disability service then use it. We did in Lanzarote and it saved us having to queue in the heat for check in and saved us queuing at the gate. You can also get assistance to the gate if you struggle with mobility.
- Wear comfortable clothes (preferably in layers)
- If going somewhere hot, remember to take your cooling vest/spray/fan etc
And top tips for travelling for parents
of small children (regardless of ichthyosis):
- Take gin, lots of gin.
- If you think you have enough gin, buy a little bit more just to be on the safe side.
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