Worried about traveling with PD

[KidneyThief]

Welcome. This group is good for both education and support. Is your lupus still active or are you in remission? 

I see you like to travel. Right now I'm in Santiago Chile getting ready to fly home tomorrow. I did three HD sessions here. This was my first set of treatments on a non English language country so it was a tad more difficult.  So keep in mind when your health is stable travel and dialysis works. Also US travel is fairly easy to coordinate and is covered by Medicare. (There may be some copayments.)

Traveling on PD is a little different than hemo, I imagine. To me, international travel has just been completely off the list because if something went wrong with the PD supply delivery (if it was even able to be delivered to <insert foreign country or island>) or the machine was damaged in transport I would be up a creek. On a separate note, how was Chile and what was the hemo clinic like there?

edit: Yes, my lupus has been in remission since my kidneys went. It just sort of wreaked havoc on them then checked out when it's job was done.

edit edit: Kristina, it often feels that way. The hospital I was with prior was actually a research and teaching hospital so it wouldn't surprise me, but I think it was just a combination of patients being 'lost in the shuffle' due to over-capacity and inexperienced staff. What does MCTD stand for?

Thanks everyone for all the warm welcomes also.






EDITED: Topic Split- moved to travel topic area- noahvale, MODERATOR

[cassandra]

Traveling on PD is a little different than hemo, I imagine. To me, international travel has just been completely off the list because if something went wrong with the PD supply delivery (if it was even able to be delivered to <insert foreign country or island>) or the machine was damaged in transport I would be up a creek.

Hi Em, the traveling on PD and HD is not much different from each other. I've done both, and its more dependend on the place you're going to. The Cycler can go 'in Hold' with the protective suitcase, but I've always been able to persuade staff to keep it in the cabin ("so I can see where it is, and it doesn't end up in Timbuktu or something") Your PD 'stuff' provider will deliver where you are going to, and you'll have to contact the place for receipt of it, and have it acknowledged before you go.

Sorry, we don't have co-payments in the UK (TTL) so can't help you there

Good luck, Cas







EDIT: Quotes fixed- noahvale, Moderator

[devlinswife]

I have traveled in the states quite a bit since being on peritoneal dialysis, my biggest problem is they usually have to call a manager to the check in counter to make sure that Im not lying when I tell them life sustaining medical equipment flies for free. I just make sure I always have a script from my Neph and I give myself plenty of time to check in.

[iolaire]

Traveling on PD is a little different than hemo, I imagine. To me, international travel has just been completely off the list because if something went wrong with the PD supply delivery (if it was even able to be delivered to <insert foreign country or island>) or the machine was damaged in transport I would be up a creek.

On a separate note, how was Chile and what was the hemo clinic like there?

Re traveling, yes it seems a bit more complex but I'd think you would identify a backup center you could visit if you had problems with supplies. (I'm assuming that you could do HD if you ran into problems - is that an option?)  Also the airlines should allow your supplies to fly free as devlinswife says, so maybe you could bring the first day or so of supplies with you, just incase you land and don't find your supplies.

To me the nice thing with PD is you will be much more mobile as long as shipments can reach you.  With HD you are limited to where centers are, so I felt Patagonia in Chile was off-limits (even if there was a center I felt it would not be in the wilderness), but with PD you could have it shipped to an outfitter/hotel/boat and do some sort of Patagonia excursion.

So far the clinics have been similar to home.  The main difference is outside the US they give you a snack and drink midway through the session - I like that.  In Singapore and South Africa they had more modern machines. Chile had a mix of older machines and they shared one blood presser monitor among four patients, so they moved around the pressure cuff every so often.  Chile had a few modern machines and it looked like those were used for less stable patents.  In Chile I couldn't communicate well so I had to let them do what they do.  Also it looked like they might reuse lines in addition to dialysis filters.  All non US centers have had far more employees than I'm used to.

[Riki]

I never had any real problems traveling on PD.  The airlines were the worst, not letting me take the machine as carry on, and actually breaking it, or one.  Thank God that was on the way home.  I was also stopped at security with my machine once, again, on my way home.  They swabbed it and it came back positive for nitro.  So I was searched.  Other than those times, everything went smoothly.  I was going to the US, so I would ship what I needed to the hotel and they would store it for me.  I had a heck of a time finding a hotel that would do that, though.  It's different now that I'm on HD.  It takes a lot more planning, and it's a heck of a lot more expensive, which sucks.

[Fabkiwi06]

So, I'm actually due to take a trip at the end of the month. Will be flying with the cycler. I am a little concerned.

I know the clinic will have a case and provide a letter saying they must allow me to travel with my suitcase... but will I need to contact the airline before hand too?

[cassandra]

I would contact the airline, say you've got your PD machine etc.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip

Love, Cas

[iolaire]

So, I'm actually due to take a trip at the end of the month. Will be flying with the cycler. I am a little concerned.

I know the clinic will have a case and provide a letter saying they must allow me to travel with my suitcase... but will I need to contact the airline before hand too?

I would contact the airline to let them know you have medical equipment you need to carry on.  Maybe they can note it in your reservation.  You don't want to get to the airport and have to deal with someone that doesn't know the rules who doesn't want you to fly with it.  Also get the airport early just incase...