Tips for Staying Comfortable when Flying

You know how they say, hindsight is 20/20. Well I learned the hard way. Five months after having open heart surgery - a triple bypass, I was feeling great and decided to go on a vacation.
The plane trip to and from wasn't too long - about 5 hours each way, so I wasn't worried about anything. I always make sure that I have over an hour stop between flights, so I can walk around after sitting for so long. I wasn't having any problems from the surgery, so I didn't think I had to take any other precautions except to take a baby aspirin, or regular aspirin before the plane rides to keep the blood in my legs circulating. I did that. On all the planes, I had an aisle seat which worked to my advantage so I could spread out my legs in the aisle if I needed to and I did. They were never in anyone's way because when someone needed to pass I put them back in front of me. It's important to try and get an aisle seat, if you have heart problems, weight problems, diabetes and/or any other medical issues that sitting for long periods of time might negatively effect the circulation in your legs. This is especially important if you'll also have your carry-on luggage under the seat in front of you, which takes up most of the space to stretch out your legs. Putting your seat back also helps by putting your body in a curved position, rather than a stiff sitting up position. Going to my vacation destination went pretty smoothly, except for getting a bit out of breath walking a little incline as I got off the plane and walking around in the airport. I realized that this was my first major exercise since the surgery, but what was making it more difficult was the heavy carry-on I was carrying - in addition to my purse. I recommend that you keep your carry-on pretty light and if you can, those with wheels are terrific.

On my way back home, I lightened my carry-on which helped a lot, but I encountered another problem on one of the planes, unfortunately the one I had to be on the longest. The man behind me for some reason felt that I couldn't put my seat back while he had his computer out on the tray in front of him (attached to the back of my seat), which was for most of the flight. It annoyed me so much, I thought it was insane and dangerously, having to sit up straight for the whole flight inhibited the blood from circulating in my legs properly. To say I felt miserable is an understatement. I actually felt my feet going numb many times throughout the flight. I came home and the bottoms of my legs and my feet were swollen for weeks. I actually couldn't see my ankle bones, especially in the leg they took the veins from to use for my heart surgery. Knowing too much about certain medical problems, I feared losing my leg and/or my feet. Finally I decided to call my physician's nurse on call, who suggested I go to the emergency room because she feared I had severe leg thrombosis. I decided to wait until the next morning to go to his office as a 7:00 A.M. walk-in, which I did. Luckily after an examination and testing, I didn't have thrombosis. I was told to take anti-inflammatory medication and to keep my feet elevated. The next time I might not be so lucky. When I look back, I would definitely never let anyone prevent me from putting my seat back. I should have told the stewardess that I just had open heart surgery and it's important that I get to put my seat back, so she could have spoken to the man behind me. I also think I should have walked up and down the aisle whenever I had the opportunity. In the future I am also going to try and get those front seats in the coach section, or the seats by the emergency doors, since they have extra leg room. I might also consider taking vitamin B6 before each flight, so I don't retain any excess fluid. If you are custom to adding salt to your foods and/or eating foods high in sodium I think it would also be a good idea to limit your intake of salt starting days before you have a plane trip, since salt is known to cause people to retain water.

Unfortunately when we develop medical issues we have to start taking precautionary measures when we take an airplane that we normally wouldn't even think about, but if it's to keep us well and comfortable, a little prevention is worth the effort.