I booked an afternoon flight to the UK. I was cleared to leave the clinic around 8am (and had to leave my room at 10). The clinic booked me a taxi to the airport for 75 euro as I was worried incase the train was busy or I was unable to cope moving around. I think I would have been OK on the train and would have liked that I could have stood up to move around any time I wanted to. It was a nice drive through small towns and places, not the motorway type journey I imagined, and took around 1 hour 15 minutes I think.
I had been advised by other ladies to book a wheelchair at the airport. At Hamburg we had lots of time so walked through the airport ourselves. There are quite a few shops and places to eat if you arrive early.
I booked wheelchair assistance at Heathrow - easy to book online if you have a BA account. I was met from the plane door and wheeled to an electric cart. I did tell the man I thought I could walk to the cart but he insisted. The cart drove us from the plane to the arrivals hall so we didn't have a long immigration queue to stand in, nor to have to catch the internal train from the B gate we arrived at, back to the main terminal 5 building.
I recommend the electric cart to save so much walking. I thought I was ok but would have been tired.
In the cars to and from the airport (Hamburg and UK) I asked to have the seat in front put as far forward as possible to maximise my foot room and leg comfort.
No-one at airport security was interested in my bag of dressings and my 4 injection needles with the fragmin/heparin for blood clotting. They were more interested in the big stash of Neideregger marzipan we'd purchased as presents as marzipan seems like an explosive on an x-ray! I had put the letter from Professor Schmeller in the bag with the needles and dressings but it might be better to put in a pocket as when I went through the scanner I got pulled aside and patted down/talked to because all the padding came up on the screen. I explained they were bandages and got asked why, so you might like to wave the clinic letter. The lady was fine - I offered to show her my bandages but she wasn't keen ;) and it was literally a few minutes of conversation and a gentle pat.
The bag of dressings was an ok size to carry on (open topped, a fancy carrier bag basically), so just think about the fact you'll have that extra return luggage if you are flying with a cheap airline. BA didn't mind it at all.
We travelled hand luggage only so we didn't have to wait any extra time at baggage reclaim. That did mean being careful about liquid sizes to ensure we didn't buy anything over 100ml to meet the rules for carrying on liquids.
Kate, thank you for your excellent and comprehensive blog. The information you include is wonderful. I had my consultation with Mr. Karri today and I was very impressed with his depth of knowledge and commitment . I know he has spent time training with Dr Stuz. Did you see hime before making your decision or just opted for the Hanse based on your research?
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, I met Mr Karri and Dr Stutz at the Lipodema Ladies Big Meet around the time I contacted Hanse. I thought Mr Karri was very nice as a person, he seemed very genuine and interested in lipodema and committed, so I can see why people like him and I thought he would be easy to talk to etc. I decided he wasn't right for me as I wanted someone with a high number of years of experience so I decided to continue with my contact with Hanse. So, I saw him present and participate in the conference but I haven't been to see him for a consultation.
ReplyDeleteI know Dr Stutz has years of experience and his presentation was very detailed and informative but I didn't feel a rapport with him that made me want to consult him instead of Hanse. I think it is like dating where people just don't feel like "the one"!
I hope that makes some sense - thank you for asking :)