WIBU to fly abroad with pneumonia and DC with a chest infection?

[OreoBiscuitPie]

We are due to leave on Wednesday to go to Canada. DH’s sister lives there, he hasn’t seen her for 15 years and has never met his niece and nephew who are 11 and 4. There’s a long complicated story as to why it has been like this but basically his family are from a poor country in Eastern Europe, managed to emigrate to Canada eventually, but DH’s mum couldn’t get residency so they all got deported and essentially banned from the country, the sister was allowed to stay as was an adult had a Canadian partner by then. DH was only a teenager at the time. After years of fighting with the Canadian immigration system and an appeal involving an immigration lawyer we managed to get the ban overturned so he can finally visit his sister for 2 weeks. We don’t earn particularly well and it took a lot of saving.

We’re going with our 3 year old. This trip has been planned for 2 years. Sod’s Law, we all caught Covid about a month ago. DH recovered very quickly. Me and DD recovered quickly too but have since both developed chest infections. It seemed to go away then come back. DD has been checked out at a walk-in centre a few days ago and now on treatment, she is recovering and only has the lingering cough now and no temperature or chills but she’s still not 100% herself.

I went to GP yesterday to finally sort myself out. I’ve had the cough, green mucus and headaches etc but I’ve not bothered about myself as I’ve been so worried about DD. With her finally on the mend I’ve finally found the energy to get myself seen. GP didn’t like sound of my chest and sent me to walk-in centre where I was diagnosed with fucking walking pneumonia. Advised by doctors that it’s not recommend to fly but that if absolutely necessary then I can.

I was so excited to meet DH’s sister and kids and vice versa. DH desperate for his daughter to meet his sister. I feel as though we have to go, and I want to, but my family are worried and telling me not to. I feel there’s no choice. We’ve been advised we’re not contagious to others. In a way I think it might help me recover as we’ll be guests so I can take things a bit easy and have someone cook for me, not be cleaning or cooking etc like I would be at home, so maybe it will help me recover? AIBU?

Yes

The dd isn’t well either.

38 years ago I had to take my toddler with a temperature to a&e in Toronto. It cost me 200 dollars. Heaven knows what it would cost nowadays.

Bloody hell

This DH… not good in a crisis is he?!

flight isn’t great for your health at the best of times so try to be a bit open minded, especially with your child, if your immunity is low this could take a long time to get over, maybe (I’m so sorry to say this) consider your dh going on his own? hopefully you’re all much better than then, hate it op is so typical

Who told you you are not contagious?

A man was say behind me on a recent flight coughing, snorting and just sounded very unwell. A few days later I was stuck in bed with the flu. That was not fair and I was livid. Don't be that person to pass it on. People on that flight could be going on a holiday of a lifetime and you could spoil that.

Dr google

I had pneumonia a few years back and was hospitalised on oxygen. It came on very suddenly. A few days later I was able to go home and felt that I was ‘better’ able to get back to doing the school runs etc. But, and I don’t wish to scare you, I was not better and by pushing myself I ended up being blue lighted back to hospital and very nearly died. It’s not worth the risk taking a longhaul flight and would be very scary for your child if anything were to happen to you.

I hope DH's call with the insurance today results in being able to reschedule the flights and you can all go in a month or so.

Please don't fly long-haul with pneumonia, if you are ill on the flight or need treatment when you are there it has potential to be catastrophic.

I don’t think he should be leaving ‘us’. I think he should just be leaving you and he takes your DD to see his family!

The problem is that OP may not be better in a month - the after effects of pneumonia can last years.

Well yes
but with antibiotics, on the balance of probabilities she will be at least vastly improved in 4 weeks time.

She wouldn’t be covered by insurance though if she deteriorated on the plane or while in Canada.

So you’re saying

don’t book anything for a few years op!!

now would be reckless and totally irresponsible to do

in a month, after a course of strong antibiotics, I would hedge a bet that vastly improved and that op should take the risk of rebooking for a month (although DH will probably have a tizz about something being wrong for a month’s time)

No - I’m saying she should stay home and recover and her DH should go and see his sister as planned.

Rebooking for a months time and assuming she’ll be better is likely to just lead to even more issues, plus her insurance may not cover a second round of cancellations.

There’s a risk averse

and then there’s @tumblingdowntherabbithole !

No, just speaking from experience! I had a friend with pneumonia and it took six months and several rounds of antibiotics before she felt normal again.

Maybe read all the other posts on here from people saying how long it can take to recover too. A month is nothing and if OP rebooks and flies anyway, she may find herself with a very expensive bill - either for the cancelled flights or for the hospital admission that won’t be covered by insurance.

Pneumonia isn’t something to mess about with. Of course it sucks she can’t go but it’s no reason for her DH to miss out.

I posted

I had pneumonia and flew and it was absolutely horrific. I urged Op absolutely not to do.

i went on very strong antibiotics, and whilst a month later I felt weak - absolutely fine to travel. And that will be the case for most

I just think it could set her up for another round of heartbreak. Maybe the compromise is to wait until she’s had the all clear from a doctor before rebooking any flights.

🤷‍♀️

based on my awful experience of pneumonia, I’d reschedule. You wouldn’t.

Given the OP appears to have been seriously considering travelling with active and aggressive pneumonia despite doctors warning not to - I am guessing she’s not risk averse!

@OreoBiscuitPie very sorry to be saying this, but please do not fly with pneumonia. I work for an airline and have seen passengers suffering greatly during flight when they have boarded with lung conditions. We frequently have to put passengers who thought they’d be fine on oxygen in order to help them breathe. The air pressure in an aircraft cabin can be equivalent to being at the top of an 8000ft high mountain, and your lungs and body must work harder to breathe. For a healthy individual this is not a problem. In those with compromised lungs (and even recovering from pneumonia your lungs will still be weaker) it can get much worse. The worst I have seen was in a woman who thought she had a cold but had undiagnosed pneumonia. We called our ground based doctors for her in the middle of the night, and she spent the entire flight on oxygen and temezepan, we were met by an ambulance on landing and taken straight to hospital where she spent the next week. She wrote us a thank you card afterwards, which was how we found out she had pneumonia. The pain she experienced during the flight was her lung collapsing.

I appreciate that the circumstances of your trip are complex, but you are putting yourself at risk, and could seriously inconvenience everyone else on your flight. Had we had a doctor on board who could have diagnosed the collapsed lung there and then, it would have probably been an automatic divert to drop her off at a hospital (had one been close - we were flying over Africa at the time, but there are lots of places going across the Atlantic once you get to Canada. All a bit back country though.) Calling our doctors puts our workload up and distracts us from flying (the pilots make the calls, not the cabin crew, because the satellite phone is part of the cockpit communications panel.) While we are more than happy to help any passenger who has suddenly become unwell during the flight, it’s harder to have sympathy for someone who knowingly got on the flight in an unfit state. We help them just the same though.

I definitely wouldn't. I flew with an ear infection and it's permanently damaged my hearing. Pneumonia is a much more serious illness.

the main issue with flying with a chest infection is the physics of oxygenation at altitude and the risk of becoming hypoxic because you've got a chunk of lung gammed up with gunk. You may be 'walking' with your pneumonia now, but at cruising altitude your oxygen levels will be lower and you could develop proper respiratory distress (everyone's oxygen levels are lower at altitude, but a healthy person can cope with that). The inflammatory response to a pneumonia will also increase the risk of developing a DVT.

I wouldn’t. I had pneumonia in my mid 30’s. I’ve never felt so rotten, and I've had sepsis!
In your position (you don't seem particularly affluent) I’d be worried about getting sicker once there, will insurance cover you for a pre-diagnosed condition you’ve been advised not to travel with? At least check first. Medical bills could be huge.

I hope you feel better soon, it took me a good 6mths to feel 100% and I was young-ish and fit in those days.