We got to the
airport with no trouble – in fact getting there at 10AM rather than the 10:30AM
we were aiming for – leaving me with a very long wait at the airport. But we boarded, and that was fine.
They announced my
allergies – listing almost all of them, though I told them that they only
needed to worry about dairy and gluten.
I got a spare seat next to me again, which was nice. The flight went smoothly.
I wish I could
say the same thing about the airport. I
ordered a soy hot chocolate from the café.
They didn’t wash the stirring utensils.
I told them that they really needed to have separate ones because
anaphylactics will die or sue. I drank
my HC anyway and went on the internet. 15
minutes after that, I left the internet café and staggered a bit of the way to
the bathroom before having to sit down.
A staff member of the airport asked me if I was all right. I said no, I was having an allergic
reaction. They got me a wheelchair and
wheeled me to the medical clinic, where they gave me meds. They helped, but not completely, as it was
too late for some of the symptoms. I
them got wheeled to the first class / business class lounge so I could rest,
though it is very unrestful battling an allergic reaction with a bunch of rich
people watching you.
I slowly
recovered, and wheeled myself over to the internet inside the 1st
class lounge, and looked at my emails.
Found out that my lift was not going to be picking me up, and that they
would reimburse me for the cab fare… which I don’t have. Exactly the news you want to hear when you’re
in a wheelchair. I’ll have to catch the
sky bus, then a train, then walk 20 minutes with my luggage. I am obviously unimpressed. (Edited to add that I sent a scathing email
to said lift, informing them that I was in a wheelchair, and they were able to
arrange a lift.)
I got wheeled to
the boarding gate, checked in, then wheeled to the assisted mobility entrance,
and wheeled onto a lift to take me up the stairs. I then had to walk to my seat. I was a little unsteady, but managed okay,
and was fully seated before everyone else came on.
Then the fun
began. We wanted over an hour with
everyone on board before taking off.
They announced I was allergic to nuts (one of the few things I’m NOT
allergic to). The staff gave me normal
bread (which I saw) and they confirmed that it was normal bread – which I can’t
even touch without scrubbing my hands afterwards. And given my recent reaction I was extra
cautious – and extra cross. It meant
that the whole meal was potentially contaminated – so I missed that meal. At least I didn’t really want it, because I
was still feeling so sick.
Next was my
snacks. Someone decided that it would be
really nice if they spread my snacks with cream cheese – was that okay? My reply was only if you think me dying during
the flight is okay. As they had already
done it – no snack. I did get a dinner
though, thankfully, because that would make over 16 hours without food, with
the meals previous to that being vomited out of my system. (For medical reasons, I am not supposed to
skip meals.)Fortunately, my baggage is MUCH lighter going home – 19 kg lighter (exactly) in total. It would have been lighter but the bag they gave me as a present is pretty heavy. I am very thankful for that.