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Coping with a Challenging Travel Day and LEMS, Oh Boy!
I awakened on my travel day home with American Airlines text messages, my outbound flight was delayed and that I might not make my connecting flight in Chicago. I had a deluxe seat on the Boeing Dreamliner and it was in jeopardy. This was not good, and my stress level went way up. We all know that stress and Lambert-Eaton are not good travel companions.
So that’s the first lesson, watch and be aware of stress levels and do everything possible to minimize them. When you’re traveling by air, especially with connections, the probability of problems and added stress raises exponentially. That’s lesson two. Wherever possible, try and book direct flights.
Because I’m not a frequent flyer, negotiating online or using the airline app to make changes was hard for me. I decided to call their reservations number for help. Quickly I found out that to get a callback, wait time was 4 hours. This was completely unacceptable and I knew that would prolong my stress levels. I was staying fairly close to the airport and decided I’d just make a quick trip right then there to the airline ticketing counter. In a matter of 10 minutes we had me rebooked! What a stress reliever! So here we have another lesson. If your flights are becoming a mess, get help as quickly as possible to rebook them. Your LEMS will thank you for it.
One final lesson, and it’s a big one, be aware of stressors you have no control over. Keep reminding yourself of this. These problems are happening and they do affect your big day of travel, but they are out of your control. It will help you keep control of your own emotions and lesson the stress. Again, your LEMS will thank you! Traveling is fun, but often a challenge for LEMS patients. -
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