My mother lives 700 miles away and in July she became severely disabled and now suffers dementia.
We've found a place for her near us and we're ready to bring her home.
We're going to bring her home on a flight and wanted any tips for making the trip go as smoothly as possible.
She'll need a wheelchair and shes not able to help much with transferring from her wheelchair to the seat.
Shes not even the most secure in a standard wheelchair so are there other options for getting a special one for her just for the trip. Preferably one that is slightly inclined?
Any advice would be helpful!
Air transportation for someone with limited mobility is a real challenge, one which I would reconsider.
I brought both my parents back from Texas to Michigan on an American flight; they were in wheelchairs for longer walks but could walk onto the plane themselves.
We were allowed to board first, and with assistance of the American Airlines staff we were able to successfully get on the plane. Changing at Dallas-Ft. Worth airport was a real challenge though. The staff allowed everyone to deplane before us, we barely made it to the bathrooms and back, and only made the connecting flight because of the outstanding service by American.
I would never want to do that again.
It was stressful on everyone; with someone who has dementia, I'm sure it would be so confusing and traumatic.
I really, really would consider on the ground transport in a medically equipped vehicle. Or if you need to go by air, consider something like a medi-flight or air ambulance service.
We flew down to a funeral last month. On the plane (right near us) was a woman who was flying with her mom who had dementia (but only mild mobility impairment). We actually were stranded on runway for 2 hours....her mom did fine. They had a cute little dog (supposedly a service animal - looked like a stuffed dog but was alive and sat at ladies foot) that kept the mom calm even with the long delay and the flight.
Maybe not flying would be better but I know my mom would be in agony for the 2-3 hours per day for 3 days and staying in hotels would be crazy too (beds aren't right height) no rails on them, not chairs for low mobility parents...etc. So the flight could work just be prepared and have help...best wishes for a safe trip...you can do this!!!!
Oh one more thing....check as much as you can so that you only have the bare minimum in your hands and the items mom needs...you don't need the hassle of fussing with bags too unless your extra person can help there.
700 miles. Can't you drive? Or can someone else drive?
Consider flying one-way and renting van or RV for trip back if you don't want medical transport options. It will be worth every penny saved from not flying. Break up the trip such that you are only driving/traveling with her a few hours a day and saying in hotels along the way.
independenttraveler/travel-tips/senior-travel/disabled-travel
A lot of useful ideas here and sources for help. At this point I would never consider traveling with my folks by plane because it would be way too stressful on everyone. However, traveling in a van equipped to carry passengers in their wheelchairs has made transportation for them much easier.
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