In May last year, I posted about our problems getting travel insurance as Paul has had multiple pulmonary emboli. This time it proved even harder as we were going to America, to take Noah to Disneyland as a special holiday to celebrate him turning 18 this year. I tried the companies that had been helpful before, but although they would insure us for travel to Europe, they … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday – holiday travel
The holiday season is a time when families often travel to be together. We are very lucky this year in that Angela's parents have traveled all the way from UK to NZ to be with us; in fact at the ages of 85 and 86 they have emigrated! It means they can see many more of their grandchildren over Christmas than they ever did in the UK. Here they are pictured with half (8 of 16) of … [Read more...]
Jonah Lomu Remembered
An All Black Legend One year ago, on 18th November 2015, one of the New Zealand Rugby greats passed away. Jonah Lomu was known the world over as an All Black legend and was one of the most feared wingers in the history of the game. He was only forty when he died and his death was seen as a huge loss to rugby as he was a great ambassador for the game. Although Jonah had a long … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday – Santa’s Reindeer Ride Risk
What does Santa do to prevent a DVT? The Northern Hemisphere gets to break up winter with Christmas, but In New Zealand, the winter months of June, July, August and September can seem to drag on. Many New Zealanders have taken to celebrating a mid-winter Christmas around this time. Sparkly decorations and traditional Christmas food work much better now, with our cold dark … [Read more...]
Exercise during flights – airline’s advice
In Paul's post about Dos and Don'ts of travel after clots, he recommended exercise during flights. As we traveled on lots of different airlines over the past three weeks, I thought I'd see what advice each of them gave about exercise. I couldn't find any advice given by three of the airlines we used, Jetstar, Air New Zealand and Easyjet. This is the advice I found from the … [Read more...]
Dos and Don’ts of travel – What Paul did
Just before we left for Copenhagen for the European Haematology congress, Paul wrote about the dos and don’ts of travel after clots. Paul has had multiple pulmonary emboli, including one that occurred on a flight, so flying is a particular concern of mine. Now we’re safely back in New Zealand, fighting jetlag, I thought you might be interested to discover which of his own … [Read more...]
Longer flights; more clots – the evidence
Paul’s last post had recommendations for travel after having a clot. For those of you who want to know more of the science behind it, and are willing to decipher a bit of medical jargon, we are bringing you a review of a medical paper which showed a link between distance flown and likelihood of having a pulmonary embolus. Where’s the study from? It’s a … [Read more...]
Travel after a clot – Dos and don’ts
I am about to embark on an overseas trip to Europe, and as I have had a pulmonary embolus on a plane myself I thought it was sensible to review what precautions I should take to avoid another one. As a doctor I like to base my advice on solid reliable data, but unfortunately there are very few studies about the risks of thrombosis relating to flying and the advice about what to … [Read more...]