> The first time I flew after my chemo treatment, I had only been recovering for about a month. I flew with a hat on so no one could see my bald head, but I guarantee that had I removed it, I would have gotten "special" treatment. However, with it on, no one seemed to get that simply trying to lift my carry-on bag up into the bin was too much for me. I finally was able to get help, but it was a pain to do. I guess I *should* have taken off the hat...may have made things a bit easier.
>
> Mi"so glad those days are over for me..."a

Yeah, that is rough. I know that in my experience it is SO much easier to let people know beforehand. Calling the airline (and the airport, although they are less likely to be able to help) allows things like wheelchair assistance or electric carts to be provided.

But even so, that doesn't make things totally smooth, because even if you're listed as needing assistance on the paperwork, you'll often have to explain to people again and, in the case of a connecting flight, again and again, that yes, you DO in fact need some help, even though you look just fine.

And a lot of people don't get that I need help carrying my bags, because they don't often get requests like that, I suppose. So even a person is there with a wheelchair or whatever, I still have to do some explaining about my bags.

People want to help, really... but still, it can cause a lot of emotional stress sometimes to be in that situation. Which is why I was thinking Howard's mentioning of the cane is something I might want to follow up on.

I've also had to learn that sometimes I don't want to bother random people to ask for help, but it really will be okay if I just gather my courage and do it. This is hard too though, but I'm learning.


Ga"Just some random info for whoever - I'm also happy that you're done with this, Mia"halyn