Flying with aplastic anemia

[Janire]

Somebody knows if there are risks when a person travel by air with an aplaastic anemia? I have only 10 platelets and i am transfusion dependent but i want to fly and the trip lasts more than 10 hours. I have read on internet that flying with low platelets can be dangerous and you can have a brain bleed or a internal bleed and on the other hand flying with low hemoglobin <8'5 hb can be dangerous because of the presion and the lack of oxigen. I wouls like at least to have the opportunity to fly and make in this sense a normal life but i dont want to make a Crazy thing. They are too many hours in the airplane. Please, help!

[Neil Cuadra]

Flying with very low platelets is indeed risky and that's a pretty long flight. The subject has come up here before (for example, see this post about flying). You should definitely ask your doctor, who may very well recommend that you rule it out until your counts are higher. As much as it would make you feel normal to fly, you may not be "normal enough" yet.

This is the type of question that doctors may be able to answer over the phone or by email, since you don't need an exam, just advice and a risk assessment. Please let us know what the doctor tells you, since other patients have had the same concern.

[Janire]

My doctor said it was up to me. I think she saw me so desperate that she said me nothing but i think it is irresponsable for her part. She should have told me something about the risks of flying in these circunstances. I had to search for it in internet and because it came into my head. She told me to fly under my responsability. I think it is not enough. Sometimes i think i kmow more than her about the disease...