My son is getting married in Capetown, South Africa next year which is great news but having not flown since pre pandemic, it is scary.
I'm on I&V arm of Flair due to end in 12 months, have been UMRD for over 2 years.
Main concern is which vaccinations are needed to protect myself. GP is recommending I contact Hospital team, who suggest I talk to a pharmacist!
I understand I cannot take live vaccinations but it is confusing and would welcome any advice from this superb forum.
thank you
Need to sort out live / not live from list.
southafricavisa.com/vaccina...
The pharmacies view, has a list of what should be available free from your GP!
I assume that you are upto date with other vaccinations like pneumonia and Covid?
Hi Emily, I am up to date including 2 shingrix vaccinations recently after a nasty bout of shingles.
You may not even form antibodies even if you get vaccinations given what medicines you are on now. People being treated often do not produce measurable antibodies after covid vaccinations. I assume same for other viruses too. But I could be wrong about this.
Getting the medical advice is important. My advice would be, if you can, to sit in the back of the plane if you have a choice. Of course wear a high grade mask, eat your snack before you get on the plane, bring wipes to wipe down your seat and tray table and use the wipes in the bathroom if needed. Enjoy the wedding!
Thank you Katie, it's an 11 hour flight so planning overnight business class flight, but will definitely use your tips. Thanks again
11 hours is a long trip. Glad you will be in a better section. Do everything you can to protect yourself and then know you have done everything you can. At that point just relax and take a nap, read a book, or watch a movie!!!😎
One more tip, My dermatologist said always wear sunscreen with zinc. It coats the surface of the skin instead of being absorbed. Better protection in the sun. You may already know that!😂
I actually wasn’t aware of that and the weather will be very warm. I am very grateful for your help Katie, I shall do my utmost to have a trip of a lifetime!
👍✈️
Jds
I just started treatment on January 1 with Brukinsa (Zanubrutinib), and my Specialist at Dana Farber in Boston urged me to get all my Vaccines done before I started treatment. The logic is the Vaccines are needed to give us a chance to avoid deadly illnesses, and our already very weak immune systems get even weaker once on treatment. She said that as long as the Vaccine doesn't have live virus, then it is fine for us. Shingrix is the newer Shingles Vaccine without a live virus. None of the others I took have a live virus either.
I managed to get three Vaccines done in a two week period, which admittedly was a bit too close together (only if I had any big reactions to any of them), but fortunately my reactions were very limited. I took the Shingrix first, waited about five days and took the Flu, and then a couple of days before the end of the two weeks took the new COVID vaccine. I had already taken the RSV (Respiratory Syncsytial Virus) about a month before those other three.
As far as flying, I've been doing that since COVID started, both in and out of the Country. I always got a mild sickness on the first week after an International Flight, but I was not yet on IVIG during those times. I started IVIG on October 1, 2023, a couple of Months before I started the Brukinsa. I had been getting sick too frequently in the recent few years, and the length of time to beat each of the illnesses was increasing (to where it took me a month and a half to fully recover each time). IVIG has been a miracle thing for me. I haven't been sick once since I started the infusions, and January 31 will be four Months illness free. I was actually already sick for three weeks as I started my first IVIG infusion on October 1, and overnight it went away. Despite all of my flights prior to starting IVIG this past October, I never once had a serious problem.
Carl
I would suggest you see if your oncologist can give you Evushield injections if available. I got 2 while on Venteclax for not making any antibodies to the multiple Covid vaccines. I was told they help keep high risk individuals out of hospital. I'm so glad I got them! Get up to date on all your vaccines that are not live vaccines. Best of luck to you
HI jds7 ,, the one thing we have done is to use an iodine combo nasal/mouth spray to kill the bugs once they get into the passages ..and it is almost impossible to keep them out .the mask reduce the viral load but thats all they can do ... and no touching the eyes or face without klinex , not even to scratch our nose ..... we do not mask up unless others are feeling vulnerable to us or we are in the clinics/hosp. we .. take a vit. c drink with vit. d ,zinc in it use probiotics for the gut ... take goldenseal root if feeling a bit off . exercise outdoors when possible , make an effort to have raw food in our diet and drink plenty of water . zero alcohol..we are both 75 y.o. ... we are not vaxed for covid ,,,, we are not anti vaxxers.....just working at keeping illness free asking God to help us do all that we can and so... we have not had a cold or flu in 4 years ... BUT we have also not flown on a plane ..i do not intend to untill i have finished the V at the end of this year and then see what my blood work looks like .. i am under the impression that the spray must be helping alot as well... hope you have a great trip.. be safe ,, blessings , james
Thank you James, I will take all tips on board. Life has definitely changed and we immunocompromised have endured a miserable time. I am looking forward to my son's wedding but an 11 hour flight is scary. I wish you well with your ongoing treatment and the future. Thank you. David
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