Well, I’ve been travelling a lot lately to Nashville. Easy trips – up and back in the same day – no luggage, no muss, no fuss. But this is different. Wednesday I go to the west coast to help a relative recover from a stroke and my husband has a business trip to Orlando. So, the planning for the week has been very overwhelming.
Planning this trip is much more challenging than recent travel. I fly out early in the morning with a lunch time layover in Denver. When I booked at the flight, I could not request a gluten free meal. I’m not sure if there is no meal or if it is something you have to buy off the cart. I guess I should eat a big breakfast and take a snack until I get to Denver.
Looking at Find Me Gluten Free for the Denver airport, it seems I will have a large number of options. As we all know, the Find Me Gluten Free app is a good place to start, but it isn’t always accurate. So, I’m gonna do my best there. If I have to have a coke and bag of chips to keep myself safe, I’ll be hungry but I’ll live until I get to my next location.
I’ve talked with my hosts for the trip. I don’t want to be a burden because they are already trying to recover from a stroke. I said I needed to be gluten free and they said we don’t know how to do it. I said I would show them the way. They are kind, supportive, and understanding and that’s all I need. I said that after I get picked up at the airport, we need to go to the store so I can buy a cheap non-stick pan and some food to get us through the evening. Then a bigger run to the grocery store the next day for the rest of the trip. They agreed and are totally supportive of getting me what I need to be safe. I think this will all be okay.
I will be there on 2 injection days – Thursday and Sunday. So, I will have a cooler to pack some food for the flight. Bonus there. The downside is that the cooler is big and bulky. I don’t wanna carry the cooler, but I can’t check it either. I will be totally uncool carrying this cooler through the airport. Not my idea of the sleek, sophisticated, experienced traveler I had pictured in my mind. Instead I will look schlumpy and uncool. But I can’t help it and its best not to whine too much about things you cannot control! So, schlumpy and uncool it is!
Next it’s on to making sure my kids are safe and I don’t wear out my family and friends. I’ve had to lean on people a lot more during this trial than I ever have before. I am sort of an “I can get it done on my own” sort of gal and asking for help is hard for me. I know everyone wants to help, but I don’t want to be a burden. Everyone has their own crap to deal with, they don’t need to be dealing with mine too. I would never want to take advantage of someone’s generosity.
But I do need help this time and I can’t do it all on my own. So, I’ve asked my village to help. I’ve got my mom and sister taking care of the kids while we are out of town. I’ve got friends picking kids up and delivering them to school, birthday parties, swim meets, and tennis matches. I’ve got the dog boarded and the kids covered, whew!
I probably should worry about my husband’s trip, but he’s a grown up and can handle himself. 😉 I can only do so much.
So, that is where I am in this crazy week. It isn’t much about the Nexvax trial, but this blog is also about life with Celiac. This is all of the crap I think about when I travel – where is safe to eat, what can I eat on the plane, why is there no GF meal on the flight – all of this. Celiac affects every aspect of our life because we cannot live without eating. Not only do I have to be stressed about handling the kids, I also have to worry about making sure I can eat properly and stay healthy. That is probably the hardest part in this whole thing – how am I going to eat and stay safe? I’m going to wing that one a little bit and hope for the best.
Thank you to everyone that is helping me this week. I cannot describe how grateful I am for your help. Hopefully soon I can repay the favors that I am having to cash in for now.