So the plan was today was going to be my last day in the office for a week. After Labor Day, I was flying to Las Vegas for a short vacation with my husband.
As it turns out, I am leaving for Florence, Italy on Labor Day for two weeks for work. Sigh. Best laid plans and all that.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the trip. It should be quite an adventure. I’ve never visited Florence, and I am hopeful that even with long hours working, I will have time to explore the city. The company is renting me a car (yikes!) so I can get from the hotel to the office so I’ll have, I’m sure, an amazing adventure in Italian traffic.
But for those of us with RA, it’s a bit more complicated. For example, I’ll miss a dose of Enbrel. I can take one before I leave, but I really don’t have an adequate way to keep it refrigerated via two planes and a train and a week in a hotel room.
Add on top of the missed medication the stress of travel, all the lugging baggage around (which I have to do myself as I am traveling alone), sleeping in strange beds, exposure to strange germs, and you have a perfect storm just waiting to break into a major flare and/or case of the crud.
Please send good (stay-well) thoughts my way. I’ll post as I get the opportunity.
And people wonder why I have a bit of trepidation about this trip.
I hope whatever destinations are in your day, they bring you health and happiness.
Thanks for checking in.
Oh, wow, am I ever sending the good vibes your way, Carla! That said, what an incredible adventure! My first thought was, “Ooh, ooh, can I go? Can I go?” ;) How I’d love two weeks in Italy! And Florence is such a gorgeous city, so full of art and history–not to mention handsome Italians. Even with RA, and believe me, I have lots of experience dealing with awful flares while traveling on German trains, wandering the cavernous stations, driving the Autobahn, walking and walking and walking, humping suitcases … oh, yes. Lots of that. But I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. It’s all SO worth it.
I know you’ll be working and this trip will be exhausting. But here’s hoping that you’ll still have an absolutely enchanting time and that you’ll enjoy every minute, RA and all. My thoughts go with you… :) Write us a post from there, or drop me an email, if you can.
Mariah wrote a good post on her blog at From this point forward about traveling with Enbrel. http://fromthispoint-forward.blogspot.com/2011/06/traveling-or-camping-with-enbrel.html
Enjoy Florence – it’s one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I spent two weeks in northern European cities in June of this year. Except for a sore heel after six hours of walking on cobble stone streets, everything went very well.