So I would love some feedback on this. I am debating whether or not to travel to Australia this spring. Very close friends of ours are living in Brisbane (working for Boeing) and will be there until October. It's really a once in a lifetime opportunity as we'd stay with them and our only real cost is the flight.
I found a great deal on Economy Plus on Quantas and am considering booking but the thought of 15 hours with nowhere to land is scary to me. Our 6 year old daughter is PA, she was diagnosed when she was 2. She had a skin and respiratory (but not ana) reaction to a tiny bite of pb toast. She tests off the charts for her RAST 100+ and is considered severly allergic, she is also asthmatic. (She also tests allergic to some tree nuts...we avoid them all as well as may contain's.)
Thankfully, we've never had a bad reaction since that first one. We've been super careful and lucky and I guess that's why, but we also sometimes wonder if maybe she isn't as allergic as the RAST would indicate. We do eat out frequently (I always inform the waiter and research ingredients, menu's ahead of time) and she's never had a reaction beyond maybe one or two hives on two occasions that Benadryl took care of. Her asthma (so far) is only viral induced...she doesn't have it unless she has a cold.
But...I'm scared to be trapped on a flight that I'm sure someone will be eating peanuts on even though Quantas "says" they don't serve them. I've learned w/ the limited domestic flying that we've done, that you can never trust what the airline says and it can be a whole different story once you board (had a bad experience w/ Alaska flying to Vegas last month..but that's another story). And then there's the issue of bringing enough "safe food" with us to last her for more than a day. I don't feel safe w/ her eating in a restaurant before boarding a flight so we would have to pack enough food to last from Seattle to Los Angeles to Sydney to Brisbane..over a twenty-four hour period. And what if the airline puts up a fuss about the food at some point...I would have to bring a little cooler or something, I have no clue.
I've heard the food labeling in OZ is pretty good but we would have to watch out for lupine which is an ingredient used more frequently there. Anyways..of course I envision all the worst case scenarios...(like an emergency landing in an Asian country...what would she eat..yikes!!) or just the horror of her having asthma issues or breathing issues from peanut dust for 15 hours trapped on a plane.
That being said, we've never had a problem flying and I'm sure it would be just fine. We'd bring a mask, epi's, portable neb, benedryl, wipe down everything, etc...but if some dude opens peanuts in front of us...I just don't know what would happen.
Ugg!! I am leaning towards not going to be honest, but would love feedback from other pa parents. Hate to miss out an opportunity like that but it also scares me very much. Thanks!
