Travelling to Australia

[Desjohnston]

Hi everyone.  After 4 years of losing weight to be a donor (kidney) for my brother, i'm finally there.  We are looking at dates in 'late November' .  One problem.  I'm in the UK whilst he lives in Perth, Australia.  So, it looks like Christmas in the sun for me :-)  Has anyone gone through this themselves and do you have any advice, especially around airlines - arranging flights when you're not certan of the return date is proving to be a real pain :-(  Any comments gratefully received.

[Fr Pat]

     I have not dealt with that problem myself, but over the years I have read some narrations where SOME airlines went out of their way to be cooperative once they knew that a living organ transplant was involved. So if you can manage to get in touch with someone at the airline willing to read your whole story ("public relations"?) perhaps they might be willing to bend their policies to accommodate you? Worth a try?
     Fr. Pat

[jstx]

I traveled within the US & found one airline completely unwilling to bend. They told me they'd charge all sorts of fees, etc. Another was much more willing to accommodate a flexible schedule. They told me they couldn't guarantee a change in flights without a fee but also said that they didn't think it would be a problem. It was an airline that had a hub in the city where I was donating. Definitely talk to the transplant center & see what they say. They can probably recommend an airline. My coordinator also wrote a note for me so that I would have a wheelchair & not have to wait in security lines. You will also want to ask the surgeon what would be a good timeframe for flying back home after surgery. I also asked my personal doctor which helped ease my mind because they both gave me the same time frame. Good luck! What an exciting time in your life!