Flying High, Driving Low

We had an early start to get from Terminal 4 to Terminal 2 for 9am. It doesn’t sound far, but with all our luggage a 15 minute walk from the hotel, a lift to the underground station, waiting for the train, the short ride followed by more lifts and a 20 minute walk from the next underground station into the terminal, we felt we had done 50,000 steps by the time we got to check in!

Checking in was straightforward. Racheal had been given allowance for an extra suitcase in the hold which was filled with continence pads but well under the 23kg weight limit. Her other suitcase just scraped in at 22.9kg! We didn’t feel we needed to have an assistant help us through the airport, so we agreed to meet someone at the gate prior to boarding.

Security is always a slightly anxious point when flying with Racheal due to the amount of equipment and all the bottles of liquid we have to carry. This time it was so easy! Terminal 2 at Heathrow has a new system. Electrical items and liquids no longer have to be removed from bags which made things easier. They did want to look at a few bottles of medicine, but that only took a few minutes and the staff were so jolly and friendly, it didn’t feel at all stressful. They even located the spare axles for Racheal’s wheelchair, which I had spent the previous evening searching for. X-ray machines are handy for finding metal objects!

Despite arriving at the airport 3 hours before the flight there is never time to browse in shops or even get a drink when travelling with Racheal. Her personal care and preparing for the flight takes up any spare time there might be. We had just finished preparing all Racheal’s medicines when we were called. At the aircraft door, I folded the handles and foot plate of her Treki chair ready for it to go in the hold. Unfortunately, the assistance people weren’t allowed to use her lifting sling to transfer her to the aisle chair which is used to move her through the plane to her seat, they had to use their own which was really too big for her. They then lifted her again from the aisle chair to her seat, and left us to get settled. A bonus if travelling with Racheal is that we get in first, so there is plenty of space in the overhead lockers for all her extra carry on luggage. In fact we took up less space than a lot of other people because most of our bags fitted neatly under the seat.

The flight was 8 hours long, but the inflight entertainment passed the time reasonably well. Summer and I sat either side of Racheal who enjoyed a Disney film and listening to music through her headphones. We were able to attend to Racheal’s personal care by lying her across our seats and covering her with a towel for privacy. This we did three times and no one around us even seemed to notice.

I had a carefully worked out plan for Racheal’s meals and medicines to take account of the time difference. We don’t use the pump for her fluids on the plane because it makes her uncomfortable so she had smaller amounts of water, more often. She also had smaller meals, and an extra one after we arrived so there wasn’t such a long gap between tea on English time and breakfast on Canadian time the next day.

When we arrived in Toronto we were greeted by friendly assistance man who used Racheal’s sling to lift her onto the aisle chair and then transfer her to her wheelchair which was unscathed by the aircraft door. Always a big sigh of relief to see a present and undamaged wheelchair on arrival! Usually assistance agents come through the airport with us to help with retrieval of luggage, but these two disappeared. I imagine they thought we would be ok as there were three of us with Racheal, and we were.

We had dutifully filled in our arrival information on the app on our phones for fast track into Canada, only to find there was a technical problem so a short form had to be completed before we could get on our way. Luggage collected and toilets used, we messaged the ‘car man’, Fahim, to bring our wheelchair adapted hire car to meet us.

It took a while to get sorted out with the car, because the first time he came a security guard moved him on for stopping in the wrong place so he had to join a queue to round the pick up area again. By the time he got back to us it had started to rain. The set up with this car is very different to what we are used to as the ramp is on the side instead of the back, it’s automatic and the steering wheel is on the wrong side!!. Getting Racheal’s wheelchair in went smoothly and she was soon secure and the luggage stowed in the large boot.

Driving in Canada for the first time in 30 years was a challenge to say the least! They drive on the opposite side of the road which I don’t find too much of a problem, but many of their road signs are very different, lanes on highways disappear or appear without warning, and some rules of the road take a bit of getting used to. Like turning right on red lights and oncoming vehicles turning at the same time as you into a road. Also speed limits seem to be for decoration only and vehicles regularly pass on either side on freeways. All this combined with the fact we had no sat nav except my phone which wasn’t speaking to me made for a hair raising, white knuckle journey. Ann held the phone and tried to give me directions, but it wasn’t easy. Due to the volume of traffic and a couple of unintended detours, the trip took twice as long as expected. We finally arrived to a lovely welcome from 3 of our Canadian friends, Margaret, Mary and Carmel, and the owner of the bungalow which would be home for the next 9 nights. Our friends had brought shopping, home made cookies and muffins, and the medical supplies which had been delivered ahead. By this time it would have been gone midnight at home but was still early evening in Canada. By the time Racheal had had her last feed at 10pm (3am UK time), we were relieved to climb into bed and get some sleep.