Hoorah! I’m off on holiday again. Very mixed emotions about this though because the last time I was on holiday I had the stroke. I haven’t done any proper travelling since and I am feeling a bit panicky. I have been trying to use my mind power to try and keep calm with some of the NLP techniques I learned at the course I went to last month.
It’s all in the mind… la la la … it’s all in the mind…
Waaahhhhh… Okay so perhaps I need to keep practising this because it ain’t working. Okay, change my thinking, what can I think about now, eh? Okay, if I read a book… nah can’t settle. Okay, so I’m nervous about going back.
Before setting off on this holiday I have had a lot of preparation to do. No longer is it just a case of jumping on a plane with my passport and going. I used to do that all the time. It was an adventure. But this time, these are just some of the things I have had to sort out being going:
- Get the all clear from the doctor to allow me to go abroad and on a plane.
- Get insurance – woah! Because I have had a stroke and I am on Warfarin and I also have Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) it has cost me £368 for the week. Crickey that’s about as expensive as the holiday. There were only a few organisation that will insure people with APS. HSBC, who I was insured with before my stroke, won’t touch me now I have been diagnosed with APS so I have had to look elsewhere. I had to get a list of insurers through the Hughes Syndrome Foundation, they have lots of info for people with APS. So I have taken my cover through Freedom Insurance. Even then they won’t insure me for the year due to the APS, they will only insure for each holiday. Crickey, I won’t be going too often then. Then I also had to remember to take all my paperwork with me and make sure my friends know where it is.
- Flight socks – check! Yup, I had to put on my lovely flight socks to prevent DVT’s.
- All medication in the clear plastic bags and in hand luggage.
- Medic alert bracelet
- Passport and money always helps
Think that’s it. Not exactly something I can do on the spur of the moment nowadays.