Dang--my long post just was lost to cyberspace! Oh well, here it is again!
Had a scare the other day when I was checking in at the airline counter, flying with my POC (as I have been doing since 2008). The agent insisted on seeing my Rx (yea, like folks WANT to fly with POCs when they don't have to--this is perhaps the 5th agent that has EVER wanted to see my Rx for O2). Anyway, as the airlines ARE entitled to insist we have DATED prescriptions--the first one I handed her didn't have a date on it, so while she was processing our reservation, I dug around and found one that DID have a date.
She was very suspicious and annoyed that the date didn't look like the rest of the fax or Xerox and I said I couldn't help what I got from the doc's office, but she stalled and said she didn't know if she would approve my ability to fly. I told her I did have 4 batteries which provided me with 32 hours of flying time, so I think that reassured her I wouldn't have problems with running out of O2.
After a waiting a bit to make me extra anxious, she decided to let me fly and I proceeded to go to my gate.
I guess the moral of this episode is for folks to DOUBLE-CHECK that they have dated prescriptions that are DATED within 2 weeks of their flights, just in case they have agents like the one I encountered, She would have been fine if the Rx was faxed, emailed or whatever, but she insisted on a DATED prescription.
Since COPD Foundation is planning an Oxygen Summit in early March, does anyone have any other O2 issues that they'd like to mention that should be considered and discussed at the summit? Personally, I think having a prescription dated within 2 weeks of the flight is really a huge hassle, especially if we've been stable and had the same Rx for O2 for many, many years.
Starion