Originally posted by blackpoolowl
she said it was because of the aircraft smell.
as soon as we got onto the plane she starts complaing about the smell (presumably its the cabin pressure) then she went very pale and ended up throwing up nearly all the way. her lips & nose turned blue towards the end of the journey.
we have traveled to orlando for the last 5 years but this was the 1st time this has happened
By this time tomorrow, I hope your doctor will have seen reason and start to do something for your daughter. Although I am not a doctor, this seems to be something on the plane itself, since this problem was not apparent on all the flights.
If you can remember, did she mention the smell when you boarded, or after you were at cruising altitude? If when you boarded, the plane was not under pressure, and that rules that out.
I would give VS a call and see if you can track down the specific plane used for last year's flight. Then see if you can get VS to look up maintenance schedules for any work done which would have affected the cabin air (and yes, that includes any disinsection done - and get the date/insecticide if it was done any time in that month). I'd ask for a 7-day maintenance record check prior to your flight; any further back is probably not worth doing. Was a report done on the seats you used during that cycle? Maybe a cleaning crew had to clean/replace seat covers on one of your seats. Could have been a cleaning agent. But you and your doctor won't know until you ask VS.
Give your doctor this information as soon as you get it. Make sure you mention your upcoming flight to the VS person on the phone; you need this information now, not in six months.
If the trigger is an airborne irritant, just placing another smell in front of your child's nose will (quite probably) not do anything; only removing the source of the smell or her from the plane will fix it in most cases. Since this problem went away within 30 minutes of her leaving the plane and has not reoccurred, I would start to seriously question the plane itself, not anxiety or other mental causes! (No offense meant to those who mentioned such, though - we're all trying to help here.)
Wondering how she could complain about a 'smell' which you did not notice? I can smell fresh residual insecticide even when my seatmates can't. I've seen people so alert to odd odors they can spot natural gas leaks long before a detector goes off! Children often have very good noses, as they haven't been dulled by years of chemicals, perfumes, and modern pollution.
If your current doctor does not include homeopathic treatments, it might be very worthwhile to seek out a homeopath - they are by training naturally inclined to search for any and all causes of a complaint, especially odder ones, and may help immensely in this case. I have personally experienced such treatment, and although many in this day and age might scoff at such methods, it's safe and often reliable when all else fails.
Please keep after your doctor to take action before your trip.
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