I went on a trip last week that involved flying. This was the first time I’d flown since my POTS got worse a little over a year ago and I knew that I wouldn’t do well with all the standing and waiting in lines. So I requested the use of a wheelchair for the airports. This was my first time ever using a wheelchair for mobility.
I was nervous about people’s reactions to someone who could clearly walk using a wheelchair. I know that tons of wheelchair users are able to walk but the general population doesn’t know that. I’m happy to say that out of the hundreds of people I saw in the airports only 2 of them had bad reactions to me (that I was aware of at least).
As soon as we checked in and checked our bag I said to the lady behind the kiosk, “Excuse me, I had requested a wheelchair?” She impatiently said, “Well? Where’s the person the wheelchair is for?!?” And I said, “It’s for me…” She seemed a little confused but she made the call and got me my wheelchair. We were off to an interesting start. On some level I get it, I’m in my 30’s and look very healthy. But as it turns out, my body doesn’t do upright well and my age and looks don’t seem to matter to my POTS.
The other person who seemed weird about it was a lady waiting to board in the first group who spent a good 10 minutes just staring me down before boarding began. She seemed like she was trying to catch me in a lie or something. Like she was going to be the one to identify that I didn't really need that wheelchair. I made eye contact with her a couple of times but she never said anything out loud so neither did I. I wasn’t planning to escalate anything I didn’t need to.
Everyone else we interacted with was lovely about me using the wheelchair. No inappropriate questions or weird side comments. It was such a relief that so few people acted badly.
The interesting thing about using a wheelchair for POTS is that if I could have skipped all the waiting in lines I wouldn’t have needed the wheelchair nearly as much. Walking is better for me than standing, so the hardest parts are waiting in line at TSA and waiting in line to board. Since I was in a wheelchair I got to skip both those lines. But no current model of disability allows for someone to walk but not have to wait in lines. I don’t have a solution to this predicament, it’s just something I was thinking about.
Overall I’d say that using a wheelchair in the airports was a positive experience. It allowed me to save some of my energy for more important things like attending my friend’s wedding. It’s not a perfect solution but it did help, and that’s the game when you’re living with chronic illnesses: finding a bunch of things that help a little until it all adds up to a good quality of life.
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