I will be flying to Australia six months after surgery (a 15-hour flight from the West Coast, not to mention six hours to get to LAX from the East Coast). I am wondering how people cope with particularly long plane flights post-surgery. I don't think I will want the airline meals, but I also don't think it will be possible to get protein shakes through security. Also, the air on planes is quite dry and it's easy to get dehydrated. I'd love to hear how others have handled long plane flights!

I think I saw somewhere on the forum that you can get protein shakes through security by claiming them as a medical necessity. I can't find the thread it was on, but on this is what it says on TSA's website:

• TSA allows larger amounts of medically necessary liquids, gels, and aerosols in reasonable quantities for your trip, but you must declare them to TSA officers at the checkpoint for inspection.

1 minute ago, anonbaribabe said:

I think I saw somewhere on the forum that you can get Protein Shakes through security by claiming them as a medical necessity. I can't find the thread it was on, but on this is what it says on TSA's website:

• TSA allows larger amounts of medically necessary liquids, gels, and aerosols in reasonable quantities for your trip, but you must declare them to TSA officers at the checkpoint for inspection.

Thanks so much, anon--that's extremely helpful!

45 minutes ago, Recidivist said:

I will be flying to Australia six months after surgery (a 15-hour flight from the West Coast, not to mention six hours to get to LAX from the East Coast). I am wondering how people cope with particularly long plane flights post-surgery. I don't think I will want the airline meals, but I also don't think it will be possible to get Protein Shakes through security. Also, the air on planes is quite dry and it's easy to get dehydrated. I'd love to hear how others have handled long plane flights!

My airline meals are usually amazing, I also usually purchase & eat yogurt, jerky, protein bars or nuts from the stores in the airports. Also water and sleep.

YOu can take powdered shakes, a shaker bottle, and ask for milk. Also, some flights will have a fruit/cheese plate. You can take things like cheese, parm chips, etc. Take a water bottle and fill it after security and before the flight. Continually fill it during the flight. Make sure you get up and walk a bt every hour or so. Find a place to stretch. And, most importnat - enjoy the trip. I am SO jealous

2 minutes ago, notmyname said:

YOu can take powdered shakes, a shaker bottle, and ask for milk. Also, some flights will have a fruit/cheese plate. You can take things like cheese, parm chips, etc. Take a Water bottle and fill it after security and before the flight. Continually fill it during the flight. Make sure you get up and walk a bt every hour or so. Find a place to stretch. And, most importnat - enjoy the trip. I am SO jealous

Thanks, notmyname--great suggestions. I hadn't thought of powdered shakes, but that's such an obvious solution! Actually, it's not a trip--I'll be moving to Australia in August. ?

Just now, Recidivist said:

Thanks, notmyname--great suggestions. I hadn't thought of powdered shakes, but that's such an obvious solution! Actually, it's not a trip--I'll be moving to Australia in August. ?

That's right - I remember you saying that before. Take me with you!

One other hint - check the meal options (they won't have specific foods, but will have different types) - see if they have something that looks healthier (maybe a heart healthy, or something like that?) and select that. You can eat it or not, depending on how you feel on the day.

You can order all sorts of special airline meals, there should be something that will suit you. Other than that pack healthy snacks ( not liquid) but make sure you consume them all before you get off the plane in Australia. We have very strict biosecurity rules and if you try to smuggle food in the sniffer dogs will get you.

If you really want protein shakes bring the kind that get mixed with water. You will be able to get that on the plane. I also suggest leaving the shake in its individual packet so it looks like what it is rather than some kind of illegal drug

13 hours ago, Recidivist said:

I will be flying to Australia six months after surgery (a 15-hour flight from the West Coast, not to mention six hours to get to LAX from the East Coast). I am wondering how people cope with particularly long plane flights post-surgery. I don't think I will want the airline meals, but I also don't think it will be possible to get Protein Shakes through security. Also, the air on planes is quite dry and it's easy to get dehydrated. I'd love to hear how others have handled long plane flights!

I flew from Perth Australia to Canada only 5 weeks post op. I didn't bother with protein shakes, just had regular airline meals and ate the protein only - chicken, eggs, etc. I asked the flight attendants for water constantly so I was not dehydrated at all. The majority of the flight across the Pacific is overnight anyway, so sleep as much as you can.

9 hours ago, elcee said:

You can order all sorts of special airline meals, there should be something that will suit you. Other than that pack healthy Snacks ( not liquid) but make sure you consume them all before you get off the plane in Australia. We have very strict biosecurity rules and if you try to smuggle food in the sniffer dogs will get you.

If you really want Protein Shakes bring the kind that get mixed with Water. You will be able to get that on the plane. I also suggest leaving the shake in its individual packet so it looks like what it is rather than some kind of illegal drug

Thanks, Elcee. I think that powder protein packets (and lots of water) are the way to go. Thanks for the reminder about the strict biosecurity rules. We went on a cruise from Sydney once and admitted we had stepped in "wild" water in New Caledonia and had a long secondary screening as a result.

1 hour ago, MMME said:

I flew from Perth Australia to Canada only 5 weeks post op. I didn't bother with Protein Shakes, just had regular airline meals and ate the Protein only - chicken, eggs, etc. I asked the flight attendants for Water constantly so I was not dehydrated at all. The majority of the flight across the Pacific is overnight anyway, so sleep as much as you can.

Thanks, MMME. I've been looking at the food photos on another thread, and I see that Silly Kitty eats lots of meals on planes. It's very hard to know what it's going to be like on the other side, and sometimes I imagine it's going to be really difficult to find suitable things to eat outside of my own house.

5 hours ago, Recidivist said:

Thanks, MMME. I've been looking at the food photos on another thread, and I see that Silly Kitty eats lots of meals on planes. It's very hard to know what it's going to be like on the other side, and sometimes I imagine it's going to be really difficult to find suitable things to eat outside of my own house.

If you are looking for over processed items that hardly resemble food you will find your choice a lot more limited than you are used to. If you are happy with fabulous fresh produce , artisan breads, divine yogurt etc then you will be happy.

And if you like coffee apparently ours is better than in Italy

5 hours ago, Recidivist said:

Thanks, Elcee. I think that powder Protein packets (and lots of water) are the way to go. Thanks for the reminder about the strict biosecurity rules. We went on a cruise from Sydney once and admitted we had stepped in "wild" Water in New Caledonia and had a long secondary screening as a result.

I usually tick that I have been to a farm or hiking in some remote area like Africa or Vietnam. It means I have to go through the something to declare route and generally They wave me through quicker than the nothing to declare route

I'm getting ready for my first travel in a few weeks, which will be about 8 weeks post-op and I plan on taking protein bars, almonds, and protein powder to mix with water wherever I go

On 1/17/2019 at 4:18 AM, elcee said:

I usually tick that I have been to a farm or hiking in some remote area like Africa or Vietnam. It means I have to go through the something to declare route and generally They wave me through quicker than the nothing to declare route

We did that last year on our return from Canada in June. We ticked "yes" to the streams, farms, etc box and got taken into the other line. When I told the guy we'd been gold panning in the Columbia River in BC he laughed and sent us on our way.