A couple of years ago I had gone home for Christmas. Home by the way is Michigan. I was supposed to leave Michigan to come back to where I live now (another state), but while I was in Michigan I got the flu, bad. I was visiting my Mom. A couple of days after I got the flu, my Mom came down with the flu also, which made it interesting because she had one bathroom and we both had the stomach flu.

Even more interesting was one of us had to take Lenore outside to do her business. I got through the worst of the flu first, only because I ended up in the emergency room with an IV since I was dehydrated. While I was sick, my Mom stayed up most of the nights with me, and also took care of my dog. When she hit the worst of it, I took the dog out and stayed up half the nights with her helping her out just like she did for me.

The day I was in the ER was the day I was originally supposed to fly back to where I am living now. We called the airline and told them the situation and they were good about changing my flights.

The day after I went to the ER I started in getting sick again. It wasn't as bad as it was originally, but it was bad enough. I think that was a Thursday. We rearranged my flights to go back to where I am living for New Year's Day. Little did I know on New Year's Day I would STILL have the flu. Our flight leaving Detroit left on time. We got to Chicago on time. Once we got to Chicago, it was about 1:30 in the afternoon. Our next flight was supposed to be at 3:00, but shortly before 3:00 there was an announcement that our flight was going to be delayed due to bad weather.

I had my cell phone with me, so I called my Mom to let her know our flight was delayed. AT first they thought it would only be about an hour late. My Mom was not happy at all that I was alone with my guide dog, in the Chicago airport, with the flu. After I had called her a couple of times, I realized my battery on my cell phone was almost dead.

An hour or so later another announcement was made that our flight was again delayed, indefinitely. They did not know when or if our flight was going to come in.

At this point I walked up to some people who were standing nearby and asked if they could assist us in finding someone who worked at the airport. One person asked me what was wrong, and I told him, my flight was delayed indefinitely, I had to go to the restroom, and my dog really needed to be relieved. He explained that he was a pilot, and he would be the pilot flying my plane if it ever came in. He assisted me to find the restroom and then took my dog out on a snow covered runway to relieve her.

After we were successfully relieved, we met again at the check in stand. The pilot took us back over to where he had originally been standing and I noticed an electric outlet on the wall. I asked him if it was okay if I plugged my cell phone in and he said yes. I was able to call my Mom again, who had been on the phone with the airlines, demanding they put me up in a hotel overnight if our flight was canceled. They told her, under the circumstances, that they would. They normally don't do that when it comes to bad weather. Truth be told, they didn't want to be responsible if anything happened to us at the airport.

At that point I decided to strike out and find the food court. I tried to pay attention along the way to any landmarks I could see so I could find my way back. A vendor had a stand close by and I asked him for sure if I was headed in the right direction. He said yes. I found the food court and got a couple of expensive pieces of spinach pizza and a coke. After I ate, I found my way back to where we were sitting to wait for our flight.

There was another announcement that we were having a blizzard, but somehow our flight was coming in. It was about 6:00 at this point and they predicted our flight would be in around 7:30. We would have to make a gate change though. They gave the gate number and another passenger assisted us to the new gate. When we got there, I found a place on the floor; put my carry-on in front of us. Lenore lay down next to me and I again plugged my cell phone in to keep it charged.

About 8:00 our flight arrived. Unfortunately since it was snowing so hard, we were able to board around 9:15 but did not take off until after 10:00. I sent a message through the flight attendant to the pilot that I was on board. Everyone at this point were taking it all in stride, playing computer games, games on their cell phones, and crossword puzzles. I felt awful and my poor dog was exhausted. We finally got to where we were going about 11:30. When we arrived the pilot came out to say goodbye to Lenore and I and wish us well. We got to our apartment about midnight.

I don't ever want to fly on New Year's Day again in a snowstorm with a dog and the flu. I did, however, email the airlines and commend that pilot for what he had done to take care of Lenore and me through that whole thing.

Toni