Jackson's Make a Wish Pre-Trip Report

[ember303]

Hello All,

Jackson was approved to make a special wish through Make-A-Wish. I am super excited because he wants to go to Disney and Universal.

We are a family of four. My name is Ember. My husband is Charles. We have two sweet children. Bayleigh our daughter who is 7, and Jackson our wish kid who is 7 also. They are twins.

Jackson is a very bubbly boy. When he feels well he is FULL of energy! He is spunky, and literally the funniest kid I know. Best part of Jackson is that he does not mean to be funny, he just is! Jackson has a few diagnosis, but the two that qualified him for make a wish is severe crohns, and SVT. Jackson started having digestive problems when he was only a couple of weeks old. He started losing blood at that time, but they assumed it was a cows milk allergy. Switching formulas helped, but never fixed it. Years down the road, we would learn that all of these problems where from crohns. Jackson goes to the dr for countless procedures and tests at least every 2 weeks. He is now doing infusions which kill his immune system to stop the damage that is being done to his intestines.

Jackson and Bayleigh have both went to Universal and Disney. We where there in March, but the trip was cut short because of Jackson being so sick. We went back to Indiana where he needed to be hospitalized for complications to Crohns. So I am beyond thrilled for them to have a do over trip.

Okay enough about CRUMMY things!

I am a planner! I plan everything about vacation. This time I am going to try my best to not plan every detail of every single day : ) I am really hopeful we will be able to eat at Be our Guest! Jackson LOVES Stitch! So of course we will have to see him! Jackson LOVES dinos, so we will spend quite a bit of time at animal kingdom and universal Jurassic Park! Bayleigh loves Inside Out!!!!!! I have read they are at Hollywood Studios so that will also be a must for us! I really want them to enjoy give kids the world! It looks beyond amazing!

We are hopeful we are given the dates starting October 6th. We are on fall break, and Jackson really struggles with learning, and I do not want him to have to miss school. We are still early in the process! Thanks everyone!!!!!!


Update on the Jack man!

Jackson is no longer eating by mouth, but we are okay with that! We are hopeful that this will calm things down for him, and result in him not needing more meds or surgery! Thanks everyone for following along!

UPDATE

We heard from our wish granters who where the sweetest things ever on the phone! Seriously they where so sweetest! Jackson has had some more things going on, and will find out this week what the plan is. However we meet with them on Tuesday about his wish.

Update

Jackson's dr called and asked us a couple of questions because she was filling out the make a wish travel papers. I am assuming we will hear something soon! Jackson had another surgery a week ago. He is finally starting to play and do better!!!! SO EXCITING!!

Update!!!!

Our dates are October 4th-10th! We are so excited! Jackson is having a send off party next month. It will be at one of his favorite places. It is an indoor play area. He doesn't have a clue that his wish was granted! In fact he will not know until he goes to the send off party! I can not wait to see his face when he finds out!!!!!!!!

 

[CardDisMom]

Following along!

 

[ember303]

Following along!

Thanks for following! Jackson is pretty crummy right now, and is back on high dose steroids. We are hoping that calms things down. I am super thankful for this trip as when trying to get him to do crummy things this has helped him comply a little better than usual. I will update you when we hear from the volunteers.

 

[jojuvanlaanen]

Following! Inside out characters are at hs?? That's awesome, we'll have to stop and see them too!

 

[ember303]

Following! Inside out characters are at hs?? That's awesome, we'll have to stop and see them too!

That is what I have read! I love all of your plans! I just went through them! This is my first trip I am not planning anything. Jackson has quite a bit of pain about 95% of the time. So because of this I don't want to plan anything because I don't know how he will be feeling so I am just going to go with the flow! YIKES that is going to be so hard! Just in the past on Disney trips Jackson has been sick, and I have had to pay cancellation fees. So this time I am only going to plan one meal.

Have you all ordered anything for the trip yet? I went to target the other day and bought a couple of shirts for the kiddos and hats. Is your little one in a stroller or wheelchair? My little guy has rheumatoid arthritis also and he just cant. I have been looking at rentals vs taking his chair.

 

[mamaVonna]

Following along. How's Jackson doing? What kind of progress have you made with shopping and trip prep?

 

[ember303]

I have ordered autograph books. I also have been looking at shirts, but as you know we still have bills when we get home so trying to not go too crazy lol! Been looking at some dresses for my princess thought about dressing the twins in Cinderella and Prince Charming costumes : )

Following along. How's Jackson doing? What kind of progress have you made with shopping and trip prep?

 

[ember303]

Hello All,

Jackson was approved to make a special wish through Make-A-Wish. I am super excited because he wants to go to Disney and Universal.

We are a family of four. My name is Ember. My husband is Charles. We have two sweet children. Bayleigh our daughter who is 7, and Jackson our wish kid who is 7 also. They are twins.

Jackson is a very bubbly boy. When he feels well he is FULL of energy! He is spunky, and literally the funniest kid I know. Best part of Jackson is that he does not mean to be funny, he just is! Jackson has a few diagnosis, but the two that qualified him for make a wish is severe crohns, and SVT. Jackson started having digestive problems when he was only a couple of weeks old. He started losing blood at that time, but they assumed it was a cows milk allergy. Switching formulas helped, but never fixed it. Years down the road, we would learn that all of these problems where from crohns. Jackson goes to the dr for countless procedures and tests at least every 2 weeks. He is now doing infusions which kill his immune system to stop the damage that is being done to his intestines.

Jackson and Bayleigh have both went to Universal and Disney. We where there in March, but the trip was cut short because of Jackson being so sick. We went back to Indiana where he needed to be hospitalized for complications to Crohns. So I am beyond thrilled for them to have a do over trip.

Okay enough about CRUMMY things!

I am a planner! I plan everything about vacation. This time I am going to try my best to not plan every detail of every single day : ) I am really hopeful we will be able to eat at Be our Guest! Jackson LOVES Stitch! So of course we will have to see him! Jackson LOVES dinos, so we will spend quite a bit of time at animal kingdom and universal Jurassic Park! Bayleigh loves Inside Out!!!!!! I have read they are at Hollywood Studios so that will also be a must for us! I really want them to enjoy give kids the world! It looks beyond amazing!

We are hopeful we are given the dates starting October 6th. We are on fall break, and Jackson really struggles with learning, and I do not want him to have to miss school. We are still early in the process! Thanks everyone!!!!!!


Update on the Jack man!

Jackson is no longer eating by mouth, but we are okay with that! We are hopeful that this will calm things down for him, and result in him not needing more meds or surgery! Thanks everyone for following along!

UPDATE

We heard from our wish granters who where the sweetest things ever on the phone! Seriously they where so sweetest! Jackson has had some more things going on, and will find out this week what the plan is. However we meet with them on Tuesday about his wish.

Update 3
We met with the granters! They where AMAZING!!! They brought lots of goodies for both kids! They where fun and sweet! One of them sat on the floor and played with Jack! It was so sweet! Jackson is having yet another surgery on Thursday. I am so excited for him to get a break! They said they usually honor the first dates. Since Jackson has infusions we have to work around those. Since he was recently diagnosed with arthritis also they had to make his infusions more frequently. However it still worked out around the dates we already requested! PHEW!!!!!