An Experience and several recommendations

[fairykin]

Good Morning Everyone,

I wanted to share a recent experience of our trip to Disneyland several weeks ago. My DH who had never had any back problems, within 3 hours of being on our quick weekend get away ruptured several disks in his back. We spent only 3 hours at the park and the rest of the trip in the hotel room.

So instead of having a quick fun filled 3 day weekend. We ended up being in a hotel room for 11 days.
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I wish to recommend the American Hotel Doctors.
They are a 24 Hour In Hotel Care Service.
There number is 1-888-337-7007.

When you call the number, you are speaking directly with the Doctor. You do not have to go through a answering service and wait for a call back.
They bring the prescriptions you need and as in our case, DH ended up having to have a pain shot and 3 scripts.


Also, we had a wonderful experience with our hotel. We were staying at Holiday Inn since it was a quick get away weekend. I had prepaid our stay at a special prepay rate. So when we had to extend it by first 3 days, then 3 more and then 3 more.. they extended that special rate to us.

Which was very nice..and all i could think was, Thank Goodness we are not staying onsite and having a 3 day trip turn into 11 nights at those rates.

It was a not good experience to have someone you love not well so far from home. DH is always so strong and this hit us unexpectantly. Since returning home We have been going through Doctor visits, MRI, and Physical Therapy. Today we will go back for the results of the MRI.

A couple of more recommendations.. would be... the following food delivery places.
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You and I... Thai Cuisine
www.uandithaicuisine.net

We ordered the following several times. In fact so frequently the Owner would send little extras each time since the delivery person told them of DH being ill.

The chicken satay ..very yummy
Marinated sliced chicken breast in a mixture of thai spices and coconut milk, grilled and served on bamboo sticks with a delicious peanut sauce. I never ate the sauce but loved the chicken satay, it also came in beef though i never tried it.
This along with the Pineapple Fried Rice made a nice meal for two.

Orange Chicken ..DH liked this alot
Small slices of little breaded chicken in a flavorful orange sauce.

Pad Kee Moo..Very tasty..
Sir fried flat rice noodle with egg, Chinese broccoli, black sweet soy sauce
and choice of shrimp, chicken, beef or pork.

Pineapple Fried Rice..We ordered this each time.
Exotic dish with eastern spices and fried with shrimp, pork, crab and pineapple chunks with rice.
Large Portion


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Another delivery food service we liked was
Marri's
www.MarrisPizza.com

Asparagus & Artichoke Salad
Fresh asparagus & artichoke hearts on a bed of fresh cristp lettuce together with chopped tomatoes, onions and mozzarella cheese.

{Please note this..IF you get the Chicken Ceasar Salad..***Have them put the chicken separate on the side*** We didn't know to do this and they put hot grilled chicken on salad with dressing already on it and sealed it for delivery, it was Mushey}

Hawaiaan pizza
Great homemade crusts, nice cheese and toppings.

This place also delivers 2 liter Sodas along with Wine and i think beer.

They have a wide array of pastas and also sandwiches.

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The final recommendation is referencing the treasure box exchange that EmmersIsTheMommy and I mailed out before our trip.

This was such a delight to do with her, she created the sweetest Disney themed night shirts with the babies names on them and sent great treasures for their trip. EmmersIsTheMommy is a true Fairy Godmother in the sweetest sense of the word.

We both did not want to enter into a disboard trade, we simply wished to make treasure boxes for each others christmas trips. It was a wonderful experience.

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That's the end of the recommendations.

We went on this trip with no reservations and no plans to do this or that..simply to spend time together. Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllll...we ended up doing that! Just not in the way we imagined.

Lucky for us that we are passholders and can go anytime. DH promised me a do over as soon as he is back on his feet and up to it.

I will say this..upon reflection of our experience, I have cancelled our paid for Disneyland Grand Californian trip at christmas and rebooked at the Holiday Inn. I just kept thinking.. we will be taking 3 elderly people and 3 children under the age of 6..along with DH and I... what if someone happens and we end up having to extend the trip like last time?????

It was very nice to get the money back and rebook at Holiday Inn..the 3 rooms and have it cost less than half of one of the three packages I paid for. In fact I think I'm going to buy passholders instead of hoppers since the difference is not that big for the time we will be there.

So good came out of a tiring and challenging experience. And we found a couple of good resturants that delivered things we like.

I hope each of You have safe travel on Your upcoming trips and good health.

We have our fingers crossed for our trip in December.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Oh Lordy - what a trip! I'm glad you finally made it home - that can be a chore to fly with intense back pain. I work in radiology and know what kind of issues you are dealing with. Hopefully it was a freak incident and not triggered by a ride.

I didn't remember seeing anything about you guys having a problem earlier, did you guys have a laptop with you at all, that you could let us know? I know several of us locals would have been happy to help and bring you things that you could have needed. After all, this is our community!

Take care and send an update to let us know how he's doing!

 

[fairykin]

Hi Nancy,

You know what..we flew up there up DH can't sit so there was No way we could fly home. We had to call our son who is in his second year of college to drive to california from texas, in our tahoe with a airmattress and a eggshell over it in the back made up as a bed. And our son drove us home.

It was simply horrible.

We struggled back and forth between do we go in the hospital in california so far from home..or do we go home to see Doctors who we are friends with. So we came home.

It was a learning experience. We both decided if we had it to do again, we would go to the hospital in californian.

Yet the situation was.. we were without a car as we flew and took a taxi. I didn't know how to get around if the amublance picked up DH. It was alot of hard choices.

He is now in physical therapy as we want to put off surgery as much as we can.

He still has trouble sitting.

It's hard to see him like this as normally He is so confident and strong, walking the golf course 3 times a week. Now it's a struggle to stay up for more than a little while.

 

[fairykin]

Nancy,

That was so sweet of You to have offered to help. I wish I had Your number before the trip. At one point I was really worried and sad.

By the way I've appreciated your posts on reviews and have reservations at christmas for the napa per seats you suggested. Thank You for that.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I am so sorry. I really do know what you are going through. I do Nuclear Med and used to do MRIs and have seen a lot of pain in my day. Thank God for your son and that he could do that for you and wasn't somewhere farther away without a car. (I moved here from St. Louis, so I know how long of a drive it is from Texas!)

UC Irvine Medical Center was just the next exit down the freeway, too. Not more than 2 miles. You guys did what you thought was best at the time. Gotta always respect that.

It will get better. They can fix him. Just takes time. He's got vertebrae pressing on nerves right now and until he gets some relief from that, well it just takes time.

My best to all of you. You'll need an extra dose of pixie dust to increase your strength for a little while!

 

[Marciern22]

Goodness! I'm an RN in ICU. I wish I would've known you were here and needed help. Nancy and I would've been on our way.
We are a community unto ourselves. Next time, if you need anything, don't hesitate to get the word out there. We'll come running!

 

[fairykin]

Nancy,

It was interesting to have the experience we had. Because when one goes on vacation...you plan things to do..plan meals... and yet.. i never plan to go to the hospital. I had no idea where it was located to us.
Yet I will know that information and just to be on the safe side print out an online map to and from the hospital from the hotel we are staying at.

Thank You for Your compassion. I just want him to get better.

When we go at christmas I may pm You to get Your number just to keep in my wallet.

And Yes! We do have a great son! It was a long trip there and a longer trip back and He did so good. I think it was a profound experience to see his father in such poor condition when he is always the responsible caring one..it placed our son in that role for the drive. It makes me cry, yet what a wonderful Man He has grown into.

 

[fairykin]

MarcieRn ,

Oh how sweet of You! I will remember that for future trips. I wish I had known what to do at the time.

There is a True Sense of Community amongst people on this board. Know that as it is received it is also extended should You ever find Yourself in west texas and in need of a friend.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Aww Farykin I love ya You're a sweetheart and I'm glad to know you

I'm still so sad for you guys.

 

[fairykin]

Em!

You have been a really unexpected suprise i found on this board. What a wonderful friend you've turned out to be.

Thank You for that.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

And to think. A silly little "boo" would bring us together LOL

 

[fairykin]

Right! And I'm such a computer dufus i deleted it.

It took me months to figure out how to make a ticker.

We are finally at HOME. My parents were so great to have us stay at their home..there is NO way DH could have made it up and down the stairs in our home.. all our bedrooms are upstairs.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Of course you can PM us - we'd love to hook up with you when you're back at Christmas time!

I'm glad you got your Napa Reservation. You will really enjoy it. I feel very pampered there! Our anniversary is on Dec 23 and we are usually at the GCH for dinner that night. We come down and get our Santa photos and then have dinner. (We got married there is 2001 and our rehearsal dinner was at the Napa.)

I have to say one thing - since I have become a parent, getting sick on a trip and not being able to take care of my children has been one of my biggest fears. (I got horribly sick with food poisoning on a road trip - with a detour to a small county hospital ER - when my oldest was 3 weeks old and I was nursing only. I don't have many issues/fears, but that has scarred me for the last several years and will for several more to come.) I can only imaging what you went through. Brought me to tears as I read it - and I don't generally get emotional about reading a forum.

No one plans for these things to happen on trips, but we are only mortal. One of the most profound things I saw was at the airport in Zurich in 1992, as I was leaving on the train. A man outside my train window fell from what I percieved to be a heart attack. That was the worst feeling to me.... watching someone potentially die - probably far from his home in a foreign country.

Pete was commenting on the podcast once, that he would never say anything bad about the Contemporary Hotel at WDW again, after hearing a story from a DISer, who's son was hit by a car when running across the road using the Contemporary walkway to the MK. They were staying at the resort and the child was taken to Florida Hospital's Children's Hospital. The manager at the CR took such good care of them, made sure they had transporatation, gave them a room at no charge, since their stay was extended - they didn't have to do any of that, yet they did. Sounds like your stay at the HI.

Best of luck on the next round of tests. Don't forget to PM me. We'll look out for you!

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh my gosh, your poor hubby!!!!

We went on this trip with no reservations and no plans to do this or that..simply to spend time together. Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllll...we ended up doing that! Just not in the way we imagined.

That did make me smile a bit.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Just some questions.... What hotel were you at? Did they not have any problems extending your stay from 3 days to 11? Did he rupture his back while in DL? On a ride? Glad all os OK now!!!