Dilema re: Resort Room

[Matt'sMom]

We currently have ressies for the begining of December, 2008 at Poly for our immediate family of three plus my parents. Unfortunately, my Dad just had a stroke last week, and is hospitalized. He has right side weakness and aphasia. We are looking at a lot of time in rehab for both speech and mobility issues.

Obviously, at this stage of the game, we have no idea what his recovery will be like. We are optomistic at this point that we will all still be able travel to WDW in c. 11 months (he has been so looking forward to visiting with his DGS!)... but have no way of gaging in advance just how mobile Dad will be at that time. I'm planning to--at the very least--have a folding wheelchair with us, so Dad does not wear himself out by trying to keep up with all of the walking. We will do what we need to do to make him comfortable and see that he has a wonderful vacation (assuming he will still want to go--of course it will be his call). But we really don't know if he will be walking at all, or entirely wheelchair dependent. And more importantly, we don't know if he will need the roll in shower &/or grip bars at the resort--which would mean altering our current reservation and reserving that specific room category (if he does need them).

Anyone with experience that could give me some advice on how far in advance we need to make that decision (regarding changing the ressie to reflect Dad's resort room needs)? Do the 'wheelchair accessible' rooms at the Poly book up especially fast, or are we potentially ok to wait a month or two more... in order to better evaluate how things are progressing? Or would it be smart to just contact my TA and have her change the ressies now--then change it back if Dad's recovery ends up going well, and we find that we won't need the special accomidations at the resort after all?

Just a lot to try and figure out at this stage. Trying to help my Mom to cope with all that is going on, trying to be an advocate for Dad at the hospital (insuring he is comfortable, informed and getting the appropriate rehab when he is ready)... and still trying to keep up with our family's WDW trip arrangements.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would hold off at least until he is out of the hospital and in rehab, and has been evaluated. At that time you will have a much better idea of what accomodations are needed.

The big thing is will he need a room that is fully accessible or will he be able to get by with one that only has grab bars and a raised toilet. That will not be known until he has started his PT. Once there has been a PT/OT evaluation and projection then is when you should consider wehat modifications to the reservations are needed.

 

[Matt'sMom]

Thanks. That was my thoughts as well.

I just needed to hear from someone else that I was taking the proper approach.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I'm so sorry this has happened and I wish all the best to your father, yourself and your family. I hope he has a speedy and complete recovery.

Disney is extremely wheelchair accessible, so don't worry about that. Even if he is unable to transfer when you travel (which I sincerely hope is not the case), there are a lot of attractions he will be able to enjoy. However, that's not something you need to be thinking about just yet, you have a long time before you need to even look at crossing that bridge.

As for the room, I'm with Cheshire; see how it goes and plan from there. They don't even begin assigning rooms until about a week before the Guests arrive, but obviously there are only a certain number of accessible rooms. As has already been said, give him a few months to see how things go.

When you start to get deeper into planning, if you have any questions or problems, do come and post; we'll do all we can to help!

My thoughts and prayers go out to you all

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

I totally agree with the above. Wait at least untill the rehab has proparly kicked in. By then OT and PT probably be able to give you a prediction to work with. The Poly has a fair amount of accessible rooms, so you should have enough room to work with.

Unlike standard rooms, accessible rooms are blocked right when you book them. CRO will put you on hold while they're talking to special reservations to get the proper room secured and blocked for that specific ressie.

Good luck and get well for dad!

 

[SueM in MN]

Unlike standard rooms, accessible rooms are blocked right when you book them. CRO will put you on hold while they're talking to special reservations to get the proper room secured and blocked for that specific ressie.

Good luck and get well for dad!

And, since there are 2 types of handicapped accessible rooms, it would be better to wait a little bit until you know what kind he would need.
The 2 kinds of rooms are discussed a little in the disABILITIES FAQs, along with the phone number for Special Reservations.

With R sided weakness, he may do better with a room with a tub and grab bars - you can also request a bath bench to put inside the tub. The roll in showers can get kind of slippery for someone who is mobile but unsteady.
As the other posters mentioned, waiting until a little farther along in his recovery will help you know what he needs.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

And, since there are 2 types of handicapped accessible rooms, it would be better to wait a little bit until you know what kind he would need.
The 2 kinds of rooms are discussed a little in the disABILITIES FAQs, along with the phone number for Special Reservations.

With R sided weakness, he may do better with a room with a tub and grab bars - you can also request a bath bench to put inside the tub. The roll in showers can get kind of slippery for someone who is mobile but unsteady.
As the other posters mentioned, waiting until a little farther along in his recovery will help you know what he needs.

I do agree with everyone else that you should wait until her has PT/OT eval and then call ASAP after that because they may not have many of the roll-in showers if that is what he needs. I had booked one for my mom this past December and when I called to confirm they told me that I had not requested it and there was only one room like that at CR and someone was already in it. We managed, but I made sure to correct all future ressies we have. We called Housekeeping when we got to the room and they immediately brought up a tub seat

The roll-in showers do have a seat that can be pulled down from the wall as well as a hand-held shower head. I didn't notice that it was as slippery as the regular tubs were.

Good Luck and hopes for a speedy recovery.

Suzanne

 

[Matt'sMom]

Thank you so much, everyone. I knew I could count on you all for good advice.

Dad is starting to show improvement as of Monday--they had him out of bed for a while, and he was able to answer some "yes/no" questions and wave good-bye when visitors were leaving. It's progress.

Good to know that housekeeping will have the bath seats available, so that we do not need to bring our own. As soon as we have his PT/OT evaluations, I will start making calls regarding our reservations, and what if any specific needs we anticipate.

Again, thank you so much for the advice and support!

 

[dclfun]

I just wanted to say that I hope your Dad has a good and speedy recovery. It's so variable with a stroke, but the fact that he's already showing improvement is a good sign. I don't have any advice to add to the above....just wishing him well.---Kathy

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

Sorry to hear about your dad's stroke! I wish him the best in recovery!

Like everybody else said, do wait to see how his OT and PT goes. My uncle this past year had a complication from his radiation treatment(s) that caused the lower half of his body to be paralyzed. The docs thought he'd never walk again. But, he was at a rehab hospital for about a week (after being at the regular hospital for a couple weeks or so) and was able to walk again and go home! He walks and even drives again now (they took his license away when the docs thought it was going to be permanent, so he had to take a driving test to get it back). So, you never know what can happen!!!

 

[Matt'sMom]

Thank you so much, everyone, for your support and words of encouragement. It means a lot.

His first evaluation with the therapist(s) is scheduled for today. Hopefully it will go well. I did give him a simple, home-made communication board last evening... and after asking me to explain what each block represented, he was already using that for some basics (like telling his GS that he loved him!). Still frustrating when he wants to say something that I don't have on the current board... but we were figuring things out. And he is able to say a few words fairly clearly (no longer getting caught up in perseveration at all), so it looks promising that verbal should come back at least in part.

Now we just need to wait and see what the evaluations find, as far as his mobility issues are concerned.

 

[SueM in MN]

And he is able to say a few words fairly clearly (no longer getting caught up in perseveration at all), so it looks promising that verbal should come back at least in part.

Now we just need to wait and see what the evaluations find, as far as his mobility issues are concerned.

All the things you wrote sound very encouraging.
If he still has problems with verbal skills, there are wonderful (and portable) computer options these days for communication.