Friend is having major neck surgery with rods...

[minandmick]

and is coming on vacation this spring.

We are not sure of the exact date of the surgery, but at this point she could either be 6 weeks or 2 weeks post op at the time of the trip.

What do I (we) need to know? I'm going to try my best to help her have a good time but I am worried about which rides she can and can't do and also the amount of walking that will be required.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

thanks in advance.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Having had neck surgery with rods (C2-> skull fusion w/ Chiari decompression - the fusion did involve rods and screws) in August, I think she needs to rethink her plans for going on vacation. At 2 weeks post-surgery I was still on high amounts of pain meds and muscle relaxants that kept me fairly drugged and in a hard neck brace 24 hours a day. When I wasn't on them I was in tears from pain. At 6 weeks I was out of the neck brace and could manage about a 5-6 hour outing with lots of rest before and after, but couldn't manage it multiple days in a row. I had also had another surgery the day before on my lower back so I did have that complication (along with an overall connective tissue disease), but having talked to other people who've had just the neck done, they had similar recoveries to what I had.

When planning, I didn't plan that I'd be able to manage any sort of trip for at least 3-4 months post surgery, other than to go back to see my surgeon for a follow-up (I had surgery 7 hours away from where I live). I did end up going to a week-long conference 3 months after my surgeries and even taking it easy and getting lots of rest (the conference was at a hotel), it was pretty rough. My conference, in fact, was in Orlando and other than the one evening where I spent about 2 hours at DTD with friends, I didn't go to Disney and had no urge to because I didn't feel up to it.

I think your friend needs to talk to her surgeon and see what he or she says, but I think he or she is likely to say what I'm saying. My impression is that WDW is pretty good about refunding or rescheduling trips that need to be moved for medical reasons.

If she does go, I'd rent a wheelchair for people to push her in so that she's not spending the extra energy on walking. I'd also plan to not spend more than 2-3 hours in the parks at a time (possibly less if it's going to take a while to get from the parks. She's not going to be able to manage all but the absolute tamest of rides. Nothing with any sort of neck warning and I'd even worry about something like Soarin' that close to surgery even though it's tame.

I hate to be so negative in my predictions, but I wouldn't want your friend to be miserable at WDW. It's much better to reschedule the trip to a time when she's feeling better!

 

[Bete]

This is dynamite you are playing with---reschedule the trip or cancel it.

 

[minandmick]

Thank you for your responses. I have to admit that I am worried for her well-being on this trip but she is adamant about going! I get the impression that her surgeon has told her she won't be able to go, but she hasn't outright told me that. She told me, "unless I'm dead, I'm going to Disney."

I think I've just given in at this point....She doesn't want to cancel and I don't know what else to do! I have tried to tell her that this will not be the trip she was looking forward too and I have offered to reschedule till fall or whenever she is feeling better. No.

IF she is able to make it through recovery enough to do this, I figure that at the LEAST, she would need a wheelchair (I'm thinking electric because I can't push her for 5 days) and as far as I can tell, the only ride we would be able to do is Peter Pan. Seriously, I can't think of another....maybe the Ellen or The Great Movie Ride? They are really the only ones that don't jerk, don't go backwards and aren't on a boat where other boats can run into each other.

I've asked those that know both of us what they think...I get answers anywhere from, "she will know if she can't go"...to "I think she will be fine"...to "bring a third person with you to help"....to, "just wait, she will realize before the trip... to my best friend telling me to cancel the whole thing.

This is dynamite you are playing with---reschedule the trip or cancel it.

This is where my gut feeling is..........but again, she is putting her foot down on going. I even offered to have another friend "buy her out" of the vacation so that she isn't losing $$.

I know you can't tell me what to do, but what would you do in my shoes?

 

[WheeledTraveler]

If you can't push her, tell her you can't go because you can't keep her safe. That soon post-fusion she's not going to be safe to drive an ECV of any type. At 2 weeks she will be literally too drugged. At 6 weeks (assuming she's having some sort of fusion) she still won't have much range of motion in her neck so won't be able to see enough around her. I'm a manual and electric wheelchair user. I definitely wouldn't have been able to drive my powerchair (which I've had for several years) at 2 weeks. At 6 weeks it would have been iffy. It never came up for me because at that point I wasn't ever going anywhere alone so I always had someone to push, but I wouldn't have felt safe if it had.

If you're flying at the 2-week mark many airlines require a doctor's note clearing her to fly that soon after surgery.

My guess is that she may be feeling a bit desperate. I don't know the details of her surgery, but if she's really been feeling badly for a while, she may see Disney as the escape. It may also be what she's seeing as a "prize" for getting through surgery. I certainly felt that way before my surgeries! I planned a bit more on the "worse" side of things, but I completely understand how she's probably just not willing to admit how bad it will be afterwards.

I think what you really need to point out to her is that yes, it's Disney, but Disney will be there and it will be a lot more fun for her if she waits until her body's healed some more.

 

[Piper]

I had this done and I agree. I have a high pain tolerance due to dealing with RA from childhood. Even with that, there is no way she will be able to deal with WDW until around 3-4 months after the surgery.

Even then, she won't be able to ride the "jerky" rides or one with extreme acceleration. This isn't an "easy surgery" .... tell her she doesn't want to undo all the doctor has just done!

It is also very stressful to drive an ECV at WDW. You need to be very alert and looking all around you because people don't see you. She won't be able to rent a power wheelchair unless she has one that she uses at home (they may look easy, but they are very sensitive and difficult to get used to.)