My Mom and I just got back from WDW. We went May 13-19 to celebrate her 76th birthday. 2 weeks prior to going, she suffered a small stroke. She was released from rehab on Friday, May 10, and we left Monday, May 13th! The folks in rehab weren't too thrilled about her going and thought I was crazy. Her neurologist said it wasn't a problem.
This trip was really important to both of us. Mom almost died 2 years ago from internal bleeding, so she is not in really great health. We have continued to go to WDW. Most of the trips over the last 2 years have been very difficult. She has some dementia, so sometimes she can be pretty miserable. Most of our trips, I have spent about 75% of the time crying. We went in March for my birthday, and it was really bad. She was slightly disoriented, and was very nasty. She said some horrible things to me.
Even tough all of that happens, she still enjoys the trips.
This trip was great! It was the best trip we have had in years! After having the stroke, they adjusted medicines, and it made a tremendous difference. She was smiling the whole trip and truly enjoyed herself. She was more willing to compromise and allow me to do some of the things that are important to me. We normally don't get to be in the parks for more than about 2 hours at a time. The last few times, I got to do nothing at all. This time I was able to get a guest assistance card and it was wonderful. This enabled me to do a few of the things I really enjoyed during our very limited time in the parks. Everyone gave Mom extra special attention, and she just loved it! We went to Canada and Crystal Palace. Canada brought out a piece of chocolate cake with Happy Birthday written on the plate. She loved it!
I am so glad that I did what I thought was right and took her. She realized that she still can do things. It really made me feel great to finally see her have a good time. She didn't want to come home! We both needed this trip. In addition to her suffering the stroke, a few weeks prior to that a toilet in the house overflowed when she was home alone and couldn't shut the water off. There was quite a bit of damage, so I had to do a lot of moving things. During the 2 weeks she was in the hospital with the strokes, the contractors were in the house painting, laying new linoleum, cleaning carpets, etc. I thought I was going to go crazy. It is especially difficult because it is just Mom and I.
When we returned, I was supposed to call the folks at rehab to set up additional outpatient therapy. I could tell they were surprised when I said how well everything went. I have definitely learned over the past 2 years to trust myself and do what I think is right.
This trip was really important to both of us. Mom almost died 2 years ago from internal bleeding, so she is not in really great health. We have continued to go to WDW. Most of the trips over the last 2 years have been very difficult. She has some dementia, so sometimes she can be pretty miserable. Most of our trips, I have spent about 75% of the time crying. We went in March for my birthday, and it was really bad. She was slightly disoriented, and was very nasty. She said some horrible things to me.
Even tough all of that happens, she still enjoys the trips.
This trip was great! It was the best trip we have had in years! After having the stroke, they adjusted medicines, and it made a tremendous difference. She was smiling the whole trip and truly enjoyed herself. She was more willing to compromise and allow me to do some of the things that are important to me. We normally don't get to be in the parks for more than about 2 hours at a time. The last few times, I got to do nothing at all. This time I was able to get a guest assistance card and it was wonderful. This enabled me to do a few of the things I really enjoyed during our very limited time in the parks. Everyone gave Mom extra special attention, and she just loved it! We went to Canada and Crystal Palace. Canada brought out a piece of chocolate cake with Happy Birthday written on the plate. She loved it!
I am so glad that I did what I thought was right and took her. She realized that she still can do things. It really made me feel great to finally see her have a good time. She didn't want to come home! We both needed this trip. In addition to her suffering the stroke, a few weeks prior to that a toilet in the house overflowed when she was home alone and couldn't shut the water off. There was quite a bit of damage, so I had to do a lot of moving things. During the 2 weeks she was in the hospital with the strokes, the contractors were in the house painting, laying new linoleum, cleaning carpets, etc. I thought I was going to go crazy. It is especially difficult because it is just Mom and I.
When we returned, I was supposed to call the folks at rehab to set up additional outpatient therapy. I could tell they were surprised when I said how well everything went. I have definitely learned over the past 2 years to trust myself and do what I think is right.
