Make a Wish (and other organizations!) - Wish Trippers...UNITE!! Volume 2!

[macntosh]

Too much to do, not enough time!!!!


Now I'm getting stressed, have to work today till 8 and tomorrow after reading to Mya's Class I have to work till 6. Wife has a list of honey do's that are half way done. Printer is out of ink and I wanted to print a shirt or two off. Why can't bill paying wait, and why won't the company I want to work for call me back?


Oh but I did find a really cool Make A Wish hat in the bottom of our backpack, that I'm wearing now. Did I say yet how cool the North Texas Chapter of MAW was? Their office is amazing and soon will have a wishing courtyard. I will have to post pictures when Mya's name is engraved on one of the leaves of the Wishing Tree.

 

[WishMom09]

Too much to do, not enough time!!!!


Now I'm getting stressed, have to work today till 8 and tomorrow after reading to Mya's Class I have to work till 6. Wife has a list of honey do's that are half way done. Printer is out of ink and I wanted to print a shirt or two off. Why can't bill paying wait, and why won't the company I want to work for call me back?


Oh but I did find a really cool Make A Wish hat in the bottom of our backpack, that I'm wearing now. Did I say yet how cool the North Texas Chapter of MAW was? Their office is amazing and soon will have a wishing courtyard. I will have to post pictures when Mya's name is engraved on one of the leaves of the Wishing Tree.

Just take a deep breath and you will get it all done!

That is great to hear that the North Texas MAW is cool!
I would love to see some pics! How cool about the leave on the wishing
tree!! I guess we will get oneof those too??!!

Have fun doing the last minuite things...and enjoy your trip!
Only 2 more days!!

 

[muttshouse]

Yeah!! Welcome to the Wish Trippers Unite thread!

I am glad you are enjoying all of the TR's! We didn't get to extend ours either...and we still had a great time!

Are you planning on starting a pre-trip report?

Boy these boards move fast!

Yes, the pretrip is started, although I'm still not sure what to include.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!

Question: How does the GKTW button work? Do we need to ask for anything in particular? We probably will not have a GAC card.

Should I expect to be done with the parks in half a day so it's ok to get the kids a nap?

 

[keetmommy]

We got Emma's dates!!!!

June 15-21....can't wait!!!!!

 

[ndloewen]

We are getting SO close!!! I am way beyond excited!! Got a couple of big give packages. I'll post pictures later today!!

 

[WishMom09]

I posted this in Caleb's PTR...but thought I might add it here too!
WE have an appointment to meet with the wish granter Monday @ 6:30!
We are so excited to make it official!!

 

[keetmommy]

I posted this in Caleb's PTR...but thought I might add it here too!
WE have an appointment to meet with the wish granter Monday @ 6:30!
We are so excited to make it official!!

Yay....it goes so fast then..we got our dates today and they were here last week....

 

[muttshouse]

We got Emma's dates!!!!

June 15-21....can't wait!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!

 

[LoveTheseKids]

We're leaving in 2 days!!!! YAHOO!!! I blogged about Kate's send off party - which was AMAZING, and then some, if anyone wants to read it!

www.lookthroughoureyes.blogspot.com


Dayna

 

[camarks1234]

whew. sorry I haven't posted in awhile. We went on the cruise and LOVED it. It was the most awesome vacation ever. I will do a trip report and post soon.

 

[Khalana]

We're leaving in 2 days!!!! YAHOO!!! I blogged about Kate's send off party - which was AMAZING, and then some, if anyone wants to read it!

www.lookthroughoureyes.blogspot.com


Dayna

Yay!!!! You must be beside yourself with excitement!!!! I peeked at your blog and I loved the part where you wrote about the people that make your children's medicine. Very touching...

whew. sorry I haven't posted in awhile. We went on the cruise and LOVED it. It was the most awesome vacation ever. I will do a trip report and post soon.

Looking forward to reading about it!!!!

 

[StefaniLyn]

I am considering submitting my daughter, Isabella, to receive a Make-A-Wish. Bella is 4 1/2 years old and has numerous medical complications. The long version of the story is on her website www.caringbridge.org/visit/isabellagriggs . The short version (which is still pretty long) is that she has a history of espohageal atresia, 3 congenital heart defects (1 repaired during open heart surgery at age 1), mild hearing loss, Celiac disease, epilepsy, and several other diagnoses. This past week, she spent 3 days in the hospital after losing 10% of her body weight and was diagnosed with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. They are testing her for cystic fibrosis but we believe it will be negative. Bella has spent over 200 days in the hospital and had 10 major surgeries, and too many minor procedures to count. She struggles every day to eat (can only tolerate puree textures) after being tube fed for 4 years and never learning how to eat until this past summer when she spent 8 weeks in a hospital learning how. Her newest diagnosis requires her to take 6 capsules of medication 4X each day, likely for the rest of her life.

I spoke with her GI doc at an appointment this morning and he said he would definitely recommend Bella for a Wish. His exact words were "we have recommended kids for Wishes before and their medical history pales in comparison to what Bella has gone through" For a long time, people have been telling us we should do this for Bella but we never really looked into it because I thought it was for children who have terminal illnesses. Now I understand that "life-threatening" is the qualification and several of Bella's issues definitely fall into this category. I am really hoping that Bella qualifies even though her diagnosis isn't terminal.

I have briefly read many of the posts on this thread (through many tears I might add) and I have found it very helpful. I guess now I am wondering if anyone has any advice for us when applying for Make A Wish or when they call us. My hope is that Bella will be wishing for a Disney trip, but of course, that is up to her. How long does the Wish process take? Do they call right away or speak to the physician first (although I don't remember a space on the form for her doctor's name)? How do they ask a 4 year old what they wish for and get reasonable answers? (I'm worried that she'll ask for a real pony!) Also, if your child wished for Disney, how much did you budget for meals? We've gone to Disney before but always done the meal plan so never budgeted for food.

Thanks so much in advance for any advice or tips you can offer us. I have already gathered a great deal of information from this thread and plan to be a frequent flyer if Isabella is granted a Wish!

 

[iu97alum]

I am considering submitting my daughter, Isabella, to receive a Make-A-Wish. Bella is 4 1/2 years old and has numerous medical complications. The long version of the story is on her website www.caringbridge.org/visit/isabellagriggs . The short version (which is still pretty long) is that she has a history of espohageal atresia, 3 congenital heart defects (1 repaired during open heart surgery at age 1), mild hearing loss, Celiac disease, epilepsy, and several other diagnoses. This past week, she spent 3 days in the hospital after losing 10% of her body weight and was diagnosed with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. They are testing her for cystic fibrosis but we believe it will be negative. Bella has spent over 200 days in the hospital and had 10 major surgeries, and too many minor procedures to count. She struggles every day to eat (can only tolerate puree textures) after being tube fed for 4 years and never learning how to eat until this past summer when she spent 8 weeks in a hospital learning how. Her newest diagnosis requires her to take 6 capsules of medication 4X each day, likely for the rest of her life.

I spoke with her GI doc at an appointment this morning and he said he would definitely recommend Bella for a Wish. His exact words were "we have recommended kids for Wishes before and their medical history pales in comparison to what Bella has gone through" For a long time, people have been telling us we should do this for Bella but we never really looked into it because I thought it was for children who have terminal illnesses. Now I understand that "life-threatening" is the qualification and several of Bella's issues definitely fall into this category. I am really hoping that Bella qualifies even though her diagnosis isn't terminal.

I have briefly read many of the posts on this thread (through many tears I might add) and I have found it very helpful. I guess now I am wondering if anyone has any advice for us when applying for Make A Wish or when they call us. My hope is that Bella will be wishing for a Disney trip, but of course, that is up to her. How long does the Wish process take? Do they call right away or speak to the physician first (although I don't remember a space on the form for her doctor's name)? How do they ask a 4 year old what they wish for and get reasonable answers? (I'm worried that she'll ask for a real pony!) Also, if your child wished for Disney, how much did you budget for meals? We've gone to Disney before but always done the meal plan so never budgeted for food.

Thanks so much in advance for any advice or tips you can offer us. I have already gathered a great deal of information from this thread and plan to be a frequent flyer if Isabella is granted a Wish!

Welcome!! You're in the right place! Sounds like all of you deserve a wish!

As for wishing, the first thing our MAW chapter did was screen us to see if we qualified. It took less than 5 mintues. Then we gave basic information (We did ours over the phone but I believe you can do it on line too), asked for physician information (and they sent them papers for approval to sign) and they assinged us wish granters (this took the longest for us). Within a couple weeks our granters wanted to meet Emy (we went to the Wishing Place) and have her tell them her wish.

She didn't wish for Disney (I think b/c we had already been there 6 months before) but for a Disney Cruise. She would have been almost 5. You'll be suprised at your little one. Have you talked to her about what she would wish? Ours asked for three wishes (just to make sure if #1 wish wasn't covered she'd have a back up). Talk to her and see if that's what she wants. There are some things that MAW can't do (buy a house, give citzenship,etc) but for the most part they're pretty amazing.

After her wish is approved it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months to get dates. Just depends on her wish.

As for planing costs, MAW gives you spending money to use for food, travel etc. It's usually enough for your whole family unless you want to do all sit downs (like cinderella's castle, etc.). Then you might need to budget more. I know from our trip that we had MORE than enough spending money and didn't have to worry!

Hope I helped a little!! Welcome again!!

 

[Somer]

Hi, I'm Somer. My daughter Jozlynn just got accepted for make-a-wish. We are still waiting to hear from the wish granters, but Jozlynn's mind is made up on meeting the princesses. We originally mentioned Beaches resort where she could meet sesame street, but her wish is definitely to go to Disney world. We can't wait for it to become official.

 

[chcmama]

I am considering submitting my daughter, Isabella, to receive a Make-A-Wish. Bella is 4 1/2 years old and has numerous medical complications. The long version of the story is on her website www.caringbridge.org/visit/isabellagriggs . The short version (which is still pretty long) is that she has a history of espohageal atresia, 3 congenital heart defects (1 repaired during open heart surgery at age 1), mild hearing loss, Celiac disease, epilepsy, and several other diagnoses. This past week, she spent 3 days in the hospital after losing 10% of her body weight and was diagnosed with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. They are testing her for cystic fibrosis but we believe it will be negative. Bella has spent over 200 days in the hospital and had 10 major surgeries, and too many minor procedures to count. She struggles every day to eat (can only tolerate puree textures) after being tube fed for 4 years and never learning how to eat until this past summer when she spent 8 weeks in a hospital learning how. Her newest diagnosis requires her to take 6 capsules of medication 4X each day, likely for the rest of her life.

I spoke with her GI doc at an appointment this morning and he said he would definitely recommend Bella for a Wish. His exact words were "we have recommended kids for Wishes before and their medical history pales in comparison to what Bella has gone through" For a long time, people have been telling us we should do this for Bella but we never really looked into it because I thought it was for children who have terminal illnesses. Now I understand that "life-threatening" is the qualification and several of Bella's issues definitely fall into this category. I am really hoping that Bella qualifies even though her diagnosis isn't terminal.

I have briefly read many of the posts on this thread (through many tears I might add) and I have found it very helpful. I guess now I am wondering if anyone has any advice for us when applying for Make A Wish or when they call us. My hope is that Bella will be wishing for a Disney trip, but of course, that is up to her. How long does the Wish process take? Do they call right away or speak to the physician first (although I don't remember a space on the form for her doctor's name)? How do they ask a 4 year old what they wish for and get reasonable answers? (I'm worried that she'll ask for a real pony!) Also, if your child wished for Disney, how much did you budget for meals? We've gone to Disney before but always done the meal plan so never budgeted for food.

Thanks so much in advance for any advice or tips you can offer us. I have already gathered a great deal of information from this thread and plan to be a frequent flyer if Isabella is granted a Wish!

Welcome, and your little girl sounds like she would definately qualify for a wish. The time frame varies on chapter and how many kids in your area have qualified for wishes. I applied for my dd online and got a call the next day and they got some more info from me like the dr.'s name. Then they contacted the dr. to make sure she qualified and to make sure she was up for it. We got a letter I think the next week saying we should be contacted in a few weeks by our wish granters. This took a while as there were a lot of wish children in our area at that time. We met with them and dd made her wish for a Disney cruise and they said they probably couldn't do that so dd decided on a caribbean cruise. Then it took month or so and they got back to us and gave us the information on picking out the cruise we wanted and that got confirmed in a couple weeks. So once the ball gets rolling it can happen pretty fast. Our dates were like 6 mths from the time we wished and that was the soonest they could do it.

Hi, I'm Somer. My daughter Jozlynn just got accepted for make-a-wish. We are still waiting to hear from the wish granters, but Jozlynn's mind is made up on meeting the princesses. We originally mentioned Beaches resort where she could meet sesame street, but her wish is definitely to go to Disney world. We can't wait for it to become official.

Welcome, and how exciting for your family. This is a great place to find out lots of MAW information.

 

[LindaBabe]

Welcome Stefanilyn & Somer! You'll find some great information here as well as a fabulous support group of people who've "been there done that" with all things medical.

Has anybody heard from Maroo? Hope she had safe travels.

 

[dmbfan]

I am considering submitting my daughter, Isabella, to receive a Make-A-Wish. Bella is 4 1/2 years old and has numerous medical complications. The long version of the story is on her website www.caringbridge.org/visit/isabellagriggs . The short version (which is still pretty long) is that she has a history of espohageal atresia, 3 congenital heart defects (1 repaired during open heart surgery at age 1), mild hearing loss, Celiac disease, epilepsy, and several other diagnoses. This past week, she spent 3 days in the hospital after losing 10% of her body weight and was diagnosed with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. They are testing her for cystic fibrosis but we believe it will be negative. Bella has spent over 200 days in the hospital and had 10 major surgeries, and too many minor procedures to count. She struggles every day to eat (can only tolerate puree textures) after being tube fed for 4 years and never learning how to eat until this past summer when she spent 8 weeks in a hospital learning how. Her newest diagnosis requires her to take 6 capsules of medication 4X each day, likely for the rest of her life.

I spoke with her GI doc at an appointment this morning and he said he would definitely recommend Bella for a Wish. His exact words were "we have recommended kids for Wishes before and their medical history pales in comparison to what Bella has gone through" For a long time, people have been telling us we should do this for Bella but we never really looked into it because I thought it was for children who have terminal illnesses. Now I understand that "life-threatening" is the qualification and several of Bella's issues definitely fall into this category. I am really hoping that Bella qualifies even though her diagnosis isn't terminal.

I have briefly read many of the posts on this thread (through many tears I might add) and I have found it very helpful. I guess now I am wondering if anyone has any advice for us when applying for Make A Wish or when they call us. My hope is that Bella will be wishing for a Disney trip, but of course, that is up to her. How long does the Wish process take? Do they call right away or speak to the physician first (although I don't remember a space on the form for her doctor's name)? How do they ask a 4 year old what they wish for and get reasonable answers? (I'm worried that she'll ask for a real pony!) Also, if your child wished for Disney, how much did you budget for meals? We've gone to Disney before but always done the meal plan so never budgeted for food.

Thanks so much in advance for any advice or tips you can offer us. I have already gathered a great deal of information from this thread and plan to be a frequent flyer if Isabella is granted a Wish!

Soon as I went to Isabella's website, I said " I know that cute little red head with a big smile"...Parent 2 Parent right??

I wanted to share with you that our GI put a wish in for Jake back in Oct, and our chapter is very strick as who qualifies. The paperwork alone that the Dr filled out and sent back was still not enough, our GI had to do a phone session with MAW and explained Jake's issues. Jake's medical issues are not terminal, but they are life threaten, and has been a progressive thing as well. I know our chapter told our GI that they do not really have alot of GI kids come thru, they even told my GI that not all kids that are waiting for various organ transplants qualifiy... the reason, once they get the transplant they will be healthy... We were both speechless.

Again, I know every chapter is different, some more strict than others. I am sure you will be fine and Isabella will get her wish.... but I just wanted to share our GI story and MAW.

But I will say once we were approved ( that took the longest as explained above) the wish granters came out at Christmas, and the following week we got the OK on his wish to Disney World, and the dates we choose. I really did not think it was going to move fast at all since the first part took so long.



Glad to see you over here...and look forward to hearing more...

 

[dmbfan]

Hi, I'm Somer. My daughter Jozlynn just got accepted for make-a-wish. We are still waiting to hear from the wish granters, but Jozlynn's mind is made up on meeting the princesses. We originally mentioned Beaches resort where she could meet sesame street, but her wish is definitely to go to Disney world. We can't wait for it to become official.

Yeah... Welcome...I can't wait to read more about your daughter and family...

 

[dmbfan]

I just posted a ADDED bonus that Jake will be getting during his wish trip on his pre trip thread, if anyone is interested....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2034240&page=9

I also wanted to share with you all a AWESOME website if you are looking into renting a stroller for your child on your trip.

This rental place has high end strollers ( not alot of different styles to choose from) at great prices, plus if your a wish family, they take 30% of the price. They will deliver and pick up the stroller at GKTW free of charge too.

We are in the process of getting Jake a jogger stroller thru the seating clinic at the hospital, and this liberty jogger that I have been researching was actually a stroller to rent... So now I get to try it out and make 100% sure this is what will work for Jake before we go ahead and have insurance pay for it, cause once they buy it, your stuck with it.

So if anyone interested in renting a nice stroller with NO hassel...check them out, Shannon is the owner and she was wonderful with me...

http://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/

 

[Khalana]

Hi, I'm Somer. My daughter Jozlynn just got accepted for make-a-wish. We are still waiting to hear from the wish granters, but Jozlynn's mind is made up on meeting the princesses. We originally mentioned Beaches resort where she could meet sesame street, but her wish is definitely to go to Disney world. We can't wait for it to become official.

Yay, you made it here!!!
At the beginning of this thread (back on page one) there's a list of lots of trip reports that you can take a look at to give you an idea of what to plan for. And you can ask any and all questions on here too! And when you have your dates, start a pre-trip report of your own. It will make the trip even more special.