Please Read! A Word of Caution

[lucyanna girl]

Moderators: Please allow this post even though it is old news. If anything good is to come of our experience maybe it will be helping someone else to be prepared. With your permission occasionally I would like to re-post it, If just one person is helped that would be wonderful. Thanks.

Hi All,
Please read this. It could save the life of someone you love.
Many of you here on the DIS already know this story but there are also many who do not. I retell it because I wish someone had given me the same advice.
With the Holidays approaching many of us are planning trips, not only to WDW but other places we are unfamiliar with. I feel blessed that my story has a happy ending because it could very well have not.
Last Spring Break my DD (age 14 at that time) and I flew to Orlando for an 8 day trip to WDW. I am a planner at heart and had ADRs for most meals, a schedule which took into account every EMH, the right shoes, Body Glide, and used most every other tip I have ever read here. This was not our first trip and I felt fairly comfortable with my ability to drive in Orlando. What I did NOT have were clear driving directions to a major medical center.
Sarah complained of a tooth ache two days before we left. I took her to the dentist to make sure there was nothing which would "blowup" while we were away. He checked her teeth and decided there was no real problem. I asked him about ex-raying her mouth as the tooth hurting was one she had recently had filled but he felt it was unnecessary. The dentist gave her an antibiotic and some pain medication because we were going out of town.
While we were in Orlando Sarah's pain did not stop. In fact it got worse. I called the dentist who suggested I give her Alieve to "boost" the pain medication. My DD is not a complainer but she was in visible pain. I called our medical doctor at home to ask advice. They were unable to offer anything we were not already doing. Finally, I found a dentist there who saw her. He did ex ray her mouth and found that the packing in the filling in the tooth she had filled at home had shifted. This allowed the filling to press into the nerve. He removed the filling and redid it. This finally cured her tooth pain but because of the irritation he told me to keep her on the antibiotic and gave her a different pain medication.
I was convinced the worst was over but I was very wrong.
We are usually "commando style" park visitors. We love all the parks and know them well enough that even when crowded we can ride all our favorites numerous times. We also love Wishes, Fantasmic and Illuminations. On this trip we went to the parks but spent most of our time sitting on benches people watching and returned to our room at Caribbean Beach often to rest. Sarah loves to take pictures and she took around 600 on that trip because she could do it sitting down.
Sarah continued to feel ill but now she was also short of breath and told me on several occasions that her heart beat was fast. I took her to the first aid stations at WDW and at Universal. I considered trying to get an early flight home but she begged to stay and the a flight was hard to get during Spring Break. Besides, we only had two more days there. Surely now that we the tooth taken care of she would get better. I called our medical doctor again and their opinion was the heat and codeine in the medicine were causing her new problems. They suggested dis-continuing the pain medication with codeine and putting her back on the first pain medicine.
We were to fly home on Tuesday. Sunday night as we lay in bed at the CBR Sarah suddenly sat up in bed gasping. She was as pale as I have ever seen my normally fair skinned daughter. She clutched her chest and complained of shoulder pain. I made a horribly wrong judgement call then (added to the many I had made that week). Instead of calling an ambulance I decided to take her to the hospital myself. I stopped at Downtown Disney. There are paramedics on duty there. They checked her out and suggested I take her to Sand Lake Hospital. They said she seemed to have a small abnormality in her heartbeat, nothing really serious but I might want to get it checked out. I thought I understood their directions which included getting on I-4 and off at the Sea World exit. I did not understand as well as I thought and got very lost.
As I tried to find the hospital Sarah's condition deteriorated rapidly. I could write paragraphs about getting stopped by the highway patrol and how helpful they were Not but I will not. I lost precious time getting my baby the help she needed because I did not know how to get to the hospital.
When we finally arrived at the hospital they were the most wonderfully skilled and helpful people I have ever encountered. It was like being on an episode of ER. The level of competence and compassion of the staff of the Sand Lake Hospital is amazing.
Sarah was suffering from a sever blood loss. She was literally missing half of her blood. The blood level in someone her size and age should be around 14, Hers was 6.1 The best guess was a ruptured stomach ulcer. Her chest and shoulder pain was because she was about to go into heart failure because her heart body did not have enough blood. Within 2 hours she was in surgery, an 8 inch incision was made and a wonderful doctor explored her abdomen looking for the site of her blood loss. He came out of surgery and told me he was unable to pinpoint a cause for a healthy teen to loss so much blood. He said he felt she had a bleeding ulcer caused by all the medicine she had taken in conjunction with the Aleive. She was given 4 units of blood that night, spent a day in ICU and 5 days in the hospital recovering before she came home.
We have followed up with three doctors here at home and keep a very close watch on her blood level. It gradually built back up to an acceptable level but tests have never shown definitely what caused the problem. I just thank God everyday that we still have our sweet daughter in spite of all the mistakes I made.
Learn from my mistakes. I was very lucky.

1. Never travel without having clear, WRITTEN directions to a major medical center. In an emergency your brain may not function any better than mine did.
2. WDW resorts and parks will call an ambulance for you. Even if you aren't sure the situation calls for one, if there is any possibility it does, CALL FOR HELP. I had a rental car and thought I could drive Sarah myself. It was night, I was in an unfamiliar area and I got lost. It could have cost my daughter her life.
3. Trust your instincts. All week I was uneasy. But I kept calling doctors and dentists and going to first aid stations. I should have done something else. My mother's heart knew something was wrong.

I am not going to say I don't mean to frighten you because that is exactly what I do mean to do.
Along with all the other planning you do make emergency procedures part of your preparations. While Sarah was in the hospital we also saw a mother who became ill while traveling with her two children. The hospital allowed her young teen daughter and younger son to stay in the room with their mother. Along with my other changes I now make sure Sarah knows what to do if something happens to me as we frequently travel just the two of us.

Have a wonderful trip to WDW or where-ever you go. Just be prepared.

Penny

 

[Lan]

I hope your daughter is feeling better.

 

[MagicMe]

Thanks for the reminder. I can vouch that Disney is fantastic in these situations and you should use their experience. My BIL was at DL (a large group of them were actually there) when his mother became ill. They obtained a wheel chair and took her back to her room but she didn't get much better. The CM's at the hotel were great and called an ambulance. They also made sure that the family had a ride to and from the hospital everyday until she was released (luckily she was only there about a day and a half after they stabilized her from mixing up her medication).

It's very important to remember that you are in a strange place and they can handle these situations.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Yes, I agree 100%, please, please, please call for an ambulance if needed, they'd rather respond and not be needed than hear of a loss of life because they were not called. Also clear directions are a wonderful idea, Orlando/LB. Vista are huge areas and even if you think you know where you are going, traffic, road closures, etc can be a nightmare and unless you have written directions it can be very confusing. I've lived here since 1988 and I still "get lost" every once in awhile.

Most of all be prepared and take things seriously, the vacation can wait, your health can not.

 

[tinkersmama]

Thank God your daughter was ok. I am in tears reading your post. I travel a lot with just myself and my DD4. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her. Lots of

 

[momrek06]

OMG ..what a story. Thank the DEAR LORD, Sarah is okay. OMG...I had chills reading your story. If my son was standing here reading this (which he is not) he would again say another good reason for Auto Makers to have GPS in EVERY single car today.

Thank you for sharing your story with all of us here on the DIS. I am sure many out there reading this will take serious note of your idea to know exactly where and how to get someone to the hospital if needed.

My family went to WDW 2004 while one son was under MD's care (we already had the trip planned out and paid for before his liver decided to shut down). He got fabulous care in Boston and YET his MD's required follow up check ups while in WDW at the ARNOLD PALMER CHILDRENS HOSPITAL in Orlando. And that hospital, I might add, was basically HIDDEN and off the BEATEN PATH. But we found it with online directions and it was not an emergency, just a check up.

As my two Eagle Scouts will always say: BE PREPARED!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You offer good advice. As a hospital nurse, I see situations like this all the time. But you don't expect to have to deal with anything like it while you're on vacation, especially with a child.

On discharge, we tell our patients to call 911 if their chest pain is unrelieved at home, not to drive themselves or even have someone else drive them. Quite often we have ill people not only drive themselves, but fly home from distant locations to get back to Boston. We also tell them not to wait to come to the hospital. My own father died of a heart attack at home because he didn't go to the hospital in time.

I'm glad your daughter was ok. Thank you for sharing this difficult experience, and possibly helping other vacationing families.

 

[diz8297]

Thank you so much for sharing this, and I am so relieved that your daughter is ok. God Bless!

 

[escape]

Thanks for sharing, Penny. Very good advice! I remember when this happened but I didn't know the full story. to you and your daughter.

 

[Poohbear123]

I remember your story as well, and I thank you very much for sharing it again. Glad your DD is doing better, and hope all is well in the furture......Faith

 

[Cantw8]

Wow....I am so sorry, as parents we are constantly questioning and re-questioning our feelings. Children do not come with handbooks, I know on several occassions, I have over looked my better judgement in favor of what my children wanted. This is a well given heads up and I for one, appreciate it. Thank you and I hope all is well

 

[arminnie]

You offer good advice. As a hospital nurse, I see situations like this all the time. But you don't expect to have to deal with anything like it while you're on vacation, especially with a child.

On discharge, we tell our patients to call 911 if their chest pain is unrelieved at home, not to drive themselves or even have someone else drive them. Quite often we have ill people not only drive themselves, but fly home from distant locations to get back to Boston. We also tell them not to wait to come to the hospital. My own father died of a heart attack at home because he didn't go to the hospital in time.

I'm glad your daughter was ok. Thank you for sharing this difficult experience, and possibly helping other vacationing families.

Bolding by me - can't stress this enough. I had a friend die at 47 because she tried to drive herself. She died in the parking lot and no one knew she was there. Very, very sad. Medical staff have told me that it happens all of the time.

I had chest pains about 5 years ago and called 911. It turned out not to be serious but every single person that I came in contact from the ambulance to the hospital staff told me that I had done the right thing and not to hesitate to call if it happened again.

I had an emergency appendectomy at Sand Lake Hospital while visiting at Disney 4 years ago. The hospital was just great and I was able to go to Epcot 2 nights later for CP.

 

[sajetto]

OP, thanks for the reminder. That was a horrible situation and I am so glad you still have your daughter. I'm definitely getting directions to the closest hospital to keep with us and to give to ALL of our wedding guests while at WDW. You NEVER know what can happen.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Bumping up your message because its an important one

 

[CEDmom]

I started reading your story and almost stopped fearing it wouldn't have a happy ending. I'm so glad your DD is ok. I can't imagine how scary all that must have been.

 

[miss missy]

Thanks Penny! I have gone to WDW with my DD 4 times, she was 10-12 yrs old then. I did program my SIL's (in Naples) phone number in my cell and explained to DD what to do in case I fell ill... BUT I never thought to get direction to a hospital. Great idea! In fact I would call 911 now no matter what.

I remember posting to your DD when she got back on here. I am glad to hear she is doing well now.

Can't be too safe and cover all bases!

Thanks!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Thank you for the reminder! I remember what happened to your DD. It was an awful time. Thank goodness she is alright now.

You are very kind hearted to post this reminder (and your mistakes) so others can benefit from the situation you endured.

 

[floridafam]

I'm so glad I saw this. You are so right about calling an ambulance. It's so easy when you are in a strange place to want to keep things in your own hands. I have no doubt I probably would have driven one of my children to the hospital myself if they had been in the exact same situation. You just have a different mindset when you're not at home.

I'm so glad she was able to get the treatment she needed and that she is okay now.

Thank you for the reminder.

 

[ElizaB39]

Thank you.

 

[Kelli@40!]

I always travel with extensive ID for my kids. Current photos, fingerprint cards, old teeth, hair, fingernail clippings and weigh and measure them before I leave. I often travel without my husband, and always travel with this packet of info on my kids. I keep it all together and just have to update grab and go!

I'm glad you have reminded to go one step further and check my surroundings as soon as I arrive to my destination.

SOOOOO glad your DD is well.

Thanks for the tip.