Hi Grandma Bonnie!!! And
It's an honor to have you read my PTR!
Now, as I'm holding my laptop power plug with one hand , I'll take a deep breath and reflect on what I wish for this trip.
Stay healthy, so I can enjoy it (and so can Mama)
Take beautiful pictures. Some with Disney icons (like the castle, fireworks, etc.), some breathtaking... some just journaling our trip for the scrapbook... and some really beautiful ones, but with nothing Disney in them, so I could maybe sell them!
Have fun even though I'll be in a wheelchair... Maybe forget about the wheelchair, even.
Have good mother-daughter time with Mama... I don't remember which DISer said it, but just like in that Disney commercial (we talked about it when we last saw it, in fact)
Be able not to talk about dad, even though we do often need to vent. It's never good for our mood, and never magical
Come at the end of the 18 days not feeling like we missed anything, satisfied. Which doesn't necessarily mean having seen and done everything.
Successfully surprise Mama for Mother's day : the brunch and the gift basket (and the tank tops!)
Meet all the characters that are special to me (like sorcerer Mickey , the Mary Poppin penguins and Marie)
See all the shows and parades at least once.
See each of the Flower Power concert serie shows (unless after the first one we decide it's not worth it of course...)
Take our time to tour, stop and smell the roses... especially in Animal Kingdom and Epcot World Showcase.
Be able to schedule right... like resting without missing too much, and without rushing not to miss anything.
Have a blast at the P&PP... hopefully sans-wheelchair. That's a big wish (of course, it would be with the cane)
... Have the time of my life and the best bounceback offer ever, so we could go back in December!
I'm guessing this may not be my only post today, as I'm pretty much ready and anxious this day is over...
Right now for example, I'm waiting for the clock to strike 8h35 so I can register my flight and print my plane tickets to not only save time tomorrow, but choose our seats... hoping the right ones will be available... I'm feeling like I'm waiting for show tix! (it's usually the reason why I'm anxiously sitting in front of my computer...!)
I wanted to take a shower this morning, but I was scared I wouldn't be ready early enough, so it'll have to wait (it'll still be "this morning" anyways!)
I'm early huh?! Yeah, I woke up around 6am... Thought it would make it easier to go to bed around 5pm... (this time tomorrow we'll be in the plane!!! ... which I refrained telling Mama when I saw her... because that's not the good part for her!)
By the way, I'm not in bed on my laptop!
Not only because it's already packed, but because I finally decided to install Firefox on my Mac.
When I first got my Mac I tried it, and I didn't like how it worked... but since then, I guess I got used to Safari... and I think Firefox for Mac works a lot like it, because now I can't quite remember why I didn't like it then... either that or they changed something... Or I figured something out that I didn't know then which made it difficult to work with...
And this means I can finally post on the DIS with WYSIYWG on my Mac! (it was the main reason for always DISing on the laptop).
This is a good thing, because the laptop will go to the doc as soon as we get back!
OK, why do I have to select our seats? Didn't we already paid for that?
(Alright, I'm sorry folks, I know I could just go back an re-read everything, but I just don't have either the time or courage, so consider this as a reminder if I already told you all about this... )
When I made the reservation for the plane tickets at the beginning of March, I was a little frustrated.
First of all, it wasn't too disability friendly (no ADA over here, remember?).
Air Canada have a "special needs clients" page, on which they explain what they can offer for special situations... dietery needs, service animals, etc.
On that page, they say they can offer "places with more leg room"
It also said that, if you were a client with special needs, you needed to call the company reservation number.
It didn't clearly state that you couldn't make the ressie otherwise, but what would you have guessed?
Exaclty. So did I.
So I called, was put on hold for quite a while, and while on hold there was this recording saying that if you made the ressie by the phone instead of online, you would be charged a fee of 25$ by ticket (which would be 100$ total, in our case!). But did I have a choice? I just hoped they wouldn't charge it if you had no other choice than to call...
The lady that answered didn't seem to understand why I was calling, also reminded me I would have to pay those fees if I made the ressie through the phone... and finally understood my situation and told me I could make the ressie online, that there was a section to indicate I was in a wheelchair and had special needs, etc. And told me that after making the ressie, I could then call back. She didn't give me much detail though... Why would I need to call back then? Would I have to select my seats? etc.
So I made my ressie... And decided to choose "select your seats"... even though it meant an 80$ surcharge. I was thinking they would credit me when I'd call back. I thought "maybe they need to know there will be 2 more people with reserved seats?".
The weird fact is, I don't know why, but this part of the transaction didn't work (ended up not charged, with no slected seats), so I did all this and stressed about it for nothing...
...Lucky I did call though, because if I'd just been a regular customer, I wouldn't have know there was a problem and would've ended up without selected seats! And I wouldn't have known there was a mistake just by not being charged, because the process was very confusing and I understood it like I wouldn't be charged until the very day of the flight, in case I decided not to take the seats I'd chosen or they couldn't give them to me, or something like that... Very unclear.
When I called back, it was very hard to understand the lady, which had a pretty big accent and didn't understant me very well either... She finally told me I had to pay to get reserved seats.
I was outraged!
It's not for luxury I wanted those seats, it's for medical reason! She answered me I could always not pay and wait until 24hrs before the flight, and hope they would be available, but I then would have no garantee... By paying, I would get the garantee.
What do you think I did? Of course we paid, I needed that garantee! Even though it's only a 3hrs flight, it can still hurt me big time...
Altough, I don't know why, she only charge us 60$ instead of the 80$ she had talked to me about and that was advertized... Yay about that.
I still was mad though. Nowhere on that "special needs clients" page is it noted that it's possible you may have to pay for those "more leg room seats"!!! Either say so or don't charge! I wanted to call back to complain and ask for a credit, but one thing led to another and I didn't have time for it.
Then, the world shattered! To answer a question for Mama, I checked the plans of the plane... and saw that my "garanteeed seats" that we paid to get... were not the one with more leg room!!! I simply couldn't believe it!
I called back yesterday, hoping it was only a mistake and hoping I could get it fixed (altough, so close to the flight date, I wasn't too hopeful... surely all the "special" seats would be gone...)
... I got another lady with even more of an accent and we had even more trouble understanding each other... As soon as she heard the words "reserved seats" she went on about having to pay and how it worked and all... I had to interrupt her and try at least 3 times before she thought about asking me my ressie #, and only when she got in my account did she start to understand what I was saying... oopmh!
What I finally understood was... the first lady, 2 months ago, didn't understand a thing!
What I got were seats in the "preferred" section... which are supposedly better seats in the economy class... (I think it's only because they are in the front and thus the first to get out)... which is no use to me, since I'm pretty sure I would be the first to board and unboard anyways... and if not, I don't care! I'm usually the one to let others out first anyways...
And the "more legroom row" is one they can't reserve.
Guess what? It's only for the medical desk to give to clients WITH SPECIAL NEEDS!!! And no, there is no fee for that.
So basically, it had been 3 calls, and I had to explain my situation over and over, and I had almost given up on that 3rd call until I had the right information!
They really are misinformed or unwilling to send people the way of the medical desk... because would it be so hard to tell me right away to call the medical desk, as soon as I tell them I need a seat with more leg room for medical reason and I'm using a wheelchair?! I think it's clear enough?!
There was a problem though... after telling me this information, the lady still didn't transfer me to that medical desk she was telling me about! She started telling me that to get those seats, the medical desk would need to contact my doctor, to get a flight authorization (because, like in everything, once you're sick enough to get help, you're too sick to enjoy... I get a handicapped parking tag... my driving license is in jeopardy... one example), and she goes on an on... I don't know if it was to make sure I was serious, to scare me, to make sure I would stick with what made the company 60$ or whatever... Worst, when I asked to be credited the 60$ and be transfered, she refused! WHAT?
I had to ask more than twice and ask why couldn't she do it...
She finally told me she didn't think it was wise because in case I didn't get the seats for medical reason, I would loose the "preferred" seating... I finally was able to make her understand those seats were simply no good to me : they didn't have extra leg room and it's the only reason why I had paid money to reserve a seat!!!
So then she agreed and put me on hold to go and make the credit... I'm pretty sure she made me wait longer just to get her revenge...
Then she transfered me to the medical desk... and I waited at least 10min. on hold. For absolutely nothing!!!
That nice lady, which was obviously more knowledgeable... told me that famous "row with more legroom" couldn't be reserved at all!
Maybe I could get lucky and the airline people would attribute us seats on it on boarding... Or maybe in the 24hrs window registration...
She also told me there was no booking them for medical reason, because that row had some sort of inflatable seatbelt... I guess she was talking about the slide in case of emergency... like for emergency exits, you need to be fit to sit in these seats so you can "activate" them.
And of course it's easier for the company to have a "same for everyone" policy than to deal with each case differently! They're also obviously scared of pursuits in case of any injury or trouble... So even though my problem is only that I need to extend my legs (well I have other kinds of trouble, but nothing that would be relevant in that case), and I'm like any other client, because I would request those seats "for special needs" it's out of the question... Stupid huh?!
The very nice lady told me that sadly it meant this plane model didn't have any real seat with more leg room and even taking an aisle seat woudn't really help (you can't really extend your legs in the aisle in a plane... I've tried)... So since I prefer a window seat, that's what I'll take if I can...
And she also told me that, very stupidly, the company is aiming at changing more of their fleet for that model...
I wrote a long complaint email to Air Canada after that... (which I'm not even sure got through... their website bugged. How useful! I made sure to copy it though. So I pasted it in a Word doc. and I'll send it again when I get back, and again by mail if it does the same thing. I don't worry about them receiving it 3 times. I worry about them not getting it at all!)
After all, it was a long mess. Nothing went right in this story!
One misinformed clerk after the other, a webpage missing crucial information (if the phone # given was that of the medical desk in the first place, it would be much easier...), a transaction very confusing and not working and no real help for disability clients...
I really hope I'll get more help from the personnel in the airport and on the plane... If not, me and Mama are in for a long day tomorrow...
...Especially since my dad will just drop us off and won't even enter the airport with us to help with the luggage... He doesn't like the parking there and mostly, doesn't want to pay...
Of course I can walk and help with the luggage, I could just push the wheelchair for support and we could put some of the stuff on it to help... but if I push myself to the limit (no pun intended) by wanting to help too much, I could just pay the price and have a real bad day... or more.
The goal is to get the luggage, me and the w/c inside. For me to sit in the w/c and check the luggage (meaning, surveillance) and Mama to fetch a buggey... and some help. So either she'll push me and "help" will pull the luggage buggey, or vice-versa. Because the only other possibility (apart than the first one, with me exhausting myself) is Mama pushing me for a while and going back to the buggey and pull/push it to where I'm at, and then me, and then the luggage, and then... A little stupid... and very weird looking!
Better ask for help and give a little tip!
(only thing is, Mama doesn't seem to like the idea of "help" much... It's not the tipping... I think it's either she doesn't think we'll find anyone or it's the idea of having a stranger with us for a while)
I finally was able to register...
Guess what?
I was able to get exactly the same seats that I was credited for yesterday! ha!
Well it's not the more leg room seats, but maybe it'll be better than nothing...
Hey, after all, it's the "preferred" seating...
(well, according to 2 Air Canada clerks... not according to Seat Guru)
On "seat guru" it says... nothing! It's not a green seat, though.. Just behind us is a red row!
Theres one comment that says it has a pitch, but I guess it's still better than nothing...
Oh, and about that "more legroom" row... it was impossible to get any seat on it. So either, even being right on time, I was still too late and already 6 people had taken them... either the medical desk lady was wrong or lied to me and she could've secured me a seat on it for medical reason... or it's not true you can reserve them 24hrs in advance... and they only give them on boarding... I hope it's that and I'll be able to get those...
I thought it would and I would be running around in circles, wishing I had more time... But since I'm pretty much ready, with tiny little tasks to do... waiting after Mama to complete the luggage packing and check it on the list... It's just painfully long and slow!
I'm pretty much bored and waitin' for 5pm to strike...
Plus, I'm tired already! (the weather doesn't help... I'm always up for a nap when it's grey and raining outside!)
OK, so yesterday I did my nails... I like to have my nails colored... I hate the feeling of my nails with polish on it...
Plus, my nails are already frail, and I realize polish makes them worst, so I really don't do them often.
But hey, it's Disney!
So I bought a cute Disney-princess-pink color and even some little nail stickers... (little white daisies (all white) with some glitter on them. Very small, very subdued. I didn't want anything big nor loud.)
I went on Saturday to have the color applied to my feet (remember, I had the pedicure done without color applied?)... I was really happy about how the color turned out! A pretty and glittery pink, but not flashy at all. And altough I find it cute and princess-y , it's not childish. I was lucky.
So yesterday I did my fingernails, and added the stickers.
First I decided to apply a base coat that's meant to harden my nails... I had already used it once or twice, and had felt my nails less frail... I also found I didn't feel that icky feeling I used to have with color on my nails (or at least, not as bad!)... So I wanted that for my trip, of course!
Well I learned my lesson... Never ever again will I use this product with a color. Or simply put : never ever again will I put 6 coats of polish on my nails...
Yup, 6 coats. (depending on the nail).
The hardening product is 2 coats. One that gives a weird 3D look to the nail... like a net has been put on it... The 2nd to smooth it out, I guess. It's almost clear.
Then, the 2 coats of color. Only one is never as beautiful and never even enough.
And then of course, I had to apply clear polish over the stickers! I didn't put stickers on each nail, but I thought it could look weird if I didn't put polish on all of them... (maybe they wouldn't all have the same finish, you know?) And of course, I didn't feel safe until I put a 2nd coat of polish on the ones with the stickers...
I only put stickers on 3 nails on one hand, 2 nails on the other, and one on each of the big toe nails : and only one sticker by nail. I wanted to be careful... my aunt just had her toenails done, and she had some sort of a painting on her big toe nails done... it was flowers with stems... and from a distance it only looked like she had fungus in her nails with polish over it!
So the big problem is, I'm sure it won't last, because it's so thick it will peel off very soon... So I'm bringing my color, the stickers and the clear polish, and I'm ready to do it all over again as soon as it gets off... Only thing is, I'm not bringing the remover... I guess I should... I don't know, I don't feel like it (hate the remover). I guess I'll just buy some if needed. Or I'll change my mind and put it in the luggage tonight.
Really, I'm mostly done packing and with everything else!
Yesterday, I went through all my documents (PassPorter "before I go" lists and calendar, and my own) and almost everyhting was checked! So I did my own list yesterday, to have it more clearly... I had 13 things to do... Now I'm left with 5.
They are :
Empty the cat's litter in my room (the studio one's done)
Empty my room's garbage (done in the studio)
Finish the luggage (almost done)
Close the studio (meaning : do the rounds and close the computer, the heating, etc.)
Check Air Canada and the airports website one last time in case there's a problem.
That's it!
Not much huh?
All the batteries have been charged, all the cables have been packed or are together in a bunch and about to...
My clothes for tomorrow morning are ready...
I mean, I can't think of anything that isn't ready, so I'm not even nervous.
Excited, of course!
Oh, just one thing.
Sad and frustrating thing.
I didn't get Faolan.
Nope. Today was my last chance, and the mail came and went without him in it.
As I've told you, I asked the person who sent him for a tracking #, hoping I could try and find him up the chain and go fetch him (like at the sorting facility)... but she didn't answer me in time.
I just received an email from her... telling me she had the paper with tracking # at home, but was at work. She told me she thought I should get him today, since it had been a week (hum, she told me she mailed him on Tuesday?).
That makes me wonder if she had been told it would take a week when she shipped him, and still sent him?! Knowing I was leaving the next day! Even if I wasn't leaving before mail time tomorrow, it would've been possible there was a delay and I still wouldn't have got him in time! Who figures shipping time so tight?!
If she knew it would take a week, she should've either paid for faster shipping or waited and asked me for my resort and ship him there directly!
So now dad will have to ship Faolan to the resort.
I hope he'll get him tomorrow. I hope it won't cost too much and I hope I'll get him fast. (I just looked it up, and with approx. info, I got 25$ and 4-5 week days estimate with Xpress post USA... which was the fastest/cheapest way... Purolator cost way too much and for half the price it would take more than twice the time... I'll just hope it will weigh less and be smaller a package than what I put in to estimate the price!)
I answered the girl that shipped Faolan... I told her that no, I didn't get him today and told her that my dad would have to ship him to my resort. I also told her that it's too late now to give me the tracking # (unless she could give it to me before 5pm). I'm not that way usually, but I hope she feels bad.
I'm really mad and frustrated.
No, in fact, I was. I'm not anymore. I realize I let it go.
I won't let that ruin my day or my trip.
Dad didn't even fuss about it, he will do what's needed so I'll get the croc sometime, hopefully soon in the trip.
...It'll just be something to write about in the TR...
I can't do anything about it anyways.
I'm zen!
I'll leave you at that, at least for now...
I'll go write a note for dad, because he wants to know the name that should be on the package, so he doesn't forward me something that isn't a plush croc!
I'm pretty sure you're on your way to Disney right now! I hope your trip is every bit as magical as you've planned for, and that you stay healthy enough to enjoy it! Check in with us soon!!!
I hope you had a great trip! And I hope you liked your gift! I think Mickey looked all dashing in his blue and silver and thought you would love him. Can't wait for the TR!
Welcome back home.
Now it's time to relax.
I hope you and your mom had a great time in the Land Where Dreams Really Do Come True.
I can't wait to hear all about your WDW experiences.
Relax, take your time, and don't forget to let all of us PTR folks hear from you.
Did that spook you out? Nah? Well I didn't think it would, but I tried anyways...
So yeah, I'm back, and I want to say, you just can't start to even guess how much all your posts greeting me back home meant to me!
I did have a great trip, but am happy to be home too.
Not even a glimpse of Disney withdrawal (not yet anyways! ).
Of course the health reality is starting to sink in , and as much as I'm trying to rest (hum... not that I really have a choice), I see a crash coming... or is it already here?
It could slow down the start of the TR (or just slow down the continuation of it, if I can start it!), because with my laptop now at the doctors... at least for a couple of days... well if I'm in bed or just not feeling good enough to sit at my desk... well you know... I don't seem to be able to telepath my ideas to my Mac, somehow...
I guess this should be the last post in this PTR, because a pre-trip report is supposed to happen before the trip actually happens, right?
It's pretty stressful, to let go of the PTR and go and start the "real thing"...
I also feel like I'll need to pretty much start over, with some kind of a new intro and all (who am I, who's Mama, etc.), because some new readers could start that TR without wanting to read the PTR first (and honestly, who could blame them! ).
I hope I learned some lessons in writing this PTR and that I'll be able to write a somewhat fun TR, with some "educational" (meaning tips, or simply learning from experiences) parts... Oh... and... maybe... shorter posts?
(I know... yeah right! )
I also hope that even though I'll have to start over a little, you, faithful PTR readers, won't find it too repetitive...
OOOooh, how hard it is to cut it off, even though it's just to start again!
So... I'm not sure how soon exactly I'll start the TR, altough it should be pretty soon (I'll post a link here and should put it in my sig too), but for now, I'll say goodbye to this PTR!
Found your PTR a few days ago - wanted to comment while I was reading, but realized you were already back from your trip by the time I started reading. Can't wait to see your trip report!!
Well, after 28 years of dreaming about it and about 9 months of serious OCD-planning it, including, of course, discovering the DIS...
The DREAM finally was coming true!
The trip that, after so long, I had come to think would never happen, finally came a reality! Hard to imagine.
So hard to imagine in fact that I had refrained doing so for the whole time I was planning it. Because after so many years hoping and dreaming and having thoses dreams and hopes crushed, if I only started to imagine what it could be like, there was this whole ball of emotions that would come rolling, too big for my chest, tears started to fill my eyes, I got chocked up.
I felt it was so much hidden and refrained emotions, accumulated over the years, it would litterally hurt and overtake me for a while if I let that loose.
This made me a little scared as to what it would feel and be like when I would actually get there... would I cry like a baby? Bawl for hours, uncontrollably? Hopefully I would only get teary-eyed and just skip around like my inner-child for the whole 2 1/2 weeks. (Well? How did I react?)
'Cause we decided to go for 18 days total.
Hum, I guess to explain why, I need a little introduction of the (small) cast :
Me, aka Dan aka Annie-Danielle
28 y.o. and I guess what describes me best, apart from "she-writes-too-long-posts" or "smily-girl", would be artistic, humorous and passionate. Oh, and I'm french (not "french" french, but from Québec), so sorry if I sometimes create new words or invent new meanings for them... it's not on purpose... (well, sometimes it IS... but you should know then!)
Also, and altough this doesn't define me as a person, the next thing's important because it impacts every aspect of my life and had a huge impact on this trip : I'm suffering from 2 chronic illnesses, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, hypermobile type (which, very simply put means my joints are loose and I sprain them easily), and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which is not a good name for it, and should be NeuroEndocrineImmune Dysfunction Syndrome, or NDS. I sometimes use it, altough I try to use CFS to keep it easy on everyone. As the better name says, it's a dysfunction of many bodily systems, and causes me, among a LOT of other problems, to have very low stamina.
If you'd like more info, I gave more in my PTR intro, and I could also give you some, or direct you to good websites, if you PM me.
I know this is no place for a med class! But hey, those problems do impact my everyday life, and did impact both the planning and day-to-day life of the trip.
Because of both illnesses (mostly because of the stamina issue), I had to use my own wheelchair on the trip, especially because of the heat.
I went to my first trip with Mama aka the pusher : my mother of "somewhere in her fifties".
"The pusher" because my wheelchair is a manual pushchair : I can't wheel myself, it has stroller-like wheels.
I know, I know : asking my poor Mama to push me? Why not just rent a scooter? Well I asked her about it, but she didn't want to. She's in good health and she wanted to get fit. We simply agreed I'd rent the scooter if she felt it was too hard. (Would I need to rent a scooter?)
About her personality : She can be fun, she can be a pain, like most moms. The more I get to know her (living at home again and being older), the more I learn how much anxiety problems she has. The psychology bachelor in me would say many of those problems are on the verge of becoming full-out clinical troubles... And some of those troubles already limit her functionning life, altough she doesn't realize nor admit it (I agree it's not easy). The root of those problems lies in past problems in her life, but mainly in a long-term trauma, still going on in her life.
She's currently out of a job and very happy about it. She never would've quit but wanted to work only part-time or from home and couldn't, now she'll be able to choose. The office closing was also what gave us the opportunity to do the trip! Before she never had enough holidays or energy. Without the job, she could relax for a couple months before we left and she can now rest again.
Mama went to WDW in the 70s , when only Magic Kingdom existed, and altough she liked it, my dad ruined her trip by only seeing the negative around him, and by keeping her from going on It's a small world, among other things.
My dad tends to have this effect on people around him, and that's why he wasn't coming with us. (a hint : )
I saw this trip as my own little make-a-wish trip, an occasion to forget my conditions and on top of it, we could have a dad-break. Before we left we made a pact not to talk about him from the moment he left us at the airport from the moment he would pick us up. (would we be able to honor this pact?)
So because of my condition, we knew we wouldn't be able to have very long-fruitful days in WDW. Because of that, and also because we knew we wouldn't go back to WDW before a while, if ever (meaning it was almost now-or-never so we'd like to see the most possible), we knew we would need a longer time in the World to be able to tour the parks in a satisfying way. So I checked how long it was supposed to take to tour each park, added rest periods, and then doubled the whole thing, more or less.
Of course, 18 days were the exact number of days, including leaving and arriving days. More realisticly, we had 16 full days in Disney, plus a couple hours.
Which is still a lot. Would it prove too long? Enough? Well I guess you'll just have to continue reading! (oooh, such a cliffhanger!)
First, let me take the time to welcome mom3sonstt!
OK, so now there it is : I started it, finally!
I know, I know, it took me ALMOST 2 weeks. But come on guys! You know how it is!
Do you know how early I've been in bed most nights this week? You can't even call it night! 7pm!
I didn't even open my scrapbook package!
I just started the meals and souvenirs/gifts budget calculation...
I can't do it all... really not!
And last week, when I wanted to start... I realized a TR without pix wouldn't be fun, and adding them afterwards... well, it's not worth it.
So I had to go through all the 2500 pix and choose the good ones, arrange them quickly and upload them... Pfff...
LYMI!
Just a "quick" note because it's sooo
(where do you put those in a TR???)
I went to the doctor yesterday, to get the results from the test I did for my wrist mid-march, remember? I was really hopeful something would come out of it (especially seeing how hurtful the test was!).
Well it's even better (or worst) than I imagined!
See, I had 2 injuries on that wrist, and thus "hoped" the test would show at least one torn ligament... since I was guessing there could be 2 (one for each of the injury - yeah, that's what happens with my body, if theres an injury, more and more often, it's not just a bad sprain, theres a ligament tear... even if the injury happened while putting on my vest, like last time). I was worried it wouldn't show anything, since the latest injury happened more than a year before the test!
Even though ligaments technically never mend, last time I had a big ligament tear and we investigated it, I didn't get any reconstructive surgery, because the test showed the ligament had "started to partially mend itself"... (so after about 10 yeards I still have a weak ACL in the right knee, because it's partially torn! )
Well as it happens, the test showed partial tears to 3 ligaments!!! Even I was surprised! And I must say, the doctor was impressed, for once.
He's finally starting to understand what it means to have EDS type III.
Problem is, because I have this underlying condition, he doesn't want me to have reconstructive surgery, altough he finally accepted I get a surgeon's opinion on the matter (I made him understand how disappointed I was, because it meant I would have to wear my cast all the time, for the rest of my life... And proof that ligaments don't mend is the 1st injury involving one of the 3 torn ligaments in my wrist happened more than 3 years ago!).
I was mostly disappointed with him suggesting nothing because I didn't want to do any testing... I only agreed when he assured me he was to find a solution. I had told him I didn't want to do a test "just to do a test", because I was tired to waste the states money and my time, just to find out exactly what ligaments were torn to then do nothing about it (which is why I still don't know exactly how many/which ligaments were torn in my ankle about 7 years ago).
So he agreed to send me to a surgeon to seek his opinion, but told me he would be very surprised if the surgeon agreed to do recontructive surgery on my wrist, because since I have this condition, I could re-injure any of those ligaments as soon as they are healed... or I could injure any of the neighboring ligaments, and I would still have an unhealthy wrist, and the surgery would have been "for nothing". Doctors don't like losing their time and energy, and I do understand. I don't think I'd be happy either if, after hurting a whole lot going through this surgery, I'd re-injure myself and still need a cast!
But then, the doctor told me about another type of surgery that could help me : partial wrist fusion, or limited carpal fusion (there are at least 2 other names for it out there!). It's litterally fusing together a couple of the wrist bones together, limiting the joint's movement (and thus, limiting the workload of the ligaments). That way, I wouldn't be sollicitating the injured ligaments anymore (nor their weak neighbours). I would lose some mobility, but compared to wearing the cast, it's greater mobility! (the doctor didn't seem to understand that)
I've done lots of research, and it looks really good.
Of course it's no small surgery, with bone graft from the hip and a very long recuperation time (2 months in a cast and a couple weeks at least without using the forearm/wrist/hand at all, and about a year before regaining full range of motion - well, whatever motion you're getting back, of course).
The problem with that is, there is at least one of my torn ligaments, if I'm getting this right, that won't get "fused"... so either they reconstruct it at the same time, or I would need the total fusion surgery instead...
This one is a little less interesting... It's a long metal bar insterted along the forearm into the hand... so you can't flex your hand anymore. You can still rotate the arm/hand in one total block, but not do rotation movements with your hand. In fact, it would be just like having the cast... inside my body. At least it would look better! This would make me rest assured I would not injure my wrist in any way anymore... Only my fingers could sprain... (I'm not even joking... it's that bad ).
Limitation of mobility is really bad with the total fusion, and I could have trouble writing and drawing. I couldn't play the piano anymore (not that I play a lot anymore), and maybe I'd have trouble playing my DS or Wii, even ... But at the same time, right now I have the cast. It's either I write, draw or whatever without the cast because it bugs me, and then I hurt after a little while... Or I use the cast and I hurt elsewhere because the cast makes me use my arm in a weird way, or I'm limited maybe in the same way as I would be with a total fusion...
I need to really ask myself : what's more important : draw, play the piano and video games (which I could maybe play after the operation too! I just need to think about the possibility of not being able to, or not like I used to), but with pain, or the possibility of not injuring myself anymore and less pain...
Without forgetting that until my appointment with the surgeon, I won't know for sure. Maybe he'll have another option to offer me. But I want to be prepared, so I know what questions to ask him and to be able to decide right then and there (so I'd have the surgery faster) if he agrees to do one or the other.
Maybe he wouldn't think the full fusion would be right anyways, but I want to have thought of it first.
I understand why the surgeon wouldn't want to do reconstructive surgery, but I can't see why he wouldn't agree to partial or total fusion, because with that, I wouldn't have as much chances (or none at all) to re-injure myself. Than the surgery couldn't be "for nothing".
But still, it was a choc, if only about the 3 torn ligaments...
And to learn about the surgery options...
My decision is not 100% made, it doesn't have to be anyways. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with it, be it partial or total. After all these years of health problems with never any solution, now there would be one, I can't see why I wouldn't try it.
And for the record, me and Mama were almost exctatic to be able to tell dad about my 3 torn ligaments... he was almost bragging and took all the attention in all family and friends meetings with his (1) torn ligament in his shoulder, not that it wasn't big or hurting or anything, but I was there with my EDS, CFS, torn ligaments in my ankle and knee (old news, but they never mend), and 3 others in my wrist that we didn't know about (but I was sure I had at least one, and he knew it), and not a word about me and my own health, not from him, not from the others either...
Since he suffered "for real", since his operation, he's a little more comprehensive... not really about my CFS though, but when I'm in physical pain at least (like after that test)...
End of
, I'll take a deep breath and reflect on what I wish for this trip.
, the Mary Poppin penguins and Marie)
especially in Animal Kingdom and Epcot World Showcase.
Yeah, I woke up around 6am... Thought it would make it easier to go to bed around 5pm... (this time tomorrow we'll be in the plane!!! 
... which I refrained telling Mama when I saw her... because that's not the good part for her!) 
)
I wanted to call back to complain and ask for a credit, but one thing led to another and I didn't have time for it.
I simply couldn't believe it!
And no, there is no fee for that.
, it's not childish. I was lucky.
It was fun! 
)
