trip may have to be cancelled

[Dimples1973ca]

We have planned an amazing 10 night stay at the Poly for DH, DD, and my parents inlaw but father in law is very ill.

We decided to book a trip for the five of us this past February. Three days after I booked the trip, my father in law was rushed in for emergency colon surgery. He was fitted with an ostomy bag. After three weeks, he was out of the hospital and we decided to go ahead with our trip. We almost lost him so now we have even more to celebrate.

That brings us to 42 days out from our vacation. My father in law is now back in the hospital and he has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. We are sick with worry.

If the trip has to be cancelled we are out airfare and the deposit. Not great but OK. Nor sure how to explain it to our DD. We made some amazing plans for the five of us and she is so excited to take her Grammy and Grampy around our second "home"

Sorry, Just needed to vent. I am going to think happy thoughts.

 

[pigletto]

I am so sorry.
I understand your worry. Of course your Father in law is your absolute first concern. Losing the trip money is also a concern. Did you have any insurance at all? Maybe even through the credit card you booked with or through your/husbands work? Sometimes we're covered for things we didn't even know about? What about contacting the airline and seeing if you can simply pay the change fee? I believe they all have some sort of fee structure for changed plans. It may be $100 per person each way or something of that nature but you would at least have a future credit of some sort for when you can reschedule.
I hope your father in laws health improves.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I don't have much advice, but I did want to send you a hug and let you know that my prayers will be with your family. Watching a parent (even an inlaw) struggle with such serious health issues is so very hard. And compounding it all is the potential loss of your trip.....secondary to FIL's illness, of course, but still a burden to bear on its own.

pigletto has some good suggestions for you regarding your airfare. They would be worth pursuing if your trip needs to be sidelined for a while.

In the meantime, I hope it helps a little to know that your Disfriends are sending healing vibes to your DH's dad. Keep us posted on how things work out.

 

[greenclan67]

Oh man....reading your post brought me back to 3 years ok with my own Dad.
He went in to section off the cancer and have an ostomy temporarily put in. About 2 hours after in recovery my nurse sister ( thank God) for her went to check on him (this isnt a hospital she works at) and shook noticed he wasnt responding and realized he was in full cardiac arrest. She called the code and did CPR on him and saved him.
After a stent put in and his bowel spazzing out, another bowel surgery, heart failure, sepsis of his blood, nothing to eat or drink for 6 weeks. He fought his way back to us. He has been 3 years and he is a living breathing miracle. He does all of his old stuff, fishing, snow shovelling and just celebrated his 80th birthday.
My thoughts are with and your family. Hopefully, it all works out, and some of the suggestions mentioned help.

 

[Dimples1973ca]

I was planning a response sooner but we have been spending alot of time at the hospital. He has confirmed congestive heart failure. With the condition, he shouldn't fly and the high temperatures isn't recommended. My mother in law doesn't think that they shouldn't join us. We would drive but she is afraid that the condition may worsen. I suggested we cancel and do a driving trip maybe to Maine towards end of summer. She said that we should go anyways. We would feel like crap because she gave us the $13000 to cover our entire trip. We are at 38 days from the trip and our air fare is through Expedia. Any one have experience cancelling at this point. Should we go and pay her back. Our credit card will have a huge credit. So how does that even work.

So confused and worried and sad all rolled into one stressed out package.

 

[sympatico]

I think you should go. As a parent to married kids with grandkids I wouldn't want them to cancel a trip because we couldn't go. I know it won't be the same without them but they probably would rather see you guys go than to be the cause of your staying home, that's how I'd feel anyway. Do what you can (if anything) to get their part of the trip refunded and don't worry about repaying them if you go. They wanted you to have the trip.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I was planning a response sooner but we have been spending alot of time at the hospital. He has confirmed congestive heart failure. With the condition, he shouldn't fly and the high temperatures isn't recommended. My mother in law doesn't think that they shouldn't join us. We would drive but she is afraid that the condition may worsen. I suggested we cancel and do a driving trip maybe to Maine towards end of summer. She said that we should go anyways. We would feel like crap because she gave us the $13000 to cover our entire trip. We are at 38 days from the trip and our air fare is through Expedia. Any one have experience cancelling at this point. Should we go and pay her back. Our credit card will have a huge credit. So how does that even work.

So confused and worried and sad all rolled into one stressed out package.

So sorry to hear the update on your FIL .

I don't think you have mentioned it either way, but......do you have any kind of trip insurance in place?

I am pretty sure you can contact your credit card company and request a payout (by cheque) of a large credit. It would be worth calling, explaining the situation, and asking.

Do let us know what you decide to do.

 

[Dimples1973ca]

Great news on my FIL. He may be out of the hospital tomorrow. Although far from being healed, he is much better and no longer needs oxygen tank to assist in breathing. His doctors feel he shouldn't fly. Something about fluid build up in altitude not to mention the heat of July.

We wanted to cancel the trip but my wonderful in-laws insist that DD, DH and I go. My mother in law paid for the entire trip and we insisted on paying her back. She refuses to take the money back. So DH and crunched the numbers and have decided to spend our 10 nights at a moderate and pay meals out of pocket. The refunded difference will let us book a shorter stay at Disney with my inlaws when DFIL is stable.

So that is where we stand. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. So we are back to getting excited and the trip fast approaching.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Great news on my FIL. He may be out of the hospital tomorrow. Although far from being healed, he is much better and no longer needs oxygen tank to assist in breathing. His doctors feel he shouldn't fly. Something about fluid build up in altitude not to mention the heat of July.

We wanted to cancel the trip but my wonderful in-laws insist that DD, DH and I go. My mother in law paid for the entire trip and we insisted on paying her back. She refuses to take the money back. So DH and crunched the numbers and have decided to spend our 10 nights at a moderate and pay meals out of pocket. The refunded difference will let us book a shorter stay at Disney with my inlaws when DFIL is stable.

So that is where we stand. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. So we are back to getting excited and the trip fast approaching.

That's fabulous news!

 

[sympatico]

Great news on my FIL. He may be out of the hospital tomorrow. Although far from being healed, he is much better and no longer needs oxygen tank to assist in breathing. His doctors feel he shouldn't fly. Something about fluid build up in altitude not to mention the heat of July.

We wanted to cancel the trip but my wonderful in-laws insist that DD, DH and I go. My mother in law paid for the entire trip and we insisted on paying her back. She refuses to take the money back. So DH and crunched the numbers and have decided to spend our 10 nights at a moderate and pay meals out of pocket. The refunded difference will let us book a shorter stay at Disney with my inlaws when DFIL is stable.

So that is where we stand. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. So we are back to getting excited and the trip fast approaching.

I thought they'd feel that way. Hope you have a great trip.