wheelchair question

[jnhsiburt]

My mom needs both of her knees replaced because she is rubbing bone on bone right now (no cartilage at all left). Her knees tend to hurt when she walks longs distances and she is very limited with medications. She has already lost a kidney due to cancer and if she takes Ibruprofen (the best medication for pain) it will ruin her good kidney. We are considering renting a wheelchair for her, but she is refusing due to embarrassment. If we talk her into the wheel chair, she will probably ride in it throughout the parks, but will not let us push her into a ride with it. I know there are places to park strollers. Can we placce a wheelchair there also? Standing in line isn't going to be as bad for her as the continues walking. Honestly, she would rather endure the pain the entire 7 days than be embarrassed by riding in a wheelchair the whole time!

 

[mechurchlady]

Park the wheelchair in stroller parking. Disney has over 40 years of line planning and many lines are hidden or long long long long walks. You are going to have to get her to use the wheelchair and not be embarrassed. I am tired so will let the others help you more. If she demands she walks onto lines then you have to get her a GAC so she can avoid ramps and stairs.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

You might want to look in to renting an ECV instead of a wheelchair. The rental wheelchairs tend to be pretty heavy, and are not easy to push for 6-8 miles a day (an average estimate for park guests) in Floridian heat. Also, she will be more independent in an ECV, as she probably won't be able to push herself all around the parks in a manual wheelchair.

If you do look in to this option, I suggest you rent one from an offsite vendor, so she can have it for the whole trip, including around the resort and DTD. Also, it tends to work out cheaper than the Disney rentals, and they are A LOT easier to drive than the heavy-duty Disney ones. Pretty much all of the companies will deliver to, and collect from, your resort, and the ECV can be taken on Disney buses. For more information on any of this, look in the FAQ thread.

You can park ECVs and wheelchairs with the strollers, if she doesn't want to take it through the line. If it's an ECV, just take the key with you, and nobody can take it. Cover the seat and handlebars with something, to stop them getting wet or burning hot while you're in the attraction. Don't panic if it's not in exactly the same place when you get back - the CMs will often move things around a bit to tidy the stroller park up, and make room for more people.

Cheshire Figment has a wonderful list of questions for people who are reluctant to use mobility aids in Disney; hopefully he'll post them up soon. But in the mean time, please tell her that there is no shame at all in asking for the help you need. I'm 23 and have been using a wheelchair for the last 3 years for joint problems - I know how much of a big deal it is, and how much it takes to get your head around the idea, but asking for help doesn't make you weak; it makes you stronger. Sorry for sounding a bit like a Hallmark card, but I really do mean it.

Hope you guys have a great trip, whatever you all decide to do

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

I am answering this in several parts for you.

First, click on where it says "disABILTIES" at the top of this page it will take you to the Index. One of the top items is the "disABILTIES FAQ" which will gives lots of useful information, including Post #2 has a lot about mobility.

Or, if you want an easier route, click on the link in my signature.

The other is please ask her the following questions. Here are the suggested answers to go with them.

1. Are you disabled (even temporarily)? Yes.

2. Do the people you are traveling with, such as your family, know you are disabled? Yes.

3. Do you expect to meet anyone you know during this trip who may not know you are disabled. Probably No!

4. Do you expect to meet a bunch of people who you will probably never meet again in your life? Probably yes!

5. Is there any reason at all that you should care what these people think about you? Absolutely No!!

6. Will using a wheelchair or ECV make for a better vacation for you and your family? Absolutely YES!

And a third part is I also lost a kidney due to cancer and had osteoarthritis and before I had a hip replacement I would use Tylenol for pain control which is the only safe OTC pain reliever that does not affect the creatin levels in the body. (And if you go to Costco you can their two bottles of their house brand in 500mg caplets with 500 caplets per bottle for only about $7.00.)

 

[jnhsiburt]

thank you all so very much. I have spoken with my mom and she has agreed and has already rented a ECV. She had a horrible vacation last time we were in Disney because it was right before she found out about her cancer (she had a temp the whole trip and knew something was wrong!) and because we were there last time during hurricane Charlie.
She didn't want this trip being as miserable as the last trip nor does she want to make it a bad trip for everybody else!

Thanks to all of you who responded!

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear she rented one.

Just a little more information in case she is planning on parking it and walking in lines -
As was already posted, many of the queues are hidden from view and the walk can be very far. Someone posted that they used a pedometer to measure the length of the walk into Soarin' and it was over 1/4 mile. That's just in; it's an equal walk out. Some other queues with very long walks include Pirates of the Caribbean, Kilimajari Safari, Bug's Life, Test Track. So, if she does plan to walk in line, she should talk to the CMs about the distance before getting into line (and also realize that a young, healthy CM might interpret a distance as "not far" when someone with a mobility problem might interpret the same distance as "too far")