wheelchair rental and medication

[welshlamb]

can anyone suggest where the best place would be to rent a wheel chair for the duration of our 3 week holiday (it does'nt have to be an electric wc). we are going to try and get one from our local hospital but just in case they won't allow us to have one it might be usefull to know of some place we could get one and how much it is likely to cost. The other question is will i need to take a medical cert into the parks with me? as my friends daughter suffers with epilepsy and diabetes and will often have to take her medication into the parks with her. When you get your bags searched at the entrance of the parks will they question why we have a large selection of medication with us?

 

[Goofyish]

You may get a good reponse to this question on the DISAbilities Board:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Not so sure about the wheelchair question (agree the disABILITIES board is best place).

Although Josh has Epilepsy he has his drug early in the morning & evening so we do not take them to the parks, however we did do a couple of years ago and never had any problems, it may be a good idea to have a medical prescription handy anyway just in case.
It could also be a question, sounds silly but, could depend on who checks your bag as you enter the parks as to whether you get asked about the medicine, the checks in my opinion are a joke in that some will ask to see every different compartment in the bag and others just have a quick glance and then let you in.
Either way I wouldn't worry, you will have no problems taking medicine in.

 

[SueM in MN]

There is a list of places to rent wheelchairs from in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, located near the top of the disABILITIES Board. All of the places listed are ones that DIS posters have reported good experiences with many times over the years.

For the medication situation - currently, I believe you need to have a prescription with you to bring medications on the airplane (before, at least in the US, all you needed was an original pharmacy bottle labeled with the name of the medication and the person it was prescribed for).
My youngest DD has been on medications for seizures for at least 10 years and we always bring her medication into the parks with us. No one has ever questioned it. Other posters on the DIS boards have also brought medication into the parks many times without any question.
Even if we don't intend to be in the parks for DD's evening doses of medication, we always bring her evening dose with us. That way, if we do end up staying later, we don't have to worry about her medications.

 

[welshlamb]

Thanks for all your advice. We just want everything to go as smoothly as possible for K. This will be her first visit to Disney and she's really excited. Can anyone tell me if they've ever had the experience of someone in their party having a seziure whilst flying. My freind is really anxious because the likrely hood of K having a seziure whilst in mid air is quite high. We have a medical cert to say that she's fit to fly and we've been in touch with the airline (Delta) to inform them and ask what their procedures are, so far we seem to have all the confirmation they need ,but it would be nice to hear if anyone has ever had a similar experience

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Thanks for all your advice. We just want everything to go as smoothly as possible for K. This will be her first visit to Disney and she's really excited. Can anyone tell me if they've ever had the experience of someone in their party having a seziure whilst flying. My freind is really anxious because the likrely hood of K having a seziure whilst in mid air is quite high. We have a medical cert to say that she's fit to fly and we've been in touch with the airline (Delta) to inform them and ask what their procedures are, so far we seem to have all the confirmation they need ,but it would be nice to hear if anyone has ever had a similar experience

Hi, yes I am afraid so earlier this month.

Joshua is 9 and has Epilepsy, he takes a drug in the morning and again in the evening and up to our flight on the 8th August had not had a seizure for nearly 3 years.
Whilst the drug keeps it under control, he is vulnerable still in rare circumstances when he is extremely tired, 5 hours into our flight he had a 'minor attack' and we had to lay him on the floor so he could sleep for a couple of hours, which is normally against airline policy, but they basically didn't object on this occasion.

We flew home Premium Economy and whilst he still struggled to sleep he was fine overall.

I am not sure why there was a big difference this year, but as we all know it's a very long day and Josh just couldn't relax or get comfortable in the seats, even though we have a Portable DVD that keeps him entertained throughout the flight.

Not sure if this makes you feel better or worse really. To be honest it has made us think about future holidays and we may cancel next year's booking.

Sorry if this is a bit blunt or negative response.

 

[welshlamb]

Thankyou for being honest. K has sezuires most days and sometimes they last a few seconds other times they can last for a few minutes. She has just been given a new drug that we can administer if she 's fitting for longer than she normally does should help to bring her round. I must admit we're a little worried about how the long day will affect her.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Thankyou for being honest. K has sezuires most days and sometimes they last a few seconds other times they can last for a few minutes. She has just been given a new drug that we can administer if she 's fitting for longer than she normally does should help to bring her round. I must admit we're a little worried about how the long day will affect her.

Whilst Florida has so much to offer the flight is long and when you add up the number of hours you are active on the outbound & inbound flights it is not surprising it takes so much out of ANY child.
I think there are a few different types of seizures, to be honest Joshua doesn't 'fit' as such but does pretty much immediatley fall asleep.
Like I say though I guess the only times of the year when he is more vulnerable is on the plane to Orlando, we were just unlucky this time.

I guess in our position having had so many holidays in Florida now it does make you think whether we want to keep doing it - especially as Josh is autistic also.

 

[binkyboots]

Thanks for all your advice. We just want everything to go as smoothly as possible for K. This will be her first visit to Disney and she's really excited. Can anyone tell me if they've ever had the experience of someone in their party having a seziure whilst flying. My freind is really anxious because the likrely hood of K having a seziure whilst in mid air is quite high. We have a medical cert to say that she's fit to fly and we've been in touch with the airline (Delta) to inform them and ask what their procedures are, so far we seem to have all the confirmation they need ,but it would be nice to hear if anyone has ever had a similar experience

hey there,
my dh has epilepsy, uncontrolled by meds. he fits pretty often, usually when he's sleeping, but in times of extra stress/excitement/routine changes etc the fit patterns change.

we just planned like crazy, I booked us seats together at the rear of the plane (there are two groups of two together seats rather than threes) and we practised a different waking/sleeping routine

on the day of the flights I woke him as late as possible, went to the airport and checked in, then changed our watches to florida time. he dozed while we waited then as we were called I gave him his morning meds and a rehydration drink (dioralyte natural is good) as dehydration is a big trigger)

he ate breakfast, watched tv, and just carried on as best as you can on a plane.

he did get jumpy (partial seizures) so I sat on the outside and just held him till it passed.

how I'd deal with a major fit, I dont know. I carry rectal diazepam to bring him out of status (thankfully only used it once so far) and I assume/hope the airline would permit me to lie him down on three seats/the ground till he slept it off.

information is the key, just be open with the airline, think of various seizure scenarios then ask the airline how they'd deal with it.

if you have any other questions feel free to pm me