Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[LeeLee2U]

Wendy I am praying for ya'll! i haven't been on in a while, but I haven't forgoten Michael. I am back now and will be checking in. We might not be able to physically see or touch you right now. But I can promise you that there are a whole bunch of us on this thread that are giving you mental hugs and shoulders to lean on. Hang in there.
Sending lots of prayers and hugs
Leah

 

[Bill_Lin]

It seems odd to come home from WDW and all of the magic to the things each of our families struggle with, health, family, etc. It is so precious to have the beautiful memories of our trip to reflect on.

Lysi and I played the Give Kids the World version of Candy Land yesterday. We talked about each "site" in the game and remembered how much fun we had at the Ice Cream Palace, Park of Dreams, Gingerbread House, Amberville and the Castle of Miracles.

Because she is only five and a half, I believe that going back to our TR from time to time will help keep the memories alive and fresh for her. I am also compiling a Wish Trip Journal in book form for us to look at and share. At least I will continue work on this when life gets a little less crazy.

Bill

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Lysi and I played the Give Kids the World version of Candy Land yesterday. We talked about each "site" in the game and remembered how much fun we had at the Ice Cream Palace, Park of Dreams, Gingerbread House, Amberville and the Castle of Miracles.

Because she is only five and a half, I believe that going back to our TR from time to time will help keep the memories alive and fresh for her. I am also compiling a Wish Trip Journal in book form for us to look at and share. At least I will continue work on this when life gets a little less crazy.

Bill

We haven't had the chance to play the game yet, am looking forward to playing it with Koryn. I love that you are doing the Wish Trip Journal for her. Hopefully it will keep the memories alive for a long time. I am planning on doing a scrapbook of our Wish trip. It will be something that Koryn will be able to keep for a long time.

Am just about ready to start my TR, just doing some things with photos. Will let you know when I do!!

 

[wendygrace]

You guys are just too awesome! Thank you!

Bill, I did a mini-scrapbook for each one of my two kids. They love it! I would recommend it to you. It just has 25 pictures of each one of their "big" moments. Michael's has more Peter Pan stuff and Danae has more Cinderella stuff. The scrapbooks are Disney Mini-scrapbook albums I picked up at a local scrapbook store. I'd imagine any small scrapbook store would have them. They are soooo cute and there are three styles; Cinderella, Tinker Bell and Mickey (or the "fab 5"). I think I did pretty good with them for the three hours I had to put them together! LOL I will be doing a bigger scrapbook someday and filling it with my trip report report!

We are now at the Ronald McDonald House. Things are going well. Feeling a bit better. Definetly some hormonal stuff but not all. *hugs* to you all.

 

[palpluto]

Wendy,
Thinking of you and Michael. Hope all continues to go well.


I can't get my turkey to work.

 

[LeeLee2U]

Wendy so glad ya'll are at RMH now. Thinking of you and Michael and sending prayers your way!

Palpluto Yes GKTW and Disney will make arrangements for someone with food allergies. You need to read WhosyourMickeys TR and Pm her for infor. Here is a linkA wish trip for a child with food allergiesGKTW even made a certain type of rice ice cream for her DD to have. When I met them at MK (WE shared a DREAM ) I asked her DD what her favorite thing was at GKTW so far and she said "I can eat ice cream there!!!" I have cried over that so many times. Her whole face lit up and you could tell that this really meant a lot to her. I know that she could only eat @ 17 diff foods including condiments and Both GKTW and Disney chefs prepared special foods for her. And I know Shelley ,WYM would be glad to give you info.

 

[hotmamac]

Hi everyone...just popping in to say hello.

Wendy, I knew Michael's surgery was coming up and I wanted to send a few prayers and hugs of my own to you. My daughter is on what our hospital calls the surgery "track" for her condition. I really believe it is the only thing that will stop her seizures and let her have a semi-normal life and I have been pushing for it and trying to get all her testing done so we can get it scheduled...but then I know when the time finally arrives, they will probably have to sedate me. I can only imagine right now how hard this is on you. God bless and good luck.

To everyone else, thank you for the hugs that were sent my way.

Our Disney trip probably won't be until late next year or 2009 (gasp!) but I still love coming here and reading all about everyone else's trip. Makes it feel a little closer.

Take care everyone!

Misty

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

to Wendy, we will be thinking of you this week.

Just wanted to let you know that I started my trip report....finally!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=21648746#post21648746

 

[LindaBabe]

Linda, thank you so much. I'm sitting here crying tears of joy because of your kindness. Thank you!

Geez Wendy, you sure cry a lot for a mature woman No thanks necessary - I'm tapped in to the fairy grandmother network - they've got connections. Glad we heard from you and hope all continues to go well, babe. This time, too, shall pass.

ILuvMickeyMouse - great start to your trip report! Can't wait to read more.

You guys just gave me a TERRIFIC suggestion - scrapbooks. . . If I was to make some scrapbooks (pre-scrapped with titles and embellishments, but with spaces for the family's photos) An album holds about 10 leaves which would be 20 sides. What would you suggest for pages?

Happy Day, All!

 

[palpluto]

Leelee2u- Thanks for the info. I did see WYM's TR and how great they were with her daughters food allergies. I think her allergy child was also her wish child. That is why I was wondering if they would also do special foods(like the ice cream) if the allergy child is not the wish child, but a sibling.

Has anyone had any food allergies in someone other than the wish child? I will call GKTW as we get closer, but hoped to hear that yes accomodations have been made for a sibling in the meantime. My son would be so excited if he was able to eat some food from the Gingerbread House and get treats from the ice cream place. He has only eaten in a restaurant a couple of times, usually we bring his food.
Thanks!

 

[wendygrace]

Am just about ready to start my TR, just doing some things with photos. Will let you know when I do!!

I need your info so I can add your trip to the first post links! And all the other info I have on there. Would you take a peak and put that up for me? (I think its organization staying with, place staying at, month and year you went and I don't know what else if anything). Thanks! I'd look usually but just don't have the time right now.

Hi everyone...just popping in to say hello.

Wendy, I knew Michael's surgery was coming up and I wanted to send a few prayers and hugs of my own to you. My daughter is on what our hospital calls the surgery "track" for her condition. I really believe it is the only thing that will stop her seizures and let her have a semi-normal life and I have been pushing for it and trying to get all her testing done so we can get it scheduled...but then I know when the time finally arrives, they will probably have to sedate me. I can only imagine right now how hard this is on you. God bless and good luck.


Our Disney trip probably won't be until late next year or 2009 (gasp!) but I still love coming here and reading all about everyone else's trip. Makes it feel a little closer.

Take care everyone!

Misty

Misty, and everyone else. Thank you for all your kind words. It really helps to have others who are here right along with me.

As for your trip, perhaps you should just schedule it for January 09 along with the rest of us!

Geez Wendy, you sure cry a lot for a mature woman No thanks necessary - I'm tapped in to the fairy grandmother network - they've got connections. Glad we heard from you and hope all continues to go well, babe. This time, too, shall pass.

You guys just gave me a TERRIFIC suggestion - scrapbooks. . . If I was to make some scrapbooks (pre-scrapped with titles and embellishments, but with spaces for the family's photos) An album holds about 10 leaves which would be 20 sides. What would you suggest for pages?

Happy Day, All!

I so wish I had the time to scrapbook. Its on my "to do list". I would recommend a "princess page", a "heroes page", a "fav 5 page", a "meal page", a page for each of the parks, a resort page and a misc page. If I were to do just a general scrapbook. Maybe a "villains page"? Just some thoughts. Of course several could be two page layouts. Now, what would you be doing this for? Would you sell them on Ebay? I'd so buy something like that! Of course, you need to go find some "Give Kids the World" stuff and make a page for that. If you do find and/or make some sort of embellishment or sticker or something with the logo, please let me know! I left a place on both kids scrapbook on their "Give Kids the World" page to find something with the logo to stick in it. I saw on a quick search on ebay that some people do page layouts and sell them. What a cool idea! I even saw some PP ones that I know I will have to get when I get ready to do our big family book!


palpluto, I don't know anyone who's had to have food accomodations for a non wish child but I do know they make other accomodations for a sib of the wish child so I can't imagine why they wouldn't for this. Call them and ease your mind! oh, and I don't know what's wrong with your turkey!


We had a relatively quiet day today. Went shopping at Target and got Michael a "sound machine" to hopefully help with all the noise. Got a tour of the hospital and they talk as if they are really trying to meet all of Michael's needs. He's been on a pure clear liquid diet since after breakfast this morning. He's handling it well so far. The Shrek popsicles probably has something to do with it. Tomorrow I should be less accessible. I will of course try and update after his surgery on Thursday.

Thanks again for all your support!

 

[patticake3]

Wendy, sending lots of prayers and positive thoughts your way. I'll be thinking of Michael and the whole family, especially on Thursday. Hang in there.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions about my MAW trip/questions. I haven't been here in a bit (I subscibed to the thread, but haven't gotten notification that it's been updated, so I figured there was no activity - I'm a little DIS challenged, so I probably did something wrong w/ subscribing!).

Camster, sorry your NJ trip was so stressful! Scary! And thanks for your pep talk - I don't want to burden my MAW rep and am hugely thankful for the trip in the first place, but I do want the details so I can plan accordingly. I did get a call from the rep the other day asking if I'd heard anything from the MAW organization about our trip, and if I hadn't, that I should expect a call soon. So I guess progress is being made! I've got a list of questions, so hopefully the other person I'll be dealing with has more answers than the rep. She is very nice, just doesn't seem to have answers.

Okiemomof3 - I think many of us get hit with moments of depression and when you think of what you've been through (I don't know details, but I know we've all been through so much), you've got to give yourself those moments to let out the sadness and fears. It's not healthy to push it aside all the time. And don't forget to give yourself major credit for holding it together most of the time. That is the amazing thing! I hope you're doing well!

5dwarves - I like that term 'hospital mom' and can totally relate! My husband was a hospital dad, too. And I am not the nursing type, but boy, you learn quick when it's your child! Although I hope I don't get a chance to play that role again anytime soon!

Momof2wcf - good idea about Blue Man Group - I've been thinking about that one. Did you go to DisneyQuest? I know nothing about but it sounds like a teenager opportunity.

Sending lots of positive thoughts to those on their wish trip or getting ready for it!

 

[LindaBabe]

I so wish I had the time to scrapbook. Its on my "to do list". I would recommend a "princess page", a "heroes page", a "fav 5 page", a "meal page", a page for each of the parks, a resort page and a misc page. If I were to do just a general scrapbook. Maybe a "villains page"? Just some thoughts. Of course several could be two page layouts.

Thank you! That's exactly the info I need . . .

Now, what would you be doing this for? Would you sell them on Ebay? I'd so buy something like that! Of course, you need to go find some "Give Kids the World" stuff and make a page for that.

Well, one really can't make money scrapbooking, I don't think. What I thought I'd do is make them to donate them to GKTW to give to families!

If you do find and/or make some sort of embellishment or sticker or something with the logo, please let me know! I left a place on both kids scrapbook on their "Give Kids the World" page to find something with the logo to stick in it.

I'll work on that in my spare time

Hang tough tomorrow! You'll be in my heart. Hopefully the sound machine will help you both get some sleep tonight.

There's a telephone number for a person at Disney who deals with food allergies - posted on the dis-abilities board somewhere - maybe in the faq. If you're eating at some of the on-site restaurants, you can work with her to plan the meal for the child in advance. Anyone who needs to avoid certain things can speak with a chef - I have a friend who's allergic to black pepper, another who's celiac, my husband is lactose intol. and I'm allegic to bananas - we've all managed to eat safely.

Happy Day, All!

 

[Camster0307]

Patticake3 - Was wondering where you disappeared to! Don't worry - you're not the only one who hasn't mastered the notification function on these boards. I can't get mine to work either. Instead what I do, about once or twice a day, is go to the quick links options at the top right corner. Click on that and then click on subscribed threads. A window will pop up with all the threads you're subscribed to - the ones with recent posts listed first. That should help you stay in touch.

Hope all is well with you and your family and that your wish comes through soon. That way you can move on to the really fun part of planning! We're a little over two weeks away from ours and am now starting to pack Amanda's supplies to ship down soon. We're all very excited - also hoping everyone stays healthy!

 

[wendygrace]

Thank you Linda! You are awesome! We got both the picture/frame and the Hat today! Michael was so excited when he got his packages! And when he read the big box said "P-E-T-E-R-P-A-N" he was too excited to open the package. He's been wearing his hat. The letter made both my MIL and I cry (there I go again! LOL). The frame is up on a shelf where he can see it when he lays in bed. Thank you!

He is finally napping. After getting stuck five times and dreading having a tube in his nose, they have stopped sticking him and it does not look like they are going to do a bowel prep (as of right now). Poor little guy. He is still on clears until midnight and doing well with that. This hospital has been awesome! Thanks for all the support!

 

[5dwarves]

Thank you Linda! You are awesome! We got both the picture/frame and the Hat today! Michael was so excited when he got his packages! And when he read the big box said "P-E-T-E-R-P-A-N" he was too excited to open the package. He's been wearing his hat. The letter made both my MIL and I cry (there I go again! LOL). The frame is up on a shelf where he can see it when he lays in bed. Thank you!

He is finally napping. After getting stuck five times and dreading having a tube in his nose, they have stopped sticking him and it does not look like they are going to do a bowel prep (as of right now). Poor little guy. He is still on clears until midnight and doing well with that. This hospital has been awesome! Thanks for all the support!

Wendy:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the update. Michael has popped into my head several times today and each time I say a quick prayer for him for health and healing, for you for peace, and for Michael's doctors to be at their all time best. I am so glad that Linda sent some pixie dust your way. That was so very touching! Don't forget to take care of yourself during all of this. I know it is hard to sleep on those little torture devices the hospitals call fold out beds (I always slide out of them), but try and rest. I'm praying for a peaceful night for you and your little Peter Pan. All the best!

~Elisa

 

[5dwarves]

Geez Wendy, you sure cry a lot for a mature woman You guys just gave me a TERRIFIC suggestion - scrapbooks. . . If I was to make some scrapbooks (pre-scrapped with titles and embellishments, but with spaces for the family's photos) An album holds about 10 leaves which would be 20 sides. What would you suggest for pages?

Happy Day, All!

Linda:

Provocraft has a ton of disney stuff (paper, dimensional stickers, dies for their die cut machines to include a pirate ship with a mickey flag and rollercoasters, cartridges with princesses and mickeys for their Cricut machine.) You could easily spend a fortune on all their doo dads.

http://www.provocraft.com/products/catalog.php?page=1&cl=cricut&scl=Cartridge&cat=

http://www.provocraft.com/products/catalog.php?cl=cuttlebug&scl=Combo

http://www.provocraft.com/products/catalog.php?page=4&cl=cuttlebug&scl=Dies&cat=

Another good source for "stuff" would be Creative Memories (sold kind of like Tupperware through an authorized rep - you can find a local one on their web site) They have a disney album

http://www.creativememories.com/Mai...vices/Albums/Coversets/Disney®-Coverset-12x12

http://www.creativememories.com/Mai...pecialty-Albums/Disney-Album-in-cranberry-7x7

but something else they have that is really neat, is imprinting. You can buy a plain album in any color you want, and then have a design printed on it and text added both on the cover and on the binding...like a normal library book. They have 15-20 designs and one of them is a graphic of Mickey Ears. I am going to get one and add some sort of text like:

XXXXX Family Vacation
Adam's Wish Trip
July 2007

The site is cool....you can decide if you want your text in the center or at the bottom and you can add the same design to the spine that you have on the cover. You can also choose silver or gold imprinting. It is fun to see what your custom design would look like. The albums come in 7x7 or 12x12 so a child could even do a small one....here is the link....
http://persona.creativememories.com/?GID=0

Click on the design an album logo and play with it...it looks very nice, very professional!

~Elisa

 

[LeeLee2U]

Palpluto- About your turkey, when you pasted the address does it have 2 http// in front of it? If so erase the first one along with the slashes behind it and see if that works. Thats what happend to me and now it's working.

Also the nutrionist at Disney is Brenda Bennett. I have her email and # somewhere. I'll try to get it posted for you. It is also on the disabilities thread. Call GKTW now and ease your mind. I know they were making plans for Shelley several weeks earlier, so call them. I can't imagine that they wouldn't make some arrangements, even if you had to bring/go get the food.
Let us know as soon as you find out. Braetons food allergies aren't as severe and we were able to find plenty of foods he could eat. Also for my DH they make Dialysis friendly fodds,such as low phosphorus, potassium, no sodium etc... so I know they will help you with your child. I just can't see GKTW not helping ya'll out.
Wendy, thanks for the update. I'm keeping you and Michael in my heart during this time.

 

[Momof2wCF]

Wendy, continued to you and Michael! We'll all be thinking about you guys tomorrow!

Linda, you are AWESOME (just in case you had any doubt ) What a great idea to make scrapbooks for GKTW! And how sweet to send Michael a *Pan Package*

Patticake3, No we didn't make it to DisneyQuest. It sounded cool, but we just didn't have time. You truly will be frazzled if you try to do it all, so if it's important to your kids, go for it, but you'll have to give up something else just because of time.

Thanks for the links, Elisa! I'll have to check them out later!

BTW, for those of you sending med supplies, I sent two cases of enteral formula to GKTW by UPS, and it worked great. GKTW even had them in our villa when we got there!

 

[LindaBabe]

Linda, you are AWESOME (just in case you had any doubt ) What a great idea to make scrapbooks for GKTW! And how sweet to send Michael a *Pan Package*

Nah. Just a sentimental old lady with help from my friends.

You girls do SO MUCH, just going about your daily lives caring for your kids, anything I can do for you or them, is a drop in the bucket by comparison.

5dwarves - GREAT ideas - in fact, I already started buying stuff . . . there's a store called mousememories.com that has an actually place in kissimmee . . . I treked out there (twice) - it's about half an hour further than GKTW . . and I won't tell you what I spent , but suffice to say I had a substantial part of my suitcase full of scrap supplies.

Wendy, Today's the day - my thoughts are with you - hang tough, babe!

Happy Day, all!