My family has taken only two vacations in the last ten years. Because I am a single parent of four children, three of whom have significant disabilities, planning a vacation overwhelms me.
For instance, one of our two vacations has been a Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World. That one worked pretty well because I had all the Make-A-Wish folks planning almost everything for me. But, I still had to figure out how to get a wheelchair on a plane whose aisles weren’t wide enough. And, I had to pack medicines, including syringes, and figure out how to get all that on a plane.
Then there were all the supplies we would need for a week away from home. We had one huge duffle bag full of nothing but Depends. Another duffle contained Pediasure and tube feeding supplies. Many bags were required for clothes and bedding, because as so many of you know, several changes of each of those things is not unusual in a day.
After that trip, I was so very grateful for the Make-A-Wish planners!
Our other vacation involved a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Again, just the sheer volume of what we had to pack was overwhelming. But in addition, I also had to figure out the location of the closest hospital should we have a seizure or other medical issue. I had to know if my child could be air-lifted to a trauma center if necessary. I had to know if the house we were renting had back-up power in the event of a storm outage.
And the list went on and on.
We’re going to try again at Christmas this year. I have rented a mountain cabin and have already started my list of things to check on and work out.
How do the rest of you do vacations? I really would like to take my family on one each year, but I am just too intimidated.
Deborah can be found writing here at 5MFSN every Wednesday, and can also be found at Pipecleaner Dreams.
Something that might make your trip a little easier, is to ship some of the supplies you have to pack. If you are driving, you’ll have more room in the car. And if you’re flying, you won’t have to pay the extra bag fees, and the hassle of checking extra bags.
Diapers are light, so they would cost less to ship than formula. To save room, we always empty the packages of Max’s diapers to pack in with our clothes. They fill up all the empty spaces. We also stuff packages of syringes inside shoes…same with alcohol wipes.
If we’re flying, our only carry-on bags are for his stuff. We each have one. So one is full of diapers and chucks, one is full of meds, and one full of feeding supplies. Then my husband and I get to carry-on a personal bag. Mine is Max’s diaper bag, and husband carries the computer bag.
Also when we fly, we only pack in large duffle bags. Like this: http://www.rei.com/product/780047 They cost as much as a suitcase, but they are completely water resistant, and are expedition bags, so very tough. We have taken them around the world, and they still look new. And the best part about the bags, is inevitably when we’re heading home they are empty from using the supplies. So we fold them up and pack inside another bag. Then we have less baggage to check on our way home!
As far as doctors go, we scout out the nearest hospital, and nearest specialist for my son’s conditions. We also give all of our regular doctors a head’s-up we are going on vacation in case they are called in emergency.
We keep as many of his prescriptions with Walgreen’s that we can, in case we run out or it’s lost, we can usually find a Walgreen’s nearby to get the medicine at.
And most importantly…when you’re on vacation…be on vacation!!! Take off your personal assistant, scheduler, advocate, mediator hat. You only get vacation every once in a while…so just be mom! It will all be there waiting for you when you get home!!!
Deana, WOW! THANK YOU! Your ideas are wonderful, and just what I needed to hear. I’m feeling the urge to plan a vacation right now