GOT BACK FROM MY TRIP SAT.– WE WERE AT DISNEYLAND. SORRY 4 THE DELAY– I GOT SICK ON R TRIP, & HAVE BEEN RE-COOPERATING.

WED., WE PICKED UP THE GIRLS FROM SCHOOL, & HEADED 2 MY MOM’S. THEY WERE EXCITED THEY WERE SLEEPING THERE, BUT FIA WAS TOLD SHE’D STAY W/MOM & DAD. SHE THOUGHT THAT WAS AWESOME, 2 HAVE MOM & DAD 2 HERSELF, BUT HAD NO IDEA HOW AWESOME IT WAS! FIA’S B-DAY WAS THE FOLLOWING DAY, SO JESS GUESSED FIA WAS GOING 2 A SPECIAL DINNER. A SPECIAL DINNER, INDEED!

EACH KID IS GETTING A SPECIAL TRIP THIS YEAR—JESS ALREADY WENT ON HERS, & ZACH KNOWS HIS IS COMING UP, BUT FIA KNEW NOTHING OF HERS, EXCEPT THAT I WAS GOING 2…

WE HAVEN’T FLOWN IN YEARS (IT JUST ISN’T CONDUSIVE 2 ME), SO HER 1ST SURPRISE WAS THE AIRPORT! THE PREVIOUS FLIGHT (NEW YORK) WAS LISTED STILL—IT’S WHERE MY SISTER LIVES, & JESS JUST WENT THERE, SO IT WAS LOGICAL 2 THINK WE WERE GOING THERE, BUT WE FILLED HER IN THAT WE WERE FLYING 2 CALIFORNIA, & DRIVING 2 R HOTEL. WE GOT ALL THE WAY 2 THE HOTEL, B4 SHE FIGURED OUT WHERE WE WERE (SHE SAW A SIGN POINTING THE WAY 2 DISNEYLAND)!

AT DISNEYLAND, I DIDN’T GET AS MUCH PRACTICE TIME, AS I’D HAVE LIKED IN my new MANUAL W/C. B4 I LEFT, THE KIDS USED IT, & HAD A BLAST IN IT. I ENJOYED HAVING THEM C HOW OFTEN THEY LEFT STUFF ON THE FLOOR, IN THE WAY (NOW, IF ONLY THEY COULDN’T TALK, & DEMAND SOME1 2 MOVE IT)! THEY ENJOYED ROLLING AROUND, WATCHING TV, DEMANDING 2 BE FED, & LAUGHING OR MAKING NOISES LIKE I DO, & “BEING MOM.”

IF I WAS ALONE AT THE DISNEYLAND PARK, THE W/C BREAK WAS USED, & I DIDN’T ARGUE, BECAUSE IT WAS 4 MY OWN SAFETY–I’M RT. HANDED, & CAN’T TURN YET, OR BACK OUT OF ANY1’S WAY, OR DO MUCH, IF I ROLL INTO A CROWD!

I’M USUALLY IN A POWER CHAIR, & LOVE IT. IF IT BREAKS, I HATE 2 GO BACK 2 MY MANUAL, BUT WE HAD 1 W/ALL SMALL WHEELS FOR THE 1ST 9 MO., AFTER MY STROKE, SO IF MY POWER W/C BROKE, I HAD NO CHOICE BUT 2 RETURN 2 MY MANUAL W/C W/SMALL WHEELS, & BE AT THE COMPLETE MERCY OF OTHERS!

MY NEW MANUAL THAT WE TOOK, W/BIG WHEELS I CAN MANUEVER, I CRIED TEARS OF JOY WHEN I GOT IT, AT THE MERE THOUGHT OF THE CAPABILITY 2 MOVE ON TRIPS, EVEN THOUGH I WASN’T SURE I COULD EVEN MOVE IT! (& I CAN BARELY DO IT–I MOSTLY GO IN A HUGE FWD LEFT-HAND TURN… ODDLY, I PUSH A LOT BETTER ON THE ACTUAL WHEEL, THAN ON THE RAIL, UNTIL I’M STRONGER, & I HAVE 2 MOVE FAST, OR I JUST ROLL BACK FROM WHERE I CAME!)

AS MANY STROKE SURVIVORS KNNOW, HELP IS HARD TO ACCEPT AFTER GAINING SOME INDEPENDENCE WITH A POWER CHAIR. I’VE DECIDED IT’S ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE STAGES IN RECOVERY WE MUST FACE.

I FINGERSPELL, & IT’S TIRING 2 SIGN ALL THAT I DO, SO I WAS BEYOND EXHASTED WHEN WE RETURNED HOME! IT’S ALARMING HOW INCREDIBLY INDEPENDENT I’VE BECOME, BECAUSE OF THE HOME ACCESSIBILITY, & MY POWER W/C!

I DETEST MY MANUAL CHAIR THAT HAS SMALL WHEELS, WHERE I GO BACK 2 BEING COMPLETELY HELPLESS & DEPENDANT. IT HAD IT’S TIME, BUT I HAVE SO OUTGROWN IT! I REMEMBER LOOKING AT MY OLD MANUAL CHAIR, WATCHING MY HUSBAND, MARK, REMOVE PARTS I’D OUTGROWN, & I VOWED 2 GET RID OF MORE! LAST SUMMER, IN A HOTEL ROOM, I SAW HOW VITAL IT IS 4 ME 2 MOVE (ESP. SINCE I CAN’T SPEAK), BUT MANY TRAVELS—ESP. WHERE FLYING IS CONCERNNED–POWER CHAIRS R NOT AN OPTION, SO I’M ANXIOUS 2 MAKE THIS WORK! I FIGURE I CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH, BUT I CAN AT LEAST TRY!