Disneyworld

We were able to take our trip to Disneyworld (October 16th-24th).  We had to wait a very long time to make this dream a reality.  Last year we had it all planned as a Christmas gift for our family.  We had to cancel less than 6 weeks out due to my diagnosis and starting chemo on the very week we were supposed to be gone.  It was so hard to have to call and beg the airlines to refund my tickets because I needed the money for my upcoming medical bills.  It took a lot of crying and begging but I got my money back on my non-refundable tickets.  I then had to call Disney to get the money back that was spent on park tickets but they were really good and I didn't need to go into a lot of detail.  Disney is awesome!  We had reserved a condo from a friend and it was easy to get that canceled.

We decided to take this trip in October rather than waiting until December.  I was nervous to wait any longer because I feel pretty good right now and I know how fast things can change, plus I didn't want to go at Christmas time because of what happened last year.  We stayed at a Disney resort so everything was done for us.  We didn't have to worry about transportation or how to get from the airport to the hotel, they took care of everything.

I was nervous at the airport because I didn't want to go through the full body scanners and if they were to ask me I know it is my right as a breast cancer survivor to tell them that I am not comfortable going through the scanner and they have to let me bypass it.  Lucky for me I didn't have to have that conversation on either flight.  I think since Kaci was by my side they just had us walk through the metal detector scanners.  I don't know what I would have done if they told me to walk through it.  I may have just walked through it and kept my head up high.  I am different and my body is different but I need to learn to deal with the new me and not be embarrassed by it.  I will get there one day but right now I am still dealing with my loss of body parts.

When I got on the airplane I had to wear my compression sleeve due to the lymph node removal.  I am at a high risk of developing lymph-edema.  I put it on and didn't think about the whole reason why I am wearing it and wondering if other people are looking at me and know why I am wearing it.  I didn't let my mind go there.  I was so excited for the trip I just didn't care.

We had such a great time and spent all 7 days in the parks walking mile and miles.  I felt like we saw it all and didn't miss out on anything.  My legs however gave me a great deal of pain each day.  My legs have hurt daily since I finished chemo and I didn't think that it would be 10 times worse on this trip due to all the walking.  I took a lot of pain pills just to get through the days.  It was also hard to be out in the heat and humidity.  I had hot flashes what felt like every 10 minutes.  I was constantly dripping in sweat.  My hair was also a curly mess the whole time.  The humidity, sweating and curly hair, oh my!!!!  There were only a few times I would look in the mirror in the restrooms but most of the time I would avoid them.

Regardless of the pain and being uncomfortable with the hot flashes I had the time of my life.  I love my family so much and we enjoyed spending time with them and making memories to last a lifetime.  While at the Magic Kingdom we did the Halloween party and we came home with 25lbs of candy from just the 4 of us.  I can't believe how much candy they give out!  I purposely didn't buy any Halloween candy because I knew we would have a lot of candy and I figure it is better to hand it out to the trick-or-treaters instead of eating it ourselves.   I felt like we were gone a lot longer than 8 nights and was really looking forward to coming home to the colder air and the animals.  I guess that is a good vacation when at the end of it you are ready to come home.

I sure hope that many more vacations are in my future, I just love to travel.