Two years ago today was our first official family vacation. We woke up early to get on the road to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Cassidy and Alec were so excited, we all were, this was huge. Up until now, we had only felt comfortable staying close to The Jimmy Fund and Children's hospital. Because Alec had a port, if he got a low grade fever for a few hours or a temp of 101 once, then we had to get him to the Clinic or the Hospital quickly for IV antibiotics in case of infection. So the furthest we ever went was 3 hours away (which was still scary to be this far) . We also could not afford to do a full week vacation, so it was usually just a few days or a free camp for families with children with an illness or my Mom sharing her time share with us. On one of our trips, we stayed at Terri's (my bosses house in NH, she was so kind to offer it to us), Alec and Cass both ended up so sick with colds and Alec got a fever, Keith called the clinic and we were borderline on whether to head to the Hospital or hope his fever went down, we decided that we would drive back to Boston if he needed antibiotics because we were scared that the hospital in NH was not used to children with ports and would hurt Alec even more. Luckily his fever lowered and we got to stay. The next day we went up to StoryLand with our Best Friends Nicole and Kevin and their kids and while we were there we bumped into one of Alec's head Doctor's at the Jimmy Fund. We told him what had happened and our plan to drive back to Boston for care, he told us that we would need to always take Alec to the nearest hospital for immediate care and going to Boston was not an option, it was too risky to wait that long. This made us want to stay close even more.
But now, Alec had gotten his port out in April, so we could treat Alec like any child with a fever if he got one. This was all new to us and so wonderful and unusual to be able to know we didn't have to call the clinic if he had a fever. So we felt now was the time to take off, to finally go on a real family vacation, just us.
Alec has always had the chance for a wish from Make-a-Wish ,since he was a baby . He was too little to make a wish and we wanted it to be his wish. We now offered it to him because he had said he wanted to go to Disney and the only way we could afford Disney was to use the wish. So we told him about the wish and told him he could use it for Disney or we could go to Hershey Park and he could save his wish. He decided that he wanted to go go to Hershey Park, (this relieved me, I always had a fear of using the wish). I had this very strong feeling that we had to go on vacation before Alec's next MRI, which was in July. We had to go while his port was out or else we may not get to.
We had the best road trip, it was so fun to be traveling together and following where we were on the maps. Cass and Al were so excited. It took about 8 hours and then we got to The Hershey Lodge. It was huge; and the best part? They had escalators!! Alec loved escalators, we were just as excited as him, I mean what Hotel has escalators?
And Giant Candy Bar Characters and a kids check in. Wow , it felt so great to be together, having fun, no worries, just us.
But now, Alec had gotten his port out in April, so we could treat Alec like any child with a fever if he got one. This was all new to us and so wonderful and unusual to be able to know we didn't have to call the clinic if he had a fever. So we felt now was the time to take off, to finally go on a real family vacation, just us.
Alec has always had the chance for a wish from Make-a-Wish ,since he was a baby . He was too little to make a wish and we wanted it to be his wish. We now offered it to him because he had said he wanted to go to Disney and the only way we could afford Disney was to use the wish. So we told him about the wish and told him he could use it for Disney or we could go to Hershey Park and he could save his wish. He decided that he wanted to go go to Hershey Park, (this relieved me, I always had a fear of using the wish). I had this very strong feeling that we had to go on vacation before Alec's next MRI, which was in July. We had to go while his port was out or else we may not get to.
We had the best road trip, it was so fun to be traveling together and following where we were on the maps. Cass and Al were so excited. It took about 8 hours and then we got to The Hershey Lodge. It was huge; and the best part? They had escalators!! Alec loved escalators, we were just as excited as him, I mean what Hotel has escalators?
And Giant Candy Bar Characters and a kids check in. Wow , it felt so great to be together, having fun, no worries, just us.
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