Archive for May, 2008

Trip to ABR - Day 3

May 1, 2008 | Updates

The third day of our trip, Sunday, April 20th, we got up early and headed to ABR orientation. We found the area with our GPS, but couldn’t find the specific building. Then we saw several parents unloading their handicapped children from their cars and were able to follow them into the building. It was an odd thing, but I nearly broke into tears as we entered the room to ABR. There sat 10 pairs of parents all with children like Samuel. An entire room full of people who understand EXACTLY what we are experiencing. And an entire room full of children who are the most amazing and incredible children in the world. It was an overwhelming feeling and in a way, it felt like I was among my very best friends – despite the fact that we hadn’t even met.

The orientation went well and it was during it that I discovered that we were supposed to bring 2 people to the training so that we could practice the therapy on each other when we got home. Thank goodness Tom had come! Once the orientation was over, we again began to deal with the fact that we had no place to stay anymore. I called several of the other apartments I had seen online and no one answered. We drove around and did some grocery shopping and a few other things. Finally, one of the places called me back. I dickered with them on the price again and discussed the contract details. They wanted the 6 days rent upfront in cash and then a $300 cash deposit and a signed lease. I understood why they were asking, but here we are clear across the country and if they never return my deposit, how will I ever get it back. It was frustrating and taking a lot of time, but then I happened to mention we were here for ABR and everything changed. They said if that was the case, then they trusted us, and they wouldn’t need a deposit or a signed contract, just the rent and a few hours to get the place cleaned up.

So, we went to dinner and ran a few more errands and finally arrived at the new place at 8 pm. It is MUCH nicer!  It has a jetted tub, a brand new washer and dryer, a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, hardwood floors, antique furniture, high speed internet, satellite TV, 2 balconies.  And it was only a few dollars a night more than the first place we were at and it is in a much better part of town. I can’t tell you the stress that getting this place took off of me! Finally, we were able to unpack and settle in. And the first thing I did was put my wash in the washer and run across the street to buy a calling card so I could call the kids at home and not be limited on talking to them. (It’s 79 cents a minute to call them on my cell phone!) And, then, FINALLY, a good nights sleep!

It was this night that I realized, as I was putting Samuel to bed, that for the last 2 days he had been scraping his right leg against a rough spot on the carseat/stroller. This was a Sit n’ Stroll that we had bought especially for this trip to make it easier to transport him from place to place as it is a carseat and a stroller and is FAA approved for flights. Our concern was trying to cart his wheelchair everywhere and possibly having it disassembled for flights and then having to rent a van instead of a small car to take it with us everywhere. It turned out to be a great thing, but his leg was covered in scratches and scabs, especially near his ankle from the little rough spot he had discovered. I ended up having to wrap his leg in ace bandages and coflex for the rest of the trip. And on the last night of the trip, I discovered he was now rubbing his left leg on the same spot on the other side of the carseat. So, we made the trip home with bandages on both his legs. It’s incredible how difficult it is to position these kids in any sort of chair, carseat, stroller, wheelchair, etc because they are unable to tolerate so many things. I felt bad he had hurt his leg, but in the end, the Sit n’ Stroll ended up being one of the best things we brought with us.

I’ll leave you with pictures of our apartment.  You’ll have to click on them to enlarge them.  The first is of the outside.  We went in the door on the 2nd floor and then climbed stairs to the third floor, so the balcony at the top is ours.  The second if of the inside.  The third is the view from the balcony.  You can see how close the apartments are to each other and how you could literally reach out and touch your neighbor’s balcony.  The bridge in the background is the Jacques-Cartier Bridge or Pont in French.  What you can see in the picture is about 1/4 of the actual length of the bridge.  It is over 2 miles long and a five lane highway.  It has about 43 million vehicles cross it annually.  We crossed it about 15 times it was so fun to drive across :)!

Until tomorrow…

Love,

The Jewkes