by Jill Gunzel
HOTEL vs HOME STAY
We left for this trip on a Wednesday and returned on Sunday. My son and his wife live in Corvallis, so they drove two hours to Portland to meet us at the airport. My suspicions from the last trip were correct. It's MUCH easier to manage at an airport when someone else is there to help. We stayed in a hotel, because they live in a two story house. Once, while we were there, we tried to get Mom and the wheelchair up the stairs, so she could see their second floor. We got her up 7 steps, to the landing, but then couldn't turn the chair. So, she stood up and with two of us helping her (one holding her trunk and one moving her left leg up the stairs) and with HER pulling up the handrail, she "walked" up the stairs. Coming down, it was the same thing...she "walked" down all 14 stairs. We were sure glad to be at a hotel, though, and not doing that stair routine every day. It was also easier in the hotel, to arrange commode, shower, all the extra towels, and just being able to leave all our extra supplies out, than if we'd tried to adapt in their house.
GETTING THE RIGHT SIDE SEAT ON THE AIRPLANE
Mom asked, before I called to make reservations for our flight to Oregon, if there were any chance of getting the aisle seat on the RIGHT side of the plane (right side as you are facing the back of the plane). She explained that when she sat on the left side, it put her left (affected) arm toward the aisle, and people kept hitting it. She didn't have the ability to move it out of the way, or reach up and push a backpack and keep it from hitting her. The airline lady said they had a policy AGAINST assigning the right hand bulkhead row during phone reservations. They leave that for the people at the gate to assign for folks with "special needs". DUH! At one point she said that Mom could have the right-side seat, but I couldn't reserve the one next to her. WRONG!! I ended up having to go to HER supervisor, before I got them to understand that we HAD a special need, and couldn't afford to wait and gamble that someone else would get the seat before we got there. We finally reserved the right hand seat, for the round trip, and were very happy to have done so.
PRE-CHECK of the AIRPORT
Mom lives in Tucson, but I was going to be in Phoenix for meetings, the week of our trip. It was cheaper to fly round trip from Phoenix to Oregon, so we planned it that way. By flying from Phoenix, it also meant we didn't have to change planes anywhere. It was a 2.5hr flight. Mom didn't even get a chance to try out an airplane bathroom. Darn! Maybe next time. My sister-in-law drove her halfway to Phoenix, and then I took her from there. Not being familiar with the Phoenix airport handicap service, I'd visited the airport the day before. I found out I could check our luggage AND the bike box with the commode, right at the curb. (For info on the bike box, see the report on the trip to L.A.) With that out of the way, we headed for the economy parking lot, and had only our carryon and the wheelchair to worry about. During my "airport pre-check" I also went to the economy lot and confirmed that their buses were wheelchair accessible. They were wonderful!! The drivers were all trained in them, lowered the ramps, helped Mom rollup the ramp, and locked her into special places for wheelchairs. The driver even took care of asking other people to move back, so the wheelchair spot was available.
NOTE: I have a picture of Mom coming down the bus ramp...but it's still in my camera. Check back, sometime. :)
GET TO THE AIRPORT EARLY
Once again, we learned the importance of getting there early. The airports tell you to get there one, to one and a half hours, early. I've been doing TWO hours early, when travelling with Mom. By the time you manage the luggage, wheelchair, people who can't figure out how to use the electric ramps on the vans, bathrooms, etc...you'll be glad to have the extra time. You never know when something will take extra time...like tying down the wheel chair in the bus. It's also good to get to the gate early...as soon as someone from the airline is there, so you can warn them of your special needs. These days, when travelling handicapped, we just plan to get there and when everything is settled, we go find something to eat, and a place to relax.
MANAGEMENT OF THE HANDICAP PARKING SIGN
We learned, on our first trip, to take along our handicap parking signs. We also learned to make BIG notes to ourselves to remember to grab it when we returned the rental car at the end of the trip. On this trip, we realized you almost need two signs. We couldn't leave our car (in the economy lot) in a wheelchair spot, because we had to take the wheelchair sign with us on the trip. So, we parked in a vacant area, where there was plenty of room on the side of the car. Then we wheeled over to the ramada where you wait for the bus. When we returned, I realized a better way to handle it. You can use the wheelchair spots for loading and unloading, and then once the person and wheelchair are at the ramada, you can go park the car in a NON-handicap spot.
In Oregon, my son drove us around in HIS truck, so we let him use the handicap sign. But again, when he parked at the airport to pick us up, he didn't have the sign, yet. Instead, he illegally took up to places, so no one would park next to us. When he took us BACK to the airport, he couldn't use the wheelchair place, because we had to take the sign with us, back home. Again, we could have used the sign for loading and unloading, and then had him move the truck to a regular spot, but we didn't think of that until later.
DEALING WITH THE WINDOW SEAT PERSON
I realized, on this trip, the importance of explaining Mom's physical disability to the person headed into the window seat. Most people, when crawling over someone to get to a window seat, expect the seated person to move their feet out of the way when we step over them. But Mom can't do that. After getting stepped on, we learned to brief the person, first. After that, we found the person doing the "stepping over" was MUCH more careful of Mom's foot. I also found it good to tell the window seat person that we would be the last ones to debark, and that she/he was welcome to jump up and get out, before the crowds started coming down the aisle. In fact, I went ahead and jumped out into the aisle and blocked the way, so the window seat person could get out. Then, I went out of the plane to check on the wheelchair and make sure everything was ready for Mom's exit. You have to act fast, or you'll never get out.
THE AMAZING RAMP
Instead of renting a car, we drove everywhere in my son's huge truck. I'd informed him that there was no way Grandma could climb stairs or step up and down off a platform. So, bless his heart, he made a huge wooden ramp. I'm still not sure how it fit in the back of his truck, but it was VERY slick. He could wheel her right up the ramp, onto a platform that was even with his running board. She just had to stand, turn and sit. It was amazing! I think the running board was about 20" off the ground!!! After hauling the heavy ramp in an out of the truck, each time she got in or out of the seat, I finally realized that we really didn't need it for getting OUT of the truck. We worked out a system where Mom turned in her seat, hung her feet over the edge, and then I hugged her and slowly lowered her to the ground. I'm including a picture of the ramp...just in case it might give someone some ideas for building a smaller one of their own.
HANDICAP HOTEL ROOMS
Before this trip, I did some Internet research on ADA requirements for handicap rooms. I found out more than I could handle, but here are two of the URL's I used, in case you want to do some looking.
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
http://www.ada-infonet.org/
I learned quite a bit about hotel room requirements for the handicap. The area under the sink counter has to be open and the water pipes should be wrapped (so as not to burn someone's knees). There SHOULD be wheel-in showers with pull-down seats and sliding hand held shower heads. Lots of hotels just do a bathtub with grab rails. Some of them will offer a shower bench. As always, don't assume anything!! The door to the room should have a lower peep hole...wheelchair height. Furniture should all be moveable, so you can move a nightstand out of the way, for instance, and put a commode by the bed. The hotel maintenance people should do this for you, if you ask.
In our Internet stroke caregiver support group, many of us have shared the problem of reserving a handicap room and then getting there and being told there are none available. I specifically asked, when reserving it, and they said, "It's not just a preference, it's a guarantee." So far, so good. I called the morning we were to be there...I even called EARLY, because we wouldn't be there until about 9pm...and I confirmed the handicap room AND the wheel-in shower AND the right side grab bar by the toilet. The girl was sure about the handicap room, but had to go check with someone about the wheel-in shower. Sure enough...it had one, but she admitted they couldn't confirm a right side grab bar. Good enough. Well, we got there, got to the room, and guess what....there was a bathtub with grab bars. I marched back to the desk and said, "Where's the wheel-in shower? I can't give her a bath." He said, "Sorry, I thought it had one. There aren't any other rooms, until morning." I agreed to wait, since we weren't going to use the shower that night, anyhow. We changed to a much better room in the morning. The shower was excellent, except that the whole floor of the bathroom gets soaked. Just used lots of towels.
GET A DOOR STOPPER
One problem we have with hotels (and public bathrooms, for that matter) is the self-closing HEAVY doors on the room and sometimes on the bathrooms. Apparently the hotel rooms have to have heavy doors (going to the hallways) that self close, to meet fire department requirements.
I think the only answer is that from now on, we'll take a door stopper with us. In fact, I think it's a good idea to have a door stopper with you all the time, anyhow. It would really come in handy at bathrooms or entrances to restaurants or businesses.
USING THE HOTEL POOL
The hotel had told us they had handicap access to their nice indoor pool, but it had never been used, and they weren't quite sure where all the equipment was. I told them to figure out, before we arrived. They didn't, of course. So, when they went to set it up, they had to first search for it. Then, they went to put the pool in the hole in the ground and found that someone had cemented the cap to the hole! I arrived in the pool room, just in time to see the workman chiselling out the cap. The manager said, "We're sorry. As soon as we get this cap off, we'll call your room." They called. We went to the pool. No one was there to help us with it. We were on our own. It was the first time I'd used one of the slings, but with a little bravery, trust, and probably a lot of risk, I got Mom into and out of the pool. The manager assured me they would soon do a training for their staff. They should have done it while we were there. We could have taught them. :)
FINAL AIRPORT EXPERIENCE
Back at the Phoenix airport, at the end of the trip, I insisted on managing all the luggage, the commode, and Mom and the chair, alone. Maybe not a smart idea. We had to get out to the center island to meet the courtesy bus to the economy parking lot. I didn't want to tip a skycap and then have to tip the bus driver, too. So I did it myself. NOT fun. There was construction going on. We had to go on and off the center island five times, just to get to the bus. I'd pull the suitcases out in front of us...then tell Mom to watch them while I ran back to her and moved her forward....then the suitcases...then Mom. At one point, one of the ramps from the sidewalk was blocked by a shuttle van. I told them they HAD to move (well, I sorta asked nicely, but firmly), because they were blocking "handicap access". At first, I think he was going to argue, but when he heard "handicap access", there was no question that he knew he shouldn't be there in my way. My husband was right (see trip to L.A. and airport hassles). People get very antsy when you mention handicap access. They know they are in trouble if they don't comply. So, rather than getting frazzled, just tell the policeman who is trying to tell you that you can't leave your car unattended, or the person blocking your access, or whoever is creating a problem for you, that you have a handicap access problem, and you're likely to be accomodated, quickly.
I'd love to hear from you. Please let me know if some of these
tips have helped you, or if you have some ideas or experiences of your
own that I might share with others.
Drop me a line!
Drop me a line!