Emotional Support Sisters

This year my husband and I decided to celebrate our anniversy at Disneyland and California Adventure without kids. When my husband first suggested it, I was less than enthusiasitc (sorry handsome husband). I had some concerns about having enough energy to have fun. The last time I had been to Disneyland was 8 years ago. I was in better physical and mental health than my current state, and even then a full day at the park was tiring, let alone 2 full days at the park. My husband’s excitement for the adventure eventually rubbed off on me and I decided let’s go for it.

We have worked really hard to have adventures and fun vacations throughout our marriage. Most of the time (ok really every trip except this one) we have shopped the sales, stayed at friends, I have gone along on work trips to make it as cheap as possible, or any other way we could think of to save some money.  The last few years we have had staycations and just done fun stuff at home. This trip we still shopped the sales, but we splurged a little, too. We decided to stay at one of the Disneyland hotels and buy the genie pass so we could cut down on line times. 

Staying at the parks eased some of my worries about energy. We were close enough that going back to the hotel to rest would not waste precious energy. The thought of walking a mile to rest and then needing to walk back a mile to play some more is really discourageing to some one who has limited energy supplies. The hotel reservations also got us into the parks before the general public which meant we got to ride a few rides before there were any  lines, which means less time spent standing in line. 

I have also learned a lot more about hypermobility since the last time I was at Disneyland. The biggest thing is that even if I were at my strongest (which I am currently not), my ligaments still don’t do their jobs very well and I need to provide extra love and support to my joints if I am going to abuse them beyond abuse they get from regular life. Now standing and walking doesn’t sound that abusive to joints, but when you are standing or walking all day (our first day started at 7:30 in the morning and we didn’t make it back to the hotel unitl almost 1 that night) it becomes tough on unstable joints. My hips are the biggest culprits when it comes to instability and standing. They start to hurt and then eventually will just give out. I can be walking along minding my own business and then suddenly I am no longer walking along because one side of my body just stops bearing weight. I’m sure it looks like I have tripped over air, but that is not what happens. I have a hip brace, technically its called a sacroiliac belt, that really helps hold my hips together on long days. Wearing the brace I did not have a single problem with my hips even though I was on my feet all day. My husband also brought along some compression knee braces. I didn’t use them the first day becasue I rarely have problems with my knees and really hate tight squeezy things. By the end of the first day my knees were hurting, so I did wear them the second day. The horrible squeezy feeling was well worth the pain relief. It made me even think that I could tollerate compression socks for days that I am on my feet a lot.  I also decided that even though I try hard not to take maximum doses of pain reliever, it would be ok for 2 days. So I alternated ibuprofen and acetemtpohin every 3 hours while we are at the park.  By the end of the 2 days I was in signinficantly less pain than what I anticipated. My feet hurt, and my muscles were tired and a little sore, but the aching, throbbing,stabbing bone deep pain I often feel after a full day on my feet was not there.  Knowledge is power!

The other aspect I was worried about was just being emotionally overwhelmed. When we booked the trip I did not have and ADHD diagnoisis and was really struggling with my mental health. To be honest I am still struggling a little, but understanding why I am struggling has made it a little easier.  When we got to the park my husband told me this is your day, you get to plan it and do it however you want. I stopped him right there and said no. I do not want to be incharge of planning or making decisions. I want a break from planning and making all the decisions.  I gave him my things I do not want to miss, things I like, and things I do not want to do list and left him in charge of the planning. I piped in when I had a fun idea or didn’t want to do what was suggested, but to not be in charge of planning was a huge relief. It was also significantly easier not worrying about where the kids were, if they were having fun, and if everyone was doing ok.

Now that I am home I am exhausted. The first day home I was so tired I was shaking the whole day. Today has been a little better, but I am starting to wilt quickly and it is only mid afternoon. It will take a few more days to recover, but it was worth it. Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind, enjoy a couple of fun days and then suffer the consequences once the fun is over.

Missy