At the big fundraiser we had a year ago to raise money to buy a van, someone offered us a stay at a timeshare they have at a resort in Galena, Illinois. We couldn’t say no to that, could we? Of course not.
We had the trip booked late last year, but with James’ digestion and breathing issues these past few months, we were questioning if we should cancel the trip and try to reschedule it. We kept going back and forth, but we eventually decided that a little vacation would be good for all of us. We had a lot going on—some of which I have not shared on this blog—and we thought a little trip out in the country would do us all good. Besides, it was only a couple of hours away so we wouldn’t be too far from home if there was an issue.
The original plan was to leave in the morning on Thursday, the 16th and come back in the afternoon on Sunday, the 19th. Unfortunately, we had to cut the trip a little bit short, but you’ll have to read to the end to find out why. Don’t worry, it had nothing to do with James’ health.
How much stuff does our family of three need for a four-day trip? This much:
Those of you familiar with Thirty-One will notice a lot of Thirty-One bags in the above pic. There are two Large Utility Totes, Fresh Market Thermal (cooler bag), Retro Metro Weekender, and a Ziptop Organizing Utility Tote. Shameless plug here, but if you think you may be interested in buying any those for yourself, Stacy is a Thirty-One consultant and would be more than happy to help you out. She has a private Facebook group that you can ask to join, or you can check out her Thirty-one website. Okay, plug over.
That blue bin in the above picture was full of James’ supplies; the tall black bag with the handle is his percussion vest; and the suction machine on the right side of the table also went with us. Not shown in the picture is the oxygen tank just in case James ran into any respiratory issues and needed a little oxygen boost. Yeah, most of the stuff in the above picture was for James. He travels with a lot of stuff.
The trip out to Galena was uneventful. We happened to pass through the town where my grandparents lived so we made a quick stop at the Cub Foods to pick up a couple of bags of Mrs. Mike’s potato chips which are made in town. It’s one of those things that brings me back to my childhood.
After we arrived at the resort in Galena, we checked in, and were given a map and directions on how to get to the house we would be staying in. Holy crap! We were expecting a small 2-, maybe 3-bedroom house with a little kitchen area. I think this house was bigger than ours. Let me take you on a quick tour. Some of the pictures below were taken on Friday, after we had gotten a good night’s sleep. I apologize for the messy beds.
This is the house we stayed in:
The kitchen:
The dining room:
Two pictures of the living room:
The master bedroom where Stacy and James slept:
The master bathroom:
That was just the main level. Downstairs there was a family room and two bedrooms. I slept in the first bedroom in the pics below.
Some house, huh? I’m not quite done yet. Out back there was a nice deck off the main level, complete with hot tub.
Here I am with James hanging out on the deck getting some fresh air.
Outside the downstairs family room is a nice fire pit area.
Like I said, I think it’s bigger than our house. After we got settled in on Thursday afternoon, we just wanted to relax. Friday, we went into downtown Galena to check it out and stopped for lunch at Durty Gurt’s.
Although we still had a couple of days left of our little trip, it pretty much ended an hour or so after that delicious lunch. Stacy got a call from the school district to let us know that they terminated James’ one-on-one nurse. WHAT?! This woman has been with James for the past two years. She is like a second mom to him. When the school district made the decision last school year to change nursing agencies that provide the one-on-one nurses for kids like James, this woman quit her job at the nursing agency that the district was previously using and moved to the new nursing agency just so that she continue to be with James. That’s how much she cares for James. What could she have done so wrong to get fired?
Their reason? She was texting too much. Are you freaking kidding me?! She was texting Stacy for Christ’s sake. It’s not like she was texting her friends or her significant other. It was the mom of the special little boy she was caring for. And the district had given the okay for the nurse and Stacy to text throughout the day. And suddenly it’s a problem?
They also told us that there will be a new nurse starting on Monday. So, they basically waited until the end of the day on Friday to let us know that James would have a new nurse starting on Monday. We’re not idiots. This has obviously been in the works for a while. You don’t just fire the nurse of a special needs kid on Friday and then magically have one lined up and ready to go on Monday.
Stacy spent what seemed like a couple of hours talking and venting on the phone with James’ nurse. Stacy was bawling…and I’m sure the nurse was, too. Damn it, she was the best nurse James has had. Nobody can replace her.
We would never be able to prove it, but we think that there was a little rift in the classroom between the nurse and the teacher. I don’t know what it was, but it just seemed like the teacher had it out for the nurse for some reason and was looking for ways to have her removed. I guess texting was the best thing she could come up with. Pathetic. I honestly don’t care if the teacher (or the school district) stumbles across this post someday. This is our blog, and our voice. You just took away someone who is probably our son’s best friend and we’re angry. We would completely understand if she hurt or harmed James in any way, but for texting the mom too often? I call BS. We know there’s more to it than that and somebody needs to grow up. Okay. Done. Rant over…but this anger will linger for a while.
None of us got much sleep Friday night, James included. We are actually wondering if James was somehow feeding off of our negative emotions and reacting in his own way. When Stacy got him up Saturday morning and got him ready to eat, he started showing signs of respiratory issues. Low sats and labored breathing. Throughout the day we adjusted his feeds, gave him CPT treatments and gave him more tummy time than we normally do, hoping that something would help with his breathing. When he was still struggling at 10 pm, we knew what we had to do. We knew from past experience that he tends to travel better at night…as long as he is sleeping. We gave him a couple of hours on his belly while we packed up the car. We hit the road just after midnight and got home around 3:00 am Sunday morning.
We obviously have mixed emotions about Galena. It’s a great place to visit. The first part of our trip was nice, relaxing, and enjoyable. We appreciate the donor that let us use their place for a few days. Unfortunately, I think that whenever we think about our Galena trip, we’ll think about how the school district terminated James’ nurse. Maybe someday we’ll get back there and have better memories.
*If you’re wondering how James is doing, click here to read the next post.
