How do you like the title of this blog post?
Impressive sounding? Yes!
It's a real place, you know.
If you needed physical therapy, you might choose to get help there...
...... I did.
After a careful search of facilities in Boca Raton, I made an appointment to tour this place as one of the possibilities for me to begin physical therapy.
The owner and head Physical Therapist, Dana VanPelt, assessed me on my first visit and we talked at length about my strengths and weaknesses. He seemed to listen as I described life with Periodic Paralysis and we both agreed that all we could do is try a little of this & a little of that and then tweak as necessary. My neurologist had prescribed PT for me for the purpose of gait training. So Dana and I agreed that the anti-gravity treadmill, known as the Alter G would be perfect for me. Developed by NASA, to train astronauts how to walk on the moon, I agreed! This machine can offset up to 80% of one's body weight! I felt as light as a marshmallow!
He also said that it wouldn't be long before he put me in the therapy pool so I could train my weak muscles with the added buoyancy and resistance of the water. And the added bonus here....? They have a treadmill in the pool! I was super stoked! I felt like I had found the right place for me and my thorough search had paid off.
I quickly realized that Dana wouldn't be working with me, though, when at my next appointment, he assigned a student intern to oversee the treatment plan he had put together. "Ok," I thought, "no problem here." My new therapist, Daniella, and I hit it off immediately and I was thankful for her wit and close attention to detail.
Yesterday marked the end of eight weeks of training at my new, super facility. And yesterday the MOST unexpected thing happened...Dana tossed me to the curb. He quit on me. He ditched me. He gave up. He quit. HE quit...
I had guessed he'd never been an athlete. I asked him once if he was a runner and he just laughed...Now I knew for sure. Regardless of the strength of my body, I'm still an athlete. My spirit is still the spirit of a competitor.
He said a bunch of crap about "my progress" or lack thereof. (As if he'd know) Then he mentioned that maybe "they weren't really doing me much good." Then he brought up money...my insurance. Aha! Now we're getting somewhere! My insurance has never given anyone a minutes worth of trouble. Plus, we're starting the new year with a bunch more PT sessions! "Still," I thought, "it must be the money...."
Isn't that what makes the world go 'round? My suspicions are that Medicare will pay more than my private insurance...and it's 'season' in South Florida, so he's loaded with Medicare patients who want my hour on Monday and Thursday.
He ended up telling me that "we'll need to think about quitting my PT at some point when we've decided it just isn't benefitting me." I informed him that I had just thought about it and now seemed like as good a time as any. Then I bid him good-riddance. (Ok, I was in tears~ I'm not mechanical you know!)
Quitting is foreign to me. ("I'm sorry, did you say quit? Is that Chinese you're speaking?) Quitting was never an option. Quitting is for quitters and losers.
Other people have quit on me and I've managed to leave them in the dust of my walker or wheelchair... Their choices always surprise me, but I am reminded once again that I'm moving in one direction~ forward. If you're with me, great. If not, step aside. xx
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about The Happiest Place on Earth, aka Disneyland, and how much I loved it and appreciated the Guest Assistance Card (GAC) they offered because it helped ease the stress of dealing with stairs on rides and getting in and out of difficult rides. In case you haven’t heard, as of October 9th, Disneyland and Disney World restructured this program. They were forced to make changes after groups of wealthy families in Orange County were hiring disabled guides to go with them so they could get the GAC card and skip the lines. Needless to say, the old system was being severely abused.
I went to Disneyland for the first time since this new system was implemented on October 10th, one day after the new system had begun. I won’t go into all the details here as I am writing several letters to submit to Disney Corporate for that but with the new system, I was basically treated like a liar and a fake by not one, but 5 different cast members at their park, including my first point of contact at City Hall where you used to go to get the GAC card. I was even lied to because their staff looked at me and determined on their own that I was not disabled enough to deserve the new card they have (called the DAS card). I also ended up falling in line for The Haunted Mansion because of all the physical and emotional strain they put me through.
I was so distressed that I was treated so horribly from a place I loved so much. A place I’ve been going to since I was a baby. A place I rave about to other people who are complaining about the high cost of admission or food prices, etc. I’ve especially praised their staff to others because before this new system was in place, they had been nothing but gracious and understanding. The entire day afterwards I sat at my desk at work and cried; crying which continued into the next day as well.
For able-bodied people, this probably seems like a strong response to poor treatment. But for someone who has been dealing with not only being disabled their whole life but not being “disabled enough” because people look at you and think there’s nothing wrong if you’re standing, it was overwhelming (I can’t even count the number of times someone has asked why I’m using a handicapped parking spot). My spirit has been totally crushed. I’m considering not even going back to Disneyland again or renewing my annual pass.
I wish that I had some positive words of wisdom to give here like I usually do, but the truth is, this has been one of the hardest incidents for me to deal with in my 29 years of having MD. I’m still trying to put the pieces of my crushed spirit back together. One thing that I am doing though, is standing up for myself and for my right to fair treatment, something I may not have done just a few years ago. As I mentioned earlier in the post, I’m writing letters that I intend on sending out to all levels of Disney that I possibly can. This new system is not only unfair to me; it’s not fair others who have disabilities like autism, or other physical disabilities that don’t necessarily require wheelchairs.
Having any kind of disability is unfortunately something not everyone is going to understand. People can be extremely ignorant as my experience at Disneyland proved. The one thing we can do to combat that though is to raise awareness - whether it be by blogging, by talking to people about our struggles, by writing letters. Every little bit counts and the more we raise awareness, hopefully the less people will have to deal with being discriminated against or treated unfairly because of something they were born with. Hopefully we can effect change and lead to improvements in systems like Disney’s new DAS system. So keep on blogging all you wonderful MDA Transitions bloggers!
I went to Disneyland for the first time since this new system was implemented on October 10th, one day after the new system had begun. I won’t go into all the details here as I am writing several letters to submit to Disney Corporate for that but with the new system, I was basically treated like a liar and a fake by not one, but 5 different cast members at their park, including my first point of contact at City Hall where you used to go to get the GAC card. I was even lied to because their staff looked at me and determined on their own that I was not disabled enough to deserve the new card they have (called the DAS card). I also ended up falling in line for The Haunted Mansion because of all the physical and emotional strain they put me through.
I was so distressed that I was treated so horribly from a place I loved so much. A place I’ve been going to since I was a baby. A place I rave about to other people who are complaining about the high cost of admission or food prices, etc. I’ve especially praised their staff to others because before this new system was in place, they had been nothing but gracious and understanding. The entire day afterwards I sat at my desk at work and cried; crying which continued into the next day as well.
For able-bodied people, this probably seems like a strong response to poor treatment. But for someone who has been dealing with not only being disabled their whole life but not being “disabled enough” because people look at you and think there’s nothing wrong if you’re standing, it was overwhelming (I can’t even count the number of times someone has asked why I’m using a handicapped parking spot). My spirit has been totally crushed. I’m considering not even going back to Disneyland again or renewing my annual pass.
I wish that I had some positive words of wisdom to give here like I usually do, but the truth is, this has been one of the hardest incidents for me to deal with in my 29 years of having MD. I’m still trying to put the pieces of my crushed spirit back together. One thing that I am doing though, is standing up for myself and for my right to fair treatment, something I may not have done just a few years ago. As I mentioned earlier in the post, I’m writing letters that I intend on sending out to all levels of Disney that I possibly can. This new system is not only unfair to me; it’s not fair others who have disabilities like autism, or other physical disabilities that don’t necessarily require wheelchairs.
Having any kind of disability is unfortunately something not everyone is going to understand. People can be extremely ignorant as my experience at Disneyland proved. The one thing we can do to combat that though is to raise awareness - whether it be by blogging, by talking to people about our struggles, by writing letters. Every little bit counts and the more we raise awareness, hopefully the less people will have to deal with being discriminated against or treated unfairly because of something they were born with. Hopefully we can effect change and lead to improvements in systems like Disney’s new DAS system. So keep on blogging all you wonderful MDA Transitions bloggers!