Tuesday & The Today Show

Becky and her new friends from her travel group and Hammer Travel are visiting The Today Show this morning.  They had to get to Rockefeller Center by 6:30 EST so I'm sure she was awake several hours earlier in order to get ready in time.  Knowing Becky, she was likely squealing as her Hammer Travel staff got her dressed and prepared for the day.
I got up to start watching The Today Show at 7am and was thrilled to see a glimpse of her as the camera panned across the crowd early in the first hour.  She was holding a sign and wearing a pink hat; but what made her easy to spot was her smile! I even heard her trademark squeal!  
Here's a pic of her sign.

Pizza in NYC with FDNY on the side

Becky's brother, James Wilkinson, lives in NYC.  He and his girlfriend, Rachel invited Becky and the entire travel group from Hammer Travel to John's Pizzaria on Times Square.  www.johnspizzerianyc.com   Jim showed Becky how to eat pizza New York-style: folded and it ended up being the easiest and best way she's ever eaten pizza! Guess she's a natural-born New Yorker at heart?  Becky saw margaritas on the menu & yelled out, "I have my i.d.!" lol....she ended up drinking virgin.

Jim, Becky and the entire travel group were walking back to the hotel in the rain and noticed the local fire department had their doors open. They all went inside and were treated to having their pictures taken with the firemen and trucks.  Jim reported there was lots of flirting with firemen done by all the ladies of the group.

More to come tomorrow!  It's The Today Show early in the morning! Look for her behind Al Roker!

Becky Is Living Her Dream!!!!!

Becky flew to New York City yesterday...starting her adventure in independence in grand style! 
American Airlines staff were awesome and certainly went the extra mile as they upgraded her flight to first class.  She even got a window seat!


When Becky was a young girl, she had severe scoliosis of her spine. This caused her to sit slumped over to the side and limited her ability to view the world outside the car windows.  When she was 12, she had surgery to place rods in her spine. This was a very complex surgery and she had life-threatening complications during the procedure.  Afterwards, she had to lie flat on her back or on her tummy for six weeks.  Therapy that included stretching and weight bearing followed and was quite painful for her. But of course Becky never complained.
It was finally time to go for her first car ride during the follow up visit to the surgeon.  After going a few blocks down the road, I asked Becky if all the pain and struggle was worth it.  With her trademark huge smile, she squealed, "Yes! Now I can see out the windows!"


So, this week, Becky is looking through all kinds of windows, breaking through the "glass" and embracing the world she's longed to experience.
Thank you to all of you who have given so much of yourselves to help make this happen!


I will be updating the blog often....every time I hear from Becky as she is on her trip.  Pictures and longer stories of her experiences will follow after she gets back home on Friday.

Becky's in New York City!!!!!

I will post all about Becky's trip to New York City with frequent updates starting tomorrow. 

She landed at LaGuardia airport this evening and it's raining...but she's looking forward to meeting her new friends and going out for supper in Manhattan as they get to know each other.
All the details will have to wait though....this Mom is exhausted and has to rest!

Relief for Becky, Thank Goodness!

Happily, we found a way to give Becky relief from her very painful wrist. She is getting more and more exicted about her upcoming trip to New York City every day.  Today we heard from the wonderful people at Hammer Travel as they updated us on the plans while she is in the Big Apple.
I can't talk about all the details yet, but I can assure you, it's going to be a very exciting, very rewarding experience for Miss Becky.

Another Stumble Along the Road

Becky has been having lots of pain in her right wrist.  After going to the orthopedist, we've discovered her scaphoid bone (one of the wrist bones) is displace and causing lots of discomfort. She is such a courageous, patient lady. Becky only complains about the pain in her wrist when it's really bad at the end of the day. Unfortunately, Tylenol isn't relieving the pain and she is unable to take anything stronger or even ibuprofen due to increased liver enzymes in the past.
One of Becky's heroes...Dean Palma, OTR...made her a wrist brace to help relieve some of her pain. Her doctor recommended some pain patches, but Medicaid will not pay for the medicine. Thanks alot, New Mexico budget cuts! 
The orthopedist recommended surgery to fuse her wrist so we have been playing the waiting game with all the different players involved in getting it scheduled.  "No, I haven't gotten a scheduled date yet...I need the referral first." "Yes, our office faxed their office the referral already". "No, we still haven't gotten the referral" "Yes, I'm sure we already faxed it." "Okay, we'll go ahead & make an appointment for the pre-surgery consultation but if we don't have the referral before the consultation, it will be cancelled"  "I just know we have faxed the referral!" 
Luckily, another one of Becky's heroes, her nurse Sarah is going to physically go watch the fax being sent for the surgery referral.  Her surgery will be done in Albuquerque at the UNM hospital...probably some time soon after she gets back from trip to New York City.
Becky was SO worried she would not be able to go to NYC, she is extremely happy to find out the trip is still on! (Her mom was worried too).
Happily, it is all working out.  And here we are in the middle of August....time for Becky to get her monthly visit from her mom!!!!!!  I'll get there on Friday & leave on Monday.  Get ready to party Becky! We have lots to do to get ready for the trip!

Hot Summer Fun!!!

Becky and I had a beautiful long weekend!
Becky lives in the desert southwest so we're pretty used to it being hot, but this is ridiculous! We've had temperatures as high as 108 degrees.  But it's a DRY heat :)  Being in a wheelchair makes it more challenging to tolerate the heat for Becky. She can't really adjust her posture or position in her chair on her own. Thank goodness her chair tilts back so she can get some relief from sitting in the same position hours at a time. Can you imagine? What if you had to sit in a chair and never wiggle around, never adjust your legs, arch your back or even adjust how much weight you are putting on your behind?

On Friday, Becky was surprised and excited to have her sister, Corey, and her niece and nephew come from Santa Fe to visit with us. Of course in Becky's world, Friday has been Bowling Day. She meets several of her friends and they train for the Special Olympics bowling tournament. But this time, she had more competition from Miles and Maggie! It was their first time bowling. Grandma did her best to teach them the basics of how to bowl...including the "granny-style" of rolling the ball down the alley.  Maggie was far more interested in the ball return machine but Miles even got a couple of spares! Bowling was followed by going out to eat as a family and were very happy that Becky's roommate and her caregiver joined us as well. We love gathering around a table of food with lots of talking, laughing and the fun of wrangling children. Our family times are our favorite times. Back at the apartment, the kids put on a little performance of singing and dancing, trying their best to get lots of applause from their mom, grandma and auntie. 
Two-year-old Maggie is big enough now to climb up on the wheelchair and snuggle her auntie. Becky hugged her and kissed the top of Maggie's head...she was so happy! Miles is 6 and a half and likes to sit on Becky's lap as she drives the wheelchair. He tries to sneak in a little drive time himself too. Becky was in her hospital-type bed when everyone came to hang out with her. No problem, that just made for more adventures as the kids climbed into the bed and they all took turns going on "rides" moving the back and feet up and down. Corey and the children went back to Santa Fe late that afternoon. It sure did leave a large quiet space behind.

On Sunday, Becky and I had a nice indoor picnic since it was way too hot to be outdoors. The menu included fried chicken and wine coolers. Becky enjoys an adult drink once in a while and is only able to have them when I visit due to company policies of her caregiver staff. That keeps her safe and she doesn't mind since she views having a special drink as one of our special rituals between mother-daughter. So after lunch and a wine cooler, Becky was chillin' as she reclined in her chair. We had such a relaxed visit.  I can hardly wait for our next visit in August!