Disneyland or Broke(n) - Part 1

When I first told my friends that I was going to go on a family holiday to Disneyland Paris, their original reaction was one of overwhelming support, saying things like "are you f***ing crazy" and "your joking... right???". Ok not exactly support, but that was just that they knew that there was a chance that I could be kicking the hornets nest (and hard) by taking this on. The thing is I have spent countless hours at home on my own while my wife and daughter are out on day trips, visiting friends and family or at local play areas because of my stupid back. When you are in a situation like this you know if you have any chance of recovering you need to push your limits but at the same time stop before you make things worse. I have attempted pushing through this many times and every time I got so far but then the pain pushed back, often leaving me bed bound or stuck in a chair in the house for long periods of time. I would also experience side effects from "overdoing it" which included nausea, diarrhea and if I kept going I would get dizzy spells and very rarely could briefly pass out.

Their concern was understandable but this was my daughter fist proper holiday and the last thing I wanted was to be at the end of a phone or computer screen, whatever it took I was going to be there. In fact Disneyland was actually my idea, it came about because my parents decided to put some money aside from an inheritance for a family holiday but I was not fit to travel at the time. Years past and although I was improving my fathers health wasn't so even though I wasn't sure I was ready to take on such a journey I couldn't risk that my dad wouldn't be fit to go. So the holiday was booked and we were to stay at one of the Disneyland hotels, Hotel New York, due to the proximity to the park and the physical limitations of my father and I. Plus as it turned out my mums health had taken a serious nosedive in the weeks and months leading up to the trip as well. This meant staying close to the park had become even more essential as we could return to the hotel if things became too much.

I must admit the months leading up to June hadn't done anything to make me think it was going to be any less of a mountain to climb. In fact the winter, which is always difficult was one of the toughest to date with the colder days coming out of nowhere in late September. To top it off just days before we were due to leave I managed to get gastroenteritis, which just brought all the stress and worries to the surface. I knew I was pretty hardened in terms of putting up with extreme pain but at the same time I was concerned that I could be taking on too much and what could happen as a result.

Thankfully the gastroenteritis had cleared up a couple of days before we left and before I knew it my dad was pulling up in front of our house in his car ready to take us to the airport. In preparation for the flight I had asked the doctors to change my medication but I was still highly apprehensive about flying. After all my back feels everything, just going on a 2 mile drive is challenging so as you can imagine going on a plane to Paris, after 2 hours sitting in a airport was going to be on a whole other level.

Want to find out what happened next? Make sure you check back soon for my next Disneyland or Broke(n) post, as always thanks for reading and feel free to comment on this or any of my other posts.

Rosco Fraser
Pain and Game