Off to see The Wizard

A true Ozian through and through

The Wizard of Oz was the first movie I ever loved and watched on repeat. I have multiple editions of the entire Oz book collection, of which there are 14 original books written by L. Frank Baum, most people don’t realize there are so many. The Wizard of Oz is based on the books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and (loosely) Land of Oz.

And then there’s the Wicked series, of which I have all the books. And I have seen it twice on Broadway. And I’d love to see it again soon. Plus the Dorothy Must Die series only for those hardcore fans …it’s really intense and sheds a whole different perspective on what might have happened (not for children at all, very gruesome and makes Dorothy and all of Oz turn out to be quite evil…gotta love a nice perspective change though)

My house is covered with Oz paraphernalia. Magnets, signs, clothes, cards, dolls. And now I get to share it with my 7-year-old son, Reid. He is learning to love the magic of Oz too. And it’s nice to have someone to share it with. Afterall, The Wizard of Oz is for young and the young at heart. 

Here we are Halloween 2017. At Reid’s request, the whole family dressed up as The Wizard of Oz. From left to right: Selena (close family friend) as the Wicked Witch, Me as Dorothy, Fidel (Reid’s Step-Father) as Lion, Reid as Tin Man, Aaron as Scarecrow and Rayni (Reid’s Mom) as Glinda the Good Witch of the North

To Oz?! To Oz! or maybe its North Carolina! Either way…yay! 

We drove the long 8 hours to North Carolina. And I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about my health on my blog about my health while discussing this long journey to Oz. Fortunately, I didn’t have to walk the whole way in heels (which is the movie version of course) like Dorothy did just to get to the Emerald City. But nonetheless, the trip which was from Wednesday night to Saturday night left me in bad shape. Just three days, but those three days were jam-packed with stuff to do and fun-filled stress.

We had a ton of fun, the three of us. We did a lot of stuff. We went to local Deaf schools in North Carolina and Tennessee and had the opportunity to visit with family. But that’s a lot for three days. Especially for a Reid, who is 7 years old and has Autism and ADHD. And for me and my litany of health issues. Between the two of us, we were irritable and cranky….well mostly me. But we still managed to have a great trip. 

The Land of Oz has very limited days that it is open but I highly recommend it. We went and we did request an interpreter and it was, in fact, their first time working with Deaf clients but with guidance from us, they were able to find an interpreter for us which was awesome and quite accommodating. 

A vacay by any other name

Vacations are many things to many people. To some people, a vacation is a time to relax and time to rest. To other people, a vacation is a time to actually go out and do a ton of fun stuff…that makes it feels like you need a vacay from your vacay by the time you get back. Well by the time I got home I had to just lay in bed for days and honestly, I’m still recuperating from it, a week later. By the end of it… my vertigo which is related to my migraines was flaring badly (as well as actual migraines), terrible IC pain, awful PFD flare (pelvic floor dysfunction) and even my throat started hurting dreadfully again (which has generally been under control with antibiotics (until my tonsils are to be removed please see previous posts one this Strep-Gate Part 1 and Strep-Gate Part 2). 

At one point, I made the huge mistake of taking Reid swimming in the hotel pool. Which honestly I have avoided pools for a long time because I have read that the chemicals in pools can irritate and anger IC. But I did it anyway. Oh, the mistake I made. Do you ever do something knowing it will probably hurt your body but do it anyway because you think hey maybe it won’t?!?  

It was after that that my IC and PFD started flaring up something fierce! The PFD made it difficult to pee in the first place. If you’re unsure what I mean…make a fist squeeze it really tight…that’s kind of how it feels when I (and many other people with PFD) have to pee and then slowly release your fist over the course of 15-30 seconds… isn’t that a nice release? But imagine that happening over a longer period of time… like 30 seconds to 2 minutes. And when I finally can pee it bursts out with the white-hot burning razor blades. I hope that really set up an idea in your mind of what an experience is like going to the bathroom for someone with IC and PFD.

It’s cruel and unusual punishment that our bodies inflict on us. We, as humans, take using the bathroom for granted until you can’t anymore. On the days where I have little to no pain when I use the bathroom, I am so grateful and appreciative of each moment of it. And that could sound silly but you just read what I wrote so maybe you understand what I’m saying just a smidgen. Meanwhile…moving forward with the story to more happier things! 

Time for a few pictures!!!!

On the drive home, we saw two beautiful full double rainbows (pictured below). Through Tennessee, to Virginia, we drove through a big thunderstorm…no tornado… But the aftermath of which left us with those beauteous and magical rainbows that filled my heart with so much joy from an otherwise exhausting and painful trip.

Honestly, I wouldn’t trade that trip for anything…although I would have adjusted it some and added time to rest for myself and make sure to do some more self-care during that time. Everyone needs some self-care, some more than others. For those of us with chronic illnesses, we need to be sure to take extra care of ourselves on trips. And then we when get home allow ourselves time to rest and adjust back to life. 

Arriving home was just what the doctor ordered. I was so happy to just climb in my bed and lay there for days and days with my 4 cats.  A trip to Oz is priceless…to be sure, but knowing in your heart of hearts that there is no place like home…well that’s a lesson, , we all have to learn, like Dorothy did, one way or another.