We are taking a five-day trip to Hawaii next week and have started to get ready. As I am packing, I realize that there are things that we use on a daily basis that have become essential components to my husband’s care that won’t be coming with us. This means that I need to be prepared to step back and remember what we were doing before we found these tools and take those things along. It’s going to take some thought.

One of the biggest things that won’t be accompanying us is our bidet toilet seat. We have both come to depend on that and, unfortunately, the hotel we are staying in won’t have one. Personal hygiene will be challenging and so I am packing some additional aids such as wet wipes. Another tool we won’t have with us is furniture that accommodates his challenges. Our couch sits higher, our bed has an adjustable base, our shower has a low threshold. I will need to be more alert and ready to help when the need arises.

The change in location itself is going to be a challenge. There will be a time difference to negotiate with medication schedules, there will be a relatively long flight and time spent in the airport. Meals will be off schedule and life will be a bit chaotic. I have no plans for anything on either the day we arrive at our destination nor the day after we return knowing that it will take my husband at least that long to recover from the flights.

There is nothing I can take with me to ease this other than a sense of calm myself. I need to be positive and know that the trip will be what it will be. We can do this, I can do this, and we will both be thankful we did once we are sitting on the beach in the warm Hawaiian sun.