Trevor's Star Wars Make A Wish trip

Lilfoot93

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 31, 2012
We found out in May that our son Trevor qualified for Make A Wish and he would be granted a wish! In June the wish grantors came and asked Trev what his wish would be. He said to be a Jedi during Star Wars weekend. Trev is obsessed with Star Wars and Legos! His back up wish was to go to Lego Land. Trevor found out a few days before his birthday that his wish will be granted!

Here is Trevor's story:

In the summer of 2005 I was on hospital bed rest waiting for my firstborn to make his arrival. I had many complications but nothing ever pointed to the fact that Trevor had anything wrong with him.

Trevor made his entrance and his hands and feet were a little blue ut the nurse reassured us this was normal for newborns. He was our first so we did not question it. The room was packed with family and friends and they were all holding him. I figured I would get my chance once the visitors left. Boy was I wrong! At a couple hours old the nurse said she had to do a routine check. Next thing I know there were about 10 doctors and nurses surrounding him saying he was very sick and needing to go to the NICU Immediatly. Our lives were forever changed.

I just had an emergency c section so I could not go with him. Luckily my Dad was still there and went with my husband to go to the NICU with Trevor. My friends stayed with me. My Dad came back up to my room and looked like things were very bleak. He explained something was wrong with his heart and they were uncertain if he would survive.

The Doctor came to the room and explained that Trevor was born with a congenital heart defect, pulmonary atresia w/ivs. Basically the blood flow from the heart to the lungs was blocked. He had to be rushed to the local children's hospital immediately. My dad and husband followed Trevor down there while my friend stayed the night with me.

At less than 48 hours Trevor underwent his first heart surgery. They put a stent in his PDA. And ballooned his pulmonary artery. The dr. still was unsure if Trev would make it. They tout he may be in the hospital for months. I finally was released when Trev was 4 days old and set up our home away from home. A little over a week later to the surprise of everyone our little rock star was released!

We had weekly monitoring by the cardiologist. At 3 months old he needed another heart surgery. Again Trev was a rock star and came home within a couple days. We waited for Trevor to gain enough weight for his next surgery. He surprised the doctors and his right ventricle actually grew to close to normal size!

At 9 months old he had open heart surgery to remove his pulmonary valve and conduit. As well as scrape out his right ventricle as it was very thick and muscle bound. Trevor had a very rough recovery. He was expected to go home within 5 days, but it was 5 days before he would even wake up! He had multiple high fevers, a blood transfusion and did not have the correct urine output. He. Finally did wake then had more fevers, could not eat (oral aversion ) and threw everything up. He ended up getting 2 new teeth and a double ear infection while in the hospital!

Since he was so behind developmentally he started 3 different therapies while in the hospital. After almost 3 weeks we were finally home! At 15 months he went in again for surgery.

Everything was going well until preschool and at 4 he had another heart surgery. Then the following year in kindergarten he got his appendix out! We are now waiting for his next open heart surgery where he will get a pulmonary valve and conduit.

Trevor is exceeding everyone's expectations. He is above grade level in reading, spelling and math. He loves to play soccer, baseball and basketball. He loves all things Star Wars and Legos.

3 years after Trevor was born we added twin girls to our family. Trevor just celebrated his 7th birthday this weekend and Allie and Kara are 3. We are so blessed to have Trevor in our lives. We are also very blessed for Trevor to be able to go one make a wish trip.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it is so long!

Jackie
 
I found you!!! :)

I will post a link to this report on the Wish Trippers thread and hopefully some folks will be able to come find ya! :)

Do you guys have dates for your trip already?

I like Star Wars, too - and once went to Disney for Star Wars Weekends that happens in May/June.
 
Another heart (and twin) mom here !! Looking forward to getting to learn more about your family and hearing all about your plans. :thumbsup2
 
I found you!!! :)

I will post a link to this report on the Wish Trippers thread and hopefully some folks will be able to come find ya! :)

Do you guys have dates for your trip already?

I like Star Wars, too - and once went to Disney for Star Wars Weekends that happens in May/June.

Thanks! We do not have dates yet. Trevor really wants to go during Star Wars Weekend and since that does not happen until May we will have a long wait :)

Our wish grantors said it would probably be around December/January when Disney has the dates set so then we can choose when we want to go. We are hoping for the first weekend of it so we will see...

That will just give us lots of time to plan since we have never been to Disney World!

Another heart (and twin) mom here !! Looking forward to getting to learn more about your family and hearing all about your plans. :thumbsup2

Hi! I have "met" you on the DISabilites board. I decided to go ahead and start my trip report now even though we have a few months. Crazy we both have a heart kid and twins!

Jackie
 


Star Wars! An excellent wish.:yoda: I'm sure the force will be with you in regards to dates.;) You should check out the weekend guests for each weekend and see if they are having one person that your son would be more excited to see. I know they have had the people that have played Boba Fet, Chewbacca and C3PO before.
Don't forget to head to Downtown Disney and make a custom lightsaber...my boys love theirs.:)
 
Star Wars! An excellent wish.:yoda: I'm sure the force will be with you in regards to dates.;) You should check out the weekend guests for each weekend and see if they are having one person that your son would be more excited to see. I know they have had the people that have played Boba Fet, Chewbacca and C3PO before.
Don't forget to head to Downtown Disney and make a custom lightsaber...my boys love theirs.:)


Thanks for the tips. I didn't know they had custom lightsabers. Even my girls would be up for that! I think they are such huge Star Wars fans because of their big brother!

Jackie
 
I finally figured out how to post pics! Here are a couple from Trevor's Heart surgeries.

Trevor at a few hours old being transferred to Children's for his first heart surgery. It was done at less than 48 hours old.




Trevor a couple days after open heart surgery 9 months old.
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Trevor finally waking up after 5 days from his open heart surgery.


Jackie
 


Thanks!

Now that I have finally figured out how to post pictures I will post some of Trevor's birthday party this weekend. We did Jedi training. We had it in the works before we knew about him being qualified for MAW! And of course his wish is to be a Jedi during Star Wars weekend :)

Jackie
 
Here is the gang getting ready for their training!
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Practicing their skills so they can defeat the dark side...
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The entrance to to begin training.
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Defeating Darth Mal!
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The kids had a great time! I can't believe my baby is 7 now!

Jackie
 
Ha - Pool noodle lightsabers - LOVE it! :cool: So creative!

And as for the custom lightsabers - they are quite awesome. You can choose your handle and colors (green, blue, red or purple). They come with sound effects of turning the them on, waving them around and the "clash/sizzle" sound when it comes in contact with another lightsaber. Can you tell we use ours a LOT?!?:thumbsup2
 
I love the pool noodle lightsabers, what a great idea for the kids to be able to play and not hurt each other. :thumbsup2 I hope you get the weekends you want so his wish trip is perfect for him. :goodvibes You have a beautiful family, I will be following your plans for your sons perfect wish trip.
 
Ha - Pool noodle lightsabers - LOVE it! :cool: So creative!

And as for the custom lightsabers - they are quite awesome. You can choose your handle and colors (green, blue, red or purple). They come with sound effects of turning the them on, waving them around and the "clash/sizzle" sound when it comes in contact with another lightsaber. Can you tell we use ours a LOT?!?:thumbsup2

Thanks! They were super cheap and easy to make :) And the kids LOVED them:cool1: We made the robes out of felt and found a great deal on it. We just made a slit in the middle for them to put over their heads then got some lighter colored felt for the belts.

I told Trev about the custom lightsabers and he said that was the first thing he wanted when we got to Disney... I tell you this kid eats, sleeps everything Star Wars!

I love the pool noodle lightsabers, what a great idea for the kids to be able to play and not hurt each other. :thumbsup2 I hope you get the weekends you want so his wish trip is perfect for him. :goodvibes You have a beautiful family, I will be following your plans for your sons perfect wish trip.

Glad you are joining in! It seems so far away and we have never been, I don't know where to begin with planning:confused3 I am getting a lot of great tips and ideas from reading these boards though:banana:

Jackie
 
A couple weeks ago we got a letter from MAW stating that sometimes the MAW kids waiting for their wish are invited to different sporting events and such. Well today we got a call that Trevor and our family get to spend a special day during Seafair! We get to tour the hydroplane pits have lunch and watch the blue angels practice. How cool is that:cool1:

The only bad part is we do not think my hubby can get the time off of work so I need to find someone that wants to go with and will help me with 3 kiddos!

This will be great for Trev to do these little things while waiting for his trip. Especially since we will not be going until May!

On another note some of my family has expressed negativity about Trevor qualifying for MAW. How we are taking advantage and Trev is fine. That has been a little hard to deal with. :( Funny thing is with each of his 6 surgeries these are the same people that act like open heart surgery on your baby is no big deal:eek:

Off to start planning with Trev for his trip!

Jackie
 
I wanna go!:laughing: I saw the Blue Angels when my husband and I lived in Wilmington NC back in 2004 and he was the cutter the Diligence that is stationed there. I'm sure you will all enjoy it very much - bring earplugs if noise bothers any one though.:headache:
Sorry you are not getting the support you and especially your son needs.:( I have had similar issues with some family members or friends wondering why we are going since Matthew is "cured". I have to remind them that transplant is NOT a cure. He has already went into rejection once and luckily it was stopped.:cool1: When Matthew was at his worst, he was too young to qualify, but seriously...this kid has more lives than a cat and has pulled though so many times. I have picked out funeral outfits SO many times and been told to have family near three times during different surgeries. Your son has been though a lot and just because things are going well now :woohoo: does not negate all the hardships and difficulties he has been through or might be through again one day. I've always said that some people just don't get it unless they live it, but that I wish with all my heart they never have the opportunity.
 
How cool that you have gotten to see them! We have never seen them before although they come every year about an hour from where we live! Thanks for the suggestion of earplugs. Not sure I would have thought of that one:thumbsup2

I have read your sons story and he has gone through A LOT! I agree transplant is not a cure! How scary that you had to pick out funeral outfits for him:( He is truly a living miracle!

There is no "cure" for Trevor. He was born with his heart defect and it will never be "fixed" As long as he is here he will always need surgeries. Currently he does not have a pulmonary valve or a conduit. So we are waiting until he gets "worse" before they will make him "better" but as those wear out he will need new ones. You are right. People do not always understand unless they have been down a similar path. I too, would not wish this on others too. It is nice to have a "family" that understands what our kiddos have gone through and why they are so deserving of a wish!

Jackie
 
Have they talked about heart transplant, or is it better to maintain his own heart rather than get into all the dangerous side effects of transplant meds? Matthew has congestive heart failure due to him being on hemodialysis at such a young age, but we are VERY fortunate that his heart regained a LOT of his prior function back after transplant when his blood pressure went back to near normal levels.:thumbsup2
I hate the "waiting til they are sick enough" wait! I am SO happy and just in awe of how far my son has come (I'm positive you can relate!!):yay: but hate that one day, we'll do this all over again you know. Enjoying our "normal" while waiting for the other shoe to drop...you never really let go of that fear or worry.:confused3 But on the other hand, it makes you that much more thankful for all that you do have - all that our sons can accomplish because they were able to be helped.:flower3:
 
I am just now getting around to catching up on all of the pre-trip reports! :)

I love the birthday party pics! Looks like the kids had a BLAST!!

You guys will just LOVE Star Wars Weekend!!
 

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