Make A Wish

On October 11-18, 2008, Olivia and her family were able to go on the Disney Cruise of a lifetime through Make-a-Wish of Vermont.

Olivia is a 5 year old girl from Richmond, who was born with a rare craniofacial condition known as Pfeiffer Syndrome; a condition resulting in premature fusion of the sutures of the skull and deformity of the skull. Olivia suffers from underdevelopment of her skull and midface, hearing loss, and visual depth perception issues. She has endured 8 surgeries to date, and will have numerous more into her young adult years. The most dramatic surgery will come in April of 2009 where she will have a mid-face distraction with a halo device attached to her skull and midface for 8 weeks.

The best part was, none of these surgeries or challenges were on hers or her family’s mind as they spent 7 amazing days aboard the Disney Magic and visiting places like St. Maartin, Nassau and Castaway Cay (Disney’s Private Island in the Caribbean).

This trip was also special for Olivia because there were 20 other families there who have a family member with a craniofacial condition. Some of the families we had only met on the internet ahead of time, and some of them we had met at CCA Kids (Children’s Craniofacial Association) retreats, and others we had met at Medical City in Dallas, Texas where Olivia receives the majority of her treatment. As one who is always in the minority, it was great for Olivia and her whole family to feel the support of these other families. Even though there was about 2,500 people on the ship, many times we felt like it was just our group having fun together.

From the moment the limo picked us up at our home to the moment she first glanced at the ship and jumped for joy, to the moment we were brought back home by the limo, Olivia loved every moment of the trip.

There were so many wonderful activities all day every day, that often it was a challenge to decide what to do. Some of the things that Olivia enjoyed most are:

Meeting Cinderella personally and having a 15 minute private visit with her

Swimming in the Mickey pool

Spending time in the “kids only” Oceaneer Club where she made cookies, learned to be a princess, made butter, learned to draw Mickey Mouse, and learned to be a solider with the guys from Toy Story

All of the food! From fabulous fare in the fancy restaurants to all-you-can eat ice cream by the pool to hot dogs and fries to your heart’s desire

A wake-up call every morning from Mickey ending with “see ya real soon”

Broadway quality shows every evening in the Walt Disney Theatre

Having breakfast with all of Cinderella’s friends like Mickey and Minnie,
Chip and Dale, and Goofy and Pluto

Visiting a butterfly farm on St. Maartin

Dressing up like a princess for formal night

Having fun with our waiters, who served us dinner every evening of the cruise

The pirate party and Captain Hook

Swimming in the Caribbean

Seeing coral reefs and fish through a glass bottom boat

Making new friends and hanging out with them in the pool and hot tub

Shopping!

Disney TV, all day and night, whenever she wanted

Staying up late

Olivia loved coming back to our room each night and seeing the towels made into all kinds of different animals and usually they put whomever's sunglasses were lying around on the animal

Enjoying all of these wonderful things with her Sister, Amelia, and her parents

This was a wonderful family vacation and one thing that made it special is that it was for the whole family. When a child has an illness or medical condition, that child has the condition, but the whole family is a part of it. The child has the surgeries or medical treatments, but it affects the siblings and the parents in many different ways as well. So, on this trip, the whole family learned that “Dreams Really Do Come True”. Thank you so much!