In addition to getting him on the plane, is the issue of his wheelchair itself. Our wheelchair vendor explained that the wheelchairs are placed with our baggage. He said often they end up stacking luggage, etc. on people's wheelchairs. He suggested that we remove the back and seat of the wheelchair to prevent them from doing this, but more importantly, so they don't get lost. Once they break down the wheelchair to load it on the plane, the seat and back can get lost. Since Dear Son needs this chair, we can't have that happen. One issue that makes things more challenging for us is that Dear Son's wheelchair has a large head support, which he needs since he can't support his head on his own. That makes using any other wheelchair, or a standard wheelchair that you find at most places, out of the question.

Next, assuming we can get him on the plane and in the seat is the issue of the bathroom. Dear Son is not toilet trained and we have to lie him down to change him. We can double diaper him and also use an insert in his diaper that we can pull out if he's wet (It's an option when you can't lie him down but only an option if he urinates and not if he has a bowel movement.). The problem is that when we feed him, he goes to the bathroom after that. I assume if I start his feeding at 1:30 a.m., he'll be done by 4 a.m., I'll give him his 6 a.m. meds and hopefully will urinate by 5 a.m. when the wheelchair van comes to pick us up to take us to the airport. Then the flight won't leave until 8 a.m. and will arrive around 11 a.m. Florida time. We'll bring pads to put on the airplane seat so that if he's wet it won't get the seat messed up. I'll have to check at the nation's busiest airport to see if they have a room where I can lie Dear Son down to change him. Some people have suggested a Texas catheter for Dear Son but I don't care for those. Plus he moves his feet and I'd hate for him to break that urine bag!

In addition, he has a vagus nerve stimulator implanted. I have a medical identification card for use at the airport, indicating that he has a vagus nerve stimulator, so hopefully everything will be o.k. My only concern is whether or not there might be other electronic devices that might interfere with his vagus nerve stimulator or cause an malfunctioning.