Going away shouldn't be so difficult

Before Daniel's illness appeared, we booked an action-packed month. The first week in November, we are going to Centre Parcs. Towards the end of November, we were going to go to York.

Centre Parcs have been brilliant - I called them to explain Daniel's condition, and they told me no problems, they can arrange shuttle transport for him so he is not sitting on his tod in the cabin. York - not so great. The only provision for disabled access is Shopmobility, who are closed on Sundays and Mondays (two of the three days we are there).

The problem is not so much that York's Shopmobility is closed on those days, it's more the way the guy dealt with me on the phone. "We can't help you," said in an abrupt manner is not easy to hear when you are struggling to come to terms with your husband having MS. I had to end the conversation, as I am known to be very aggressive to anyone who I perceive to be less than symphathetic to Daniel. I rang them back to check when they are indeed open - I think the guy might have realised his mistake, as he was really helpful after that.

Next step - changing our booking with Travelodge. Those of you who know me will know that I squeeze every penny out of every pound we earn. So of course, my Travelodge booking is for a non-refundable sale room. To be fair to Travelodge, they were happy to change the booking, as long as I could find a room in the same hotel at the same price. This is not possible, so I offer to pay the difference in rate. Can't be done.

Daniel is really looking forward to York, and we forked out a lot of cash for passes to let us in to all the attractions. I didn't want to see him miss out on this, so the booking had to change. In the end I found a relatively cheap room and booked for different days, but I cannot be refunded for the original booking. Should I have taken out travel insurance? Perhaps, but most policies do not cover MS. This is something I need to look into.

I am desperately trying to keep life as normal and fun as possible for our family, but I feel as though I am banging my head against a brick wall.