Sorry to hear about the burdens you will be carrying on this trip steph and groove. A year ago March we made a trip while my Father was taking a pretty drastic downturn with alzheimer's. We seriously considered cancelling, but my Mother insisted we go. We were glad we went as some difficult times followed our return.

To ease your mind make sure to rent/buy a cell and have the digicel international plan or the lime thing someone mentioned on another thread. That way if someone from home needs to contact you they can call and hang up and you can call right back. With all the minutes you can also call and check as often as you wish without worrying about long distance charges.