As Spoonies, I know we can all appreciate the energy and sometimes struggle required to things normies make look so effortless. Well, it took two days and ALL my spoons but I did it! I’m officially moved into a new barrier free apartment. The move wasn’t that horrendous or that bad in all reality. All I did was move from an upstairs apartment to a downstairs apartment within the same building. I really lucked out, unlike the people who have had to move further to be in an accessible home.
Frustration
This whole move/pushing for an accessible apartment started over the summer as I started having more and more problems with my balance and going up the stairs was becoming increasingly hard for me to do. I kept bugging my landlord telling him I needed an apartment in a building where I did not have to use any stairs. Finally in March of this year I found out the barrier free unit in my building was empty. I went to the manager of the complex and requested a move. The fact that I was requesting a barrier free unit meant I had to do a lot of paperwork and have my doctor fill out papers stating that said I would benefit from a barrier free unit. She even went so far as to write me a script for a walker. The walker has helped me so much and helped me to feel so much more stable on my feet! She also wrote for me to get a hospital bed which has helped with my headaches because I can sleep at an angle that helps my shunt to work better at night.
The move
Finally a month after I turned in all the paperwork I finally hear back! My landlords manager approved my “transfer” to the barrier free unit. I was over joyed; finally, my struggle with the evil stairs was coming to an end. I enlisted the help of a couple from my Church to help me; my dad told me he could help me the next day. So, I asked the husband if he could be available on that day and he could.
When Monday the 25th of April came, I was excited. I got up and finished some packing. After about an hour of that, I went to sign my papers. By the time I started hauling boxes (small, light boxes) I was done, this Spoonie tired herself out faster than she thought she would. Around noon the husband called and asked if I could use some help. “OF COURSE!” with his help we killed it. All the small boxes down stairs and some big ones.
He moved my living room save the furniture, my bathroom, linen closet, after about 2 hours at work on that task, he went home to leave me to unpack and decided where I wanted stuff, when his wife came over after she got out of work, she found me on my floor finishing putting my linen closet in order. I had made quick work of the bathroom so everything was kind of put away. We took a couple boxes back upstairs and started moving my kitchen stuff downstairs and putting that away. In no time, we had moved that and a few other things downstairs, it was getting late so she asked if I was hungry, “OF COURSE!” so we went to a small restaurant and got some dinner, chatted with people from our town, and relaxed. At that point I was running on adrenaline and worry over hitting my head on the freezer door while cleaning out my fridge. The joy of having a shunt, always waiting for the other shoe to drop and end up back in the hospital.
When I got back to my new apartment, it occurred to me I couldn’t sleep there because my new hospital bed hadn’t arrived like it was supposed to, so I went upstairs and slept in my Lazy boy because I had already stripped my bed and was too tired to remake it. I slept surprisingly well and when morning came, I did not want to move! I was sore, so sore!
Day 2
The second day of “the great move of 2016” started with me taking a few small things downstairs then waiting for the delivery guy to bring and set up my new bed. While waiting I unpacked some more things and tried to organize as much as I could. Between you and me I hate, hate, HATE clutter especially my own. As I did that I also made a list of organizing products I wanted to purchase to make my life easier. Most of them I had been thinking about for a while but I hadn’t added to my Amazon wish list or even attempted to purchase. I was still really tired and probably should have been attempting more sleep.
Around eleven a.m., the delivery guy finally showed up and setup my bed. While signing the paperwork my dad showed up and the guy walked him through the bed operations while finished. All I can tell you is when I saw that bed my eyes lit up because I could just imagine the relief of being able to wake up without headaches or a stiff neck because I fell off my mountain of pillows.
Shortly after my daddy arrived I called the guy from my parish who had helped me the day before and him and my dad made quick work of moving the rest of my stuff downstairs into my new place. I was really surprised with how fast it went, then again when you look at the amount of stuff I actually have I don’t have that much. Anyway, after they finished moving stuff down I worked on putting drawers back in my dresser and made my bed with my new purple sheets and my Spoonie pillowcases (which can be purchased at https://www.gearbubble.com/gbstore/spooniesforlife). After I bid farewell to the guy from my church me and dad went out for food then he dropped me off back at home and I fell asleep while he took my double mattress to my grandparents’ house so that my sister can use it in a couple months when she moves into a place of her own. The next day I stayed in my bed all day my legs where so sore and my back hurt so bad that I needed my walker to get around.
Recovery
While lying in bed for two days only getting up for food and bathroom I did a lot of thinking about how nice it was to finally be in a place where I could have my walker ALL the time and actually USE it when I need it. I also reflected on how much I hated going up and down the stairs and living in the font of the building and listening to all the noise from the parking lot. It really is a blessing to be in the back of the complex, things are quiet! Quiet is nice when I’m having a bad head day. The new bed is also an awesome help, here I am a week out and I’ve only woken up with one headache which is way better than before and no neck pain! I’m in love with this bed! I’ve never met a comfortable hospital bed but this one is pretty nice and I can’t complain no back pain or any other pain at all!
While the move was stressful and even thinking about moving all my stuff was stressful. However now that the move is over with and the last box is unpacked and things are finally going up on walls I’m so much happier and I’m sure that this will help my health so much because I don’t have to worry about blacking out climbing the stairs or getting dizzy and falling down the stairs! So excited to spend the next couple years down here in the back of the building, now to get the rest of my life in order, so many things to do so little time!
THE BEGINNING