5.19.2009

Fresh Start

Since I was 4 years old my mom has lived in the same house and I've spent the majority of the last 24 years in that house with her. A couple of years ago she was crossing the parking lot at work and slipped on the extremely treacherous and icy pavement and tore her ACL. She has had surgery to rebuild her knee and is able to go back to work, but work in a small town is pretty scarce and money has been tight. We received an eviction notice a couple of weeks ago and have until June 6 to vacate the premises.
My mom's attitude about this is that it is a good thing; She has wanted to move for a long time but the idea is pretty daunting and this has given her a much needed shove in the right direction. I agree that this will be a good change in the long run, but it has trashed my sense of security.
Our fifteen-year-old cockatiel and at least one of our three kitties will have to be put in foster care until my mom can find work and an apartment. My mom will be splitting her time between my two sisters. The first sister is more than happy to have her but has little space; With four cats of questionable health (my sister is a bleeding-heart animal lover and would probably gladly take the third cat for awhile, but her own cats being sick keeps my mother from asking) and two active toddlers in the two-bedroom apartment, my mom will sleep on an air mattress in the living room. My other sister is glad to offer her extra bedroom to mom and the bearded dragon and would happily house our third cat (one of her two cats is from the same litter and her other cat is questionably-but-unquestionably the half-sister of the first two), but her boyfriend is not crazy about the idea of mom living with them and will absolutely not allow our cat to move in. My teenage sister who lives with my mom and me will be going to stay with her grandma for the summer so she can keep her job and spend time with her boyfriend; Grandma does not do pets. I am going to be taking the first cat to stay with me at my boyfriend's house, and my brother is going to take the second cat to live with him and his dad.
I think that the scariest part of all of this is that we are all going to be split up. The plan is to reunite when stable housing has been acquired, but it doesn't seem realistic to me. I am an adult woman; why is it so hard for me to talk about this and not cry when I realize that nothing will ever be the same?

3 comments:

Tim said...

Eryn,

How are you doing after moving? How are the meds treating you?

Just remember when you are close to critical mass melt down, there are many and me that is hoping you well. Don't let that melt down turn your smile upside down. Just stand on your head or sit with your head upside down to make the frown an actual smile behind the chaos.

Take care,

Tim

erynthenerd said...

Tim, things are going well since the move. Thank you for asking. :) I've been living with Brad for almost a year and a half, and I'm on a research drug now. The copaxone wasn't working anymore and my options were the study drug, alemtuzumab, or tysabri. Tysabri would have been very expensive for me, even with insurance, and the numbers for the alemtuzumab were really amazing. You have said that you are in the medical profession, so you probably know what I'm talking about. I haven't had a relapse since the winter of 2008/2009, and that's a pretty big deal; before, I hadn't gone six months without an exacerbation.

Anyway, things are going well for me. How are you??

Anonymous said...

I'm well and hope the best for you ;-) That's great you are on alemtuzumab. Good luck :-)

Tim