Elation and Frustration

Yesterday was quite the day of highs and lows.

First, elation. We got a phone call in the morning from the housing co-op we applied to more than a year ago. We've got a place! At this time next month, we will be moving into our own 3 bdrm, 1 1/2 bath townhouse! To say we're thrilled would be an understatement. We haven't even seen the inside of the place yet - there was only a 2 bdrm apartment available for viewing when we applied - so I have no idea what the layout is like. We swung by yesterday to see it, and I just can't picture it. Is it really three floors? The entry stairs go to the second level. Is it two floors, with another townhouse below us? The co-op does have wheelchair accessible units, so that's entirely possible. The girls and I are swinging by this afternoon, so hopefully, we'll get to go in. I don't know if the current owners are actually out yet.

The next month will be spent renovating the place. It'll be done in time for us to be able to move in during the last 5 days of the month. It's going to be painted and the carpets replaced, which we get to choose colours for, etc. I'll find out more later today.

We will be giving up a few things with the move. No more indoor, heated parking garage. No more gym (though being a co-op, we can look into having one installed, if enough other members want one, too). The car will be parked out doors and we'll have to go into the high rise across the street to do the laundry.

On the plus side, we'll be getting a bigger place while saving about $200 a month, once we're done paying for the shares. The first month will be a bit harsh, as we need to pay for half the shares up front. A few bills might get delayed, but we'll manage. The girls will have their own bedrooms - they've even worked out how they'll divide up their shared items, like the computer and the drawing desk. While we'll be going across the street to do laundry, we don't have to pay for it, as the machines - 8 washers and 8 driers!! - are owned by the members.

We will have to pay for cable. A few years back, the members voted in a cable package that everyone gets, so we'll have tv whether we want it or not. That will be a bit strange. We haven't had tv in over 3 years, and before that it was only Farmer Vision.

More importantly, it's OURS. We can hang up as many pictures as we want. Heck, we can paint murals on the walls, if we feel like it. My knees shudder a bit at the thought of those front steps, but I'll put up with it. We're going to be be about half way to the library compared to where we are now. We'll be able to bring out our piano and all the other stuff we left behind before the move - though the piano will probably have to go into one of the common rooms, as I can't picture it being brought up those front steps, just for size, never mind it's a 1000 pound piano and the stairs are wood, with no risers. That's ok, though. This is a community we're moving into, and if there are other people who would be able to take up piano that normally wouldn't because one is available in the common room, I'm okay with that. Pianos need to be played.

So that was the elation side of things. Then there's the frustration.

I had my appointment with the respiratory specialist. I'd forgotten that we hadn't gone over the barium swallow results, or the sinus Xrays that were done at the same time.

The barium swallow test was actually a lot of fun. The people doing the test had a great sense of humour, which I noticed immediately when I was set up in the machine and I saw a sign on the wall that read "This Wall" in English and several Asian languages. It turned out that when the tech would ask patients to turn to "this wall," they were often asked "which wall?" Never mind that the wall to the other side was covered with cupboards, essentially hidden. Best of all, the barium swallow was a real-time test. The screen was right in front of me and I could see everything the tech could. They were able to answer questions for me and tell me what I was seeing. Very cool!

Of course, all these tests came back normal. I was expecting that, really. At least for the barium swallow. I had no idea what they'd find in the sinus Xrays. The only thing there was that I'm slightly "asymmetrical." Which doesn't effect anything. I don't have sinusitis, which I already knew. Since I was able to watch everything, I knew I didn't have acid reflux, which is what the barium swallow was testing for.

I had to ask about the allergy test results, though. The dr. had the print outs for the other two, but the allergy test was on my computer file, only, so he looked it up. They were testing for wheat/grasses, trees, animals and similar environmental allergies.

I have no allergies.

Just to make things even more difficult, my cough is pretty calm these days. I still have the tickle in my chest, which is irritating as I always feel like I'm just about to cough, even when I don't. I still cough like a gunshot, as my husband describes it, when the tickle gets too overwhelming. I just haven't had any of the coughing fits lately. Which is good. But at the same time, it's frustrating, since there's nothing for the dr. to hear.

I don't have a follow up appointment. He still wants me to do the sleep apnea test overnight in the hospital, which I'll have to arrange. It's a 6 month waiting list, so no hurry there. Meanwhile, he just told me to come back when the cough gets worse again.

*sigh*