Moving when you have a chronic illness is a nightmare.
I’ve been taking the longest blogging break I’ve ever had since I started blogging in 2011. At first, it was temporary until I got my ducks in a row for our planned move, but things got away from me pretty quickly and I found myself running out of spoons for blogging. Moving is stressful for anyone, but when you have limited energy it’s even harder. I hope I never have to move again because this has taken a lot out of me, and I haven’t even actually moved yet! Just getting our current house ready to sell has been an exhausting experience. So here are some things I’ve learned along the way.
Make a plan and stick to it as much as possible
Pacing is one of the most important parts of living well with chronic illness, and of course, it also applies to moving. In order to get things done and not kill me, I drew up a reasonable timeline for decluttering, painting and fixing things up, packing, moving, and unpacking.
Decluttering– I’m one of those weird people who find decluttering relaxing, so that was the first thing that I accomplished. I started doing it months before we were ready to put the house on the market since this isn’t a chore that can be hired out. I found it really freeing to get rid of so much stuff, and it helps that there is less stuff to move.
Fixing things up This is something that I really could’ve managed better. I overscheduled myself and caused myself to go into a flare. If I could do it again I would’ve started these projects months ahead of time.
Cleaning– I have two young kids who are an absolute disaster and I’ve shared before about how hard it is to clean up after them. This is a window into my life and what my house normally looks like. Of course when you sell a house you have to somehow pretend that no one lives there, so I did what any reasonable/desperate person would do: I hired someone to deep clean my house. I still have to waste a lot of my spoons sweeping up the mulch that spills out of my son’s shoes every time he gets home from school, but at least I’m not scrubbing down the bathtubs. I haven’t previously paid someone to clean my house because it’s incredibly expensive, but it’s so worth it.
Packing– Like decluttering this is something I did over a period of months. My poor husband mourns the loss of his books that I packed up 2 months ago, but I did it anyway because I know I’m not capable of packing an entire house in one weekend. As the move gets closer I make a goal to pack at least one box every day, that way I’m slowly making progress.
Moving– I had grand plans to avoid moving any furniture personally, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Too many times my husband needed a quick extra hand to move something. I did it because I had to, but I don’t recommend it. It’s obviously best to try to have others do the heavy lifting (yay professional movers), but if it’s unavoidable just make sure you give yourself some recovery time.
Unpacking– I haven’t reached this stage yet, but in previous moves, I’ve managed this stage by being organized. Every single box is labeled with what is in it, and what room it needs to go in. That way it’s easier to find the things you need, and ignore the boxes that don’t need to be unpacked right away.
Dealing with the stress of moving
Besides dealing with all the logistics of moving, the hardest part is managing the stress. I’ve basically been a ball of stress for the last 2 months. Knowing we wanted to sell our house, but not knowing exactly where we were moving to or if we would end up without a place to live for a while has been incredibly stressful. I’ve been so tense that my pain has gone through the roof because of it. Don’t be like me, because once you turn into a giant ball of stress it’s hard for your body to come down from it.
- Make sure you get enough sleep so you can at least feel more rested when you’re dealing with the move.
- Make sure you give yourself time to relax. Take a hot bath, watch a favorite tv show, call a friend. Whatever helps you to feel better.
- Keep up whatever exercise routine you have been following. You will probably want to let it go, but keeping up the routine will help your body and your stress levels.
Moving with chronic illness is never going to be easy, but hopefully, these tips will lead to a little fewer flares and stress.
Wow, I’m impressed! My husband and I have decided we can never move because of my illness – ha ha Plus, we’ve been here for 23 years, including raising two kids, so we have a LOT of stuff! Decluttering takes forever since I am so limited in what I can do and how much, but I am trying – bit by tiny bit.
Good for you!!
Sue
Living with ME/CFS
Thank you for writing this post. No one ever talks about how selling a home can affect the physical health of those of us who are always teetering on the edge, even though we may look “normal.”
We just took our house off the market. We live in the sort of neighborhood where most people buy a new house before they sell the old one, but we can’t afford to do that. It took two months to declutter, clean, and fix before we could list the house. I’m trying to manage a chronic illness, work full time (self-employed), deal with the logistics of 3 kids at 3 different schools, oh, and did I mention that my husband doesn’t drive a car for medical reasons? 80 days on the market was all we could handle. The mental and physical health of the entire family was at stake. We’d rather live in our current home, even though the taxes are ridiculous, than put up with the stess of selling.
When you hear it said that selling a house is more stressful than a divorce, believe it. If people aren’t flocking to see your house, you stress because you think people hate the house or that you’re doing something wrong. If people are coming in droves, you stress because it’s hard to find the energy to leave the house after having cleaned it, only to come home and find muddy footprints all over.
Realtors don’t seem to understand what it takes to sell a home for someone with an “invisible” illness. We really need realtors who specialize in selling homes for people in special circumstances, such as the chronically ill or the elderly. They seem to forget that the PEOPLE are the customers, and selling houses is merely a way to make the customers happy.