A failed experiment... possibly

[IBrakeforPastry]

I remember a science teacher once saying there is no such thing as a "failed experiment". Sometimes we just end up with unexpected or unwanted results, so I'm sorry it's not working out as you had planned and hoped for. It sounds as if you have good options, and the van sounds like fun!

[Crankin]

While I am sorry it didn't work out, you are taking the right attitude. Be flexible. Your health is #1, and I can certainly identify with that. While my main reason for moving away from AZ was not health, the added plus of it ended up being both myself and my older son were incredibly healthier, and no longer needed asthma meds every 4 hours.
Sometimes the allure of the beach is enough. Sometimes, though, it blinds us to other stuff. There are a lot of people around here who think all will be perfect if they move to Florida. Lately, I have read a considerable number of articles about how when retirees get down there, they realize they miss their medical care, their families, their friends, and their favorite haunts. Like you, I want to be able to travel when we are fully retired, but moving somewhere else permanently is not going to happen. We have divested ourselves of a lot of the expenses we used to have, so we will be able to do this in a couple of years.

[Pax]

Thanks so much for commiseration, it helps just to lay it out there and look at it objectively.

I'll try the allergist one more time before I throw in the towel, see if he's got anything else up his sleeve. But I'm just so exhausted all the time from trying to breathe, I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

[smilingcat]

I wish you well and get a handle on your asthma. Being open to other possibilities is a good thing. And sometimes, best place is "home". You don't realize it until you try living elsewhere. It's the Yin and Yang thing.

[ny biker]

I remember a science teacher once saying there is no such thing as a "failed experiment". Sometimes we just end up with unexpected or unwanted results, so I'm sorry it's not working out as you had planned and hoped for. It sounds as if you have good options, and the van sounds like fun!

I think this is so true. Over the years I've found that even bad experiences can be useful. And sometimes an unexpected plan B can turn out to be a good thing. Breathing certainly is very important, as is not going broke trying to stay healthy.

[rebeccaC]

reminds us who are healthy to feel blessed and grateful!!! hoping the allergist finds a workable solution for you!!!

[OakLeaf]

You know, this morning I'm reading the local news, as I have most mornings for a decade, and I noticed something I never had before.

At the bottom of the front page of each local paper's website, there's a row of headshots of ordinary citizens.

In the northern paper, they're obituaries, so we can extend sympathy to our neighbors.

In the Daytona paper, they're mugshots, so we can sneer at and gossip about our neighbors.

Kind of says a lot.


ETA: sorry about the smiley face, don't know what I clicked to put it there accidentally, can't find a way to remove it.

[Crankin]

Even though it's not funny, I just laughed at your comment, Oak. I think it sums it up perfectly.
Too many years in eternal sunshine made me cynical. I wonder how this happened?

[Pax]

Oak - I agree, it is a strange place with no sense of community. Seems to be "every man for himself", as though the people who move here either come from a place where that behavior is the norm, or feel alienated enough here to adopt it.

[Sky King]

My favorite quote "life is what happens while we are busy making plans" Sorry to hear about the unexpected but happy to hear you all are flexible enough to go with a flow.

[Pax]

So, a frustrating visit to the allergist, I'm "presenting in an asymptomatic fashion" meaning my lungs are clear (not full of crap) but my smooth muscles are not working right. The verdict "lets get a chest xray and try these new drugs for a month and see how it goes, meanwhile, avoid your allergen triggers". arrrggghh

[Crankin]

Sounds like what I was told... only it was called "non-specious" asthma, back in the 80s. My chest hurt like hell, but I wasn't wheezing. I took so many courses of Prednisone, no wonder I have osteoporosis. And that awful older drug, Theophylline. It felt like I was on speed. This was before all the drugs we have today were invented. I stopped seeing the pulmonologist at that point, and went to an allergist and restarted allergy shots for the 3d time in my life. I felt horrible after every shot, so eventually I quit that, too. As it turns out, a couple of years after I moved back to MA (which cured my asthma), I found out that the allergist who I went to in Tempe (his brother lives near here) was the principal inventor of Advair.
I wish you luck, Pax. I truly understand how you are feeling.