Am starting day one of retirement after practicing geriatric medicine for 32.5 years. I was offered medical insurance and took it. Only quitting 1.5 years early as I planned on going to 65. I got too tired of working after being treated for prostate cancer in 2016. Found out after the surgery though the tumor was small in the specimen and couldn't be seen on imaging, it was peripheral and a little leaked into the bed next to the prostate. Sheeeeoooot! I was scared witless. Yeah they can slow to process of metastatic prostate cancer down and one can live a long time with it, I'd prefer to be rid of it. I was scanned from stem to stern and the radiation oncologist suggested a choline PET scan. I had to drive 100 miles to go to a center that had one. Decatur, Illinois of all places. Sure enough, the only place they could find a bit of tumor was right next to where the prostate was. No place else. Armed with the coordinates the radiation oncologist boosted that spot after a total of 45 external beam treatments and 4 Lupron shots over two years. The Lupron is what wrecked me and turned my muscles to mush. But one has to do what they have to do to beat this thing. I had patients that blew off the Lupron and they did not have a good outcome meaning that they had tumor recurrence when they possibly could have cleared the tumor if they took the recommended therapy the first time. Ummm, the Lupron turns one into a chemical eunuch. Actually chemical castration is more complete than surgical and is more effective at slowing a prostate cancer. My PSA is staying undetectable. So you can see why I bugged out a little early. I've also posted my dad died after a good, well spent life in 2017 and my wife died at age 57, January 25th, 2019 of radon induced lung cancer. She never smoked a cigarette in her life. We didn't know radon was a problem in central Illinois but I bought a meter when she was diagnosed and saw levels 2 to 4 times higher than what is considered safe. It's been mitigated and the levels run .2 to .5pCi/L which is very low.
Am guardian to our 26 year old autistic spectrum son who stopped having meltdowns when he got out of puberty. Police had to come to the house to calm him down about 20 times when he was in puberty beside the mental institutionalizations about 16 times. Retrospectively he couldn't handle the hormones and when he turned 22, the behavior just melted away. I'm so glad my wife got to witness that miracle. Chris has an 8 year old mentality has speech, can't drive and can print really clearly. I can take him to rocket launches now and will be able to travel with him to overnight launches. Gets along well with people. Unfortunately his only quirk is he has a bad fear of dogs. I scratch my head over that one as we never owned a dog because we didn't have the time to care for one. Chris has never been bitten by a dog. My best guess it's the wolf characters in Disney movies that might have instilled that fear.
So, one can see I have a lot on my plate. A good reason to quit working. I'd hate to retire and drop dead in 6 months though it can happen unexpectedly. I had a nurse working with me who was in her early 80's. She didn't look it, liked being an office nurse and did a good job. Was in excellent health, didn't require medications and had regular checkups. One week before she was going to retire her husband and her were going to go for a local visit. Bob went out in the car and Elizabeth said she'd be right there and just wanted to check her hair. She didn't come out and Bob went in and found her dead on the bathroom floor! Sudden death without warning happens sometimes in
seemingly healthy people. Elizabeth used to mention she was blessed with good health and wasn't plagued with the usual aches and pains one would expect from a person in their 80's
It's likely going to take a year to get the house cleaned and "declutterized". I still have to go through my wife's clothes and take them to Goodwill. There's not many women around here who wear a size 4 petite like Sally did. That's her in the Avatar with the purple rocket. I'm really looking forward to this as I don't mind domestic chores and I should be able to get my two small workshops, one in the garage and one in the basement cleaned up and organized so I can get back to rocket building. God willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to be able to have some fun. Oh, once Covid is controlled, I'll be heading to the gym as exercise is the only thing that can battle Lupron induced fatigue. I just had no time when I was practicing. Kurt
Am guardian to our 26 year old autistic spectrum son who stopped having meltdowns when he got out of puberty. Police had to come to the house to calm him down about 20 times when he was in puberty beside the mental institutionalizations about 16 times. Retrospectively he couldn't handle the hormones and when he turned 22, the behavior just melted away. I'm so glad my wife got to witness that miracle. Chris has an 8 year old mentality has speech, can't drive and can print really clearly. I can take him to rocket launches now and will be able to travel with him to overnight launches. Gets along well with people. Unfortunately his only quirk is he has a bad fear of dogs. I scratch my head over that one as we never owned a dog because we didn't have the time to care for one. Chris has never been bitten by a dog. My best guess it's the wolf characters in Disney movies that might have instilled that fear.
So, one can see I have a lot on my plate. A good reason to quit working. I'd hate to retire and drop dead in 6 months though it can happen unexpectedly. I had a nurse working with me who was in her early 80's. She didn't look it, liked being an office nurse and did a good job. Was in excellent health, didn't require medications and had regular checkups. One week before she was going to retire her husband and her were going to go for a local visit. Bob went out in the car and Elizabeth said she'd be right there and just wanted to check her hair. She didn't come out and Bob went in and found her dead on the bathroom floor! Sudden death without warning happens sometimes in
seemingly healthy people. Elizabeth used to mention she was blessed with good health and wasn't plagued with the usual aches and pains one would expect from a person in their 80's
It's likely going to take a year to get the house cleaned and "declutterized". I still have to go through my wife's clothes and take them to Goodwill. There's not many women around here who wear a size 4 petite like Sally did. That's her in the Avatar with the purple rocket. I'm really looking forward to this as I don't mind domestic chores and I should be able to get my two small workshops, one in the garage and one in the basement cleaned up and organized so I can get back to rocket building. God willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to be able to have some fun. Oh, once Covid is controlled, I'll be heading to the gym as exercise is the only thing that can battle Lupron induced fatigue. I just had no time when I was practicing. Kurt