I decided to ER (Jan 2015) last fall. I was super excited about one more year then travelling, having more time to ride my bike, go to the kids, games, and just relax.
Almost as soon as my wife and I made that decision I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Early stage, highly curable. 6 months of chemo and then 6 months of work to retirement. No problem.
Now I am 1 month into chemo and out of no where my doctors think they have now found a significant heart problem despite my good health, diet, exercise, etc. I am meeting with the heart surgeon but it looks like there is a good chance I will have to undergo open heart surgery now too!
So in a couple months I go from a healthy bike racing 53 year old early retiree to a cancer patient with a dangerous heart.
Early retirement is still what I dream about when I feeling like crap during chemo but now I worry it could be a very different type of retirement.
Has anyone else gotten to the threshold of retirement and then faced these big health challenges? How do you deal with it emotionally?
Almost as soon as my wife and I made that decision I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Early stage, highly curable. 6 months of chemo and then 6 months of work to retirement. No problem.
Now I am 1 month into chemo and out of no where my doctors think they have now found a significant heart problem despite my good health, diet, exercise, etc. I am meeting with the heart surgeon but it looks like there is a good chance I will have to undergo open heart surgery now too!
So in a couple months I go from a healthy bike racing 53 year old early retiree to a cancer patient with a dangerous heart.
Early retirement is still what I dream about when I feeling like crap during chemo but now I worry it could be a very different type of retirement.
Has anyone else gotten to the threshold of retirement and then faced these big health challenges? How do you deal with it emotionally?