It was about a year ago, my life unexpectedly changed. I remember having a day off work for what I thought was a routine hospital appointment which would probably lead nowhere at all. Instead life took an unexpected turn.
Actually I cycled to the hospital and was fairly ambivalent about the appointment. I felt fine, it was quite a nice day and I didn’t feel as if anything much was wrong with me. Little did I know I would quickly be admitted into hospital, being told I needed an operation, introduced to the world of catheters (which I’d never even heard of before) and then being told my kidneys were seriously damaged.
Vaguely I remember protesting about being admitted to hospital there and then, on account of my bicycle being outside and how I feared it would be stolen if I left it there overnight, so it was agreed I would come in first thing on the following day. Cycling home and telling Rachel about this was a surreal experience.
I had also previously had thoughts of early retirement floating around in my mind and being admitted into hospital for a few days brought this clearly into focus. In fact we had been toying with the idea since January that year and it was the time in hospital which crystallised our thinking.
Rolling forward by about a year
Sure I did decide to hand my notice in as soon as I returned to work. Things at the Council were, in any event, not that enjoyable or rewarding for me; to be honest I was starting to feel like a round plug in a square hole. It was actually quite an easy decision for Rachel and I to make, even though it was much sooner than we had expected but knowing we could do this, was a major influencing factor.
Originally we had planned to transfer my work pension out and draw down cash as we needed it. Through the due diligence process we were advised to leave it where it was and draw on it in a few years. For now we are living off savings, Rachel’s modest earnings and through moving money around to our advantage. As I have said before, we could not have done this without the expert advice of our Independent Financial Adviors and who are worth every penny we pay them.
Health-wise, things have settled somewhat. I had my prostate operation but things haven’t completely worked out. While I no longer have an indwelling catheter, I do need to self catheterise a couple of times a day. My kidneys are the main issue as they have suffered some significant damage. As a consequence my blood pressure is too high – I never knew kidneys influenced blood pressure. Bizarrely I am also being treated for my blood having the wrong pH. There are a number of subtle changes I have noticed through kidney issues, I’ll talk about these some other time, maybe.
Having replaced my stressful full time job with a variety of other things, I do feel the benefit in terms of my general well-being. I am never completely sure whether I have got the balance of things right and at one stage I was feeling I had simply replaced my salaried career with a range of voluntary stress inducing roles. Thankfully I have managed to correct this, before it became too embedded.
This is so typical!
So a year ago I was in an unexpected health scenario which came out of the blue. I had just started this blog too. A few times before when I have found myself in tricky situations, good things have come out of it.
It is a reminder of how having faith is so vital. No matter how much we like to think we are smart and in control of everything, the truth is we are not. We can testify how God has been at work, prayers have been answered and as the next chapter in our lives unfolds, we are always truly thankful.