Life After Quitting My Job

[stmartinfan]

With only 12 months experience as a retired person I agree that it is very easy to loose track of what day it is. Yes, you are free to travel, work on projects, hike, read, but checking my wall calendar and phone became a new routine for me.

I've found that setting reminders on my phone calendar are really helpful in remembering appointments, etc. On my I-phone, I can set 2 alerts for any event I schedule, so if it’s something I really need to go to, I'll set an alert for 1 day in advance and then a second one for an hour or two before the start time. I was keeping a paper calendar too, which I would match up with my phone calendar, but have pretty much given up on the paper version now and find I don't really miss it. The alerts are especially helpful for appointments on Mondays because I still seem to go into “weekend mode” despite not working for several years and don’t check my calendar then.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I have a secluded home in the woods going up for sale soon! Wilderness! LOL! This is how we have lived all our lives!

It's funny, because, although we value our privacy and like peace and quiet, I feel we need to be in a different situation now- at least we need to be in a 55+ community or something like that.

I’m wanting to move to a 55+ Community. I’m in the process of updating my house to ready it for sale. I want to downsize and use the proceeds from the sale of my home to pay cash for my next home. This will allow me to save more for retirement and hopefully retire at age 66.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I, personally, have NO interest in moving to a 55+ community.

BUT I suggest you sell your home BUT rent in a community you THINK you would buy in.

And still visit other developments and different areas of the country before investing money and years with another home ownership.

Yes, it is an extra move .. but you COULD offer to buy the home your rent, decide on another state or community to TRY OUT before buying or take the time to BUILD your castle.

 

[Krteczech]

I've found that setting reminders on my phone calendar are really helpful in remembering appointments, etc. On my I-phone, I can set 2 alerts for any event I schedule, so if it’s something I really need to go to, I'll set an alert for 1 day in advance.

Stmartinfan, I also use iPhone calendar with two alerts, but wall calendar works better between me and my husband’s plans and scheduling appointments. BTW, we moved from MPLS to Colorado and we still have Christmas week at The Towers on SXM. Unfortunately, Towers are out of commission so we are exploring Barbados instead right now. Cheers!

 

[WinniWoman]

I understand how a day can pass quickly once you stop working! I love my free time plus I've added classes at our Senior Center and volunteered at a nursing home for three years. I also volunteer for the Historic Charleston Foundation as a docent for their Spring tour of historic houses. On other days, taking my mother where she wants to go plus what I need to do fills the time quickly.

I'm so sorry that you are experiencing health problems now that you are free to do more! I hope that gets resolved quickly!

I'll be interested to read more about the Baker's cyst and what you end up doing for it. I have one my chiropractor discovered behind, and to the right side, of my right knee. Had ultrasound and the report was that it was a tumor. Had a MRI and the report was that it was a cyst. Go figure! I can't say if it caused pain or disability for me as I have other things going on. I was seeing the chiropractor for sciatica which he thought was causing me to have the usual sciatic pain plus some knee pain and what felt like hot poker shin splints burning just down the right side of my shin. Saw a Orthopedic surgeon who assured me I have a Baker's cyst and that it would probably go away. No draining mentioned. I had that before with a cyst on my head and the fluid just kept coming back and finally had to have it surgically removed. Ortho doc said my knee pain and burning shins was from my lower back problems and sciatica, but would give me a Cortisone injection in the knee and if the pain went away after a few day it was my knee! It did. No more shin burning, no knee pain. Till it wears off. He was so nonchalant about the Baker's cyst that I assumed it was from something else going on with my knee. Yet the reports show only a little arthritis in the knee. Hmmm...was it the cyst?

Wow! Again- do these docs know what they are doing? For me, I have no back pain. I, too, have very little arthritis in my knees according to the doc. People kept telling me I might have sciatica, but I have felt no back issue whatsoever, nor any issue in my outer thigh.

It is strictly my outer calf and shin and the back of my leg- the knee crease area- that hurt. There was no lump, no redness, no swelling anywhere- just soreness to the touch behind the knee and burning pain that came and went- even at rest. There was a one time to the touch soreness in my shin which magically disappeared after first discovering it. The calf hurts like hell when pressure applied on it- like stepping up a staircase on the one leg- or when walking for a long time- especially on the blacktop.

One of my ex-co-workers said I should have just had it drained and be done with it, but I still contend there is no definitive proof of a Baker's Cyst, as there has been no ultrasound or MRI test done for it. I requested the CD's and copies of my ultrasound (which was done to rule out DVT) and XRAY. But- what do I know?

The day after the doctors' visit with the cortisone shot, I hurt it again when getting out of the car at the car dealership (for a repair that didn't go well-was there for 4 hours!- a whole 'nother story!) on Friday. I had been using an old hand carved wooden cane. The rubber tip was missing from it and hubby found a plastic one he was able to attach, but he also had to put a small rubber sticker under it so the cane would not slide. Well- it came off somehow and when I tried to get out of the SUV- the cane slid and my leg slid with it! I didn't fall- but OUCH!

So anyway, I ended up going on Amazon while sitting at the dealership and ordering a quad cane, which I got today- the post office is working Sundays! I use it mainly for getting in and out of the car and up and down the stairs- just for some support.

The compression stockings I got from Amazon also help a lot (8 pairs for $18!) for when I am up and about during the day. But I feel that with the limping it is putting pressure on both my knees from overcompensating. So I do have knee braces that I have tried a few times, but I thought they were making the pain worse, so I stopped using them for right now.

Today my leg feels a bit better than it has. I do not have the behind the knee burning or the shim or calf pain, though I still know/feel that the leg is not right. I am hoping it is the cortisone shot is kicking in a bit now, but I am also taking Meloxicam, so not sure which is helping or if it is both together. Plus, of course, I am not walking for exercise or using my Gazelle machine. As for my indoor cycle, I use one leg and the movable arms for 50 minutes. My injured leg I prop up on the foot rest. Then I also do my isometric exercises with hand weights and so forth- only ones that don't involve that leg. Same with yoga. I have to at least get SOME exercise. It is still not the same a doing weight bearing exercise like walking or jogging, but it's all I can do right now without risking making things worse.

I am also going to try to cut back on eating. I need to take weight off anyway and it doesn't help to have all this excess weight when you have a leg or knee issue.

PT is this week, once I sort out with the insurance company if they are in network (their website stinks) and costs, etc.

I will keep you posted on what happens with this.

 

[geist1223]

If I recall correctly a Baker's cyst is when a sac on the posterior side of the knee fills with fluid. Normally the empty sac is always there. Then when there is stress or injury to the knee resulting in fluid collecting in the knee this excess fluid is drawn away from the knee into the sac. This allows the knee to function more or less correctly.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I did the Nutri-System program off QVC for 30 days .... usually found as a Today's Special Value around New Year's (and everyone resolution for the coming year). Cancelled before the auto-renewal sent another box of 'food'.

I lost over 40ibs ... not in one month from the diet food, but my 'training' my stomach and me, in portion size and strinking my stomach.

PS I warned EVERYONE I was going on a DIET and to expect me to me a miserable person. ANd I have kept the weight off.

 

[IngridN]

Mary Ann, sorry to hear about your medical issues. I strongly suggest you have MRI(s) done of the affected areas as well as your spine. Without going into a looong story, the docs and I were assuming and treating hip bursitis. After PT which only made the pains worse (hip and radiating pain down one leg) and 2 cortisone shots with relief of 1 to 2 weeks only, I knew something else was wrong and insisted on the MRIs. As suspected, hip bursitis but also 2 damaged tendons as well as bulging disc.

Different PT who treated back as causing these problems. 4 months later I am amazed at the progress I have made. From barely being able to walk, I can easily walk an hour or so and am getting to the point where I can walk up inclines for very short periods of time. I am giving myself another 4 months to hopefully get back to normal, whatever that is!!! I used to wake up 4-5 times a night with excruciating leg pain resulting in my being unable to sleep more than 4 or 5 hours total per night. NOT A BIT OF BACK PAIN, however, the back was causing all of my problems!!! My PT says all of the years of "mistreating the back" has come back to bite me. Along with exercises, I am very, very aware of proper posture.

Good luck with you issues, hopefully you will find out what is causing the problems and get back to good health.

Ingrid

 

[Karen G]

I am also going to try to cut back on eating. I need to take weight off anyway and it doesn't help to have all this excess weight when you have a leg or knee issue.

When you consider ways to lose weight, maybe you'd be interested in a low carb or keto way of eating. See www.dietdoctor.com for details. My husband and I started eating that way about 15 months ago and we've both lost weight. I lost 20 lbs. in a few months and have been just maintaining that loss ever since. I think being 20 lbs. lighter when I had my knee replaced really helped.

 

[Anne&Jim]

When you consider ways to lose weight, maybe you'd be interested in a low carb or keto way of eating. See www.dietdoctor.com for details. My husband and I started eating that way about 15 months ago and we've both lost weight. I lost 20 lbs. in a few months and have been just maintaining that loss ever since. I think being 20 lbs. lighter when I had my knee replaced really helped.

I concur with this! Our bodies are capable of running off the metabolism of fat, but only if we don’t supplement with sugar (carbs). Think of it as building a campfire that burns big logs rather than requiring you to continually throw kindling to keep it going. If you keep throwing kindling, the logs never have to do what they’re supposed to. Once you train your body to burn your fat stores, you will lose weight and still have energy and not be hungry all the time.

My husband and I started Keto a week before thanksgiving and we’ve each lost 10 pounds, albeit mostly water in the beginning. You will suffer for a few days to a few weeks, depending upon your previous diet and how dependent you were on carbs. But it does get better, and you can burn fat even when you can’t do much exercise.

Good luck to you — nobody’s perfect and we all need the boost of our friends now and then!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk