bad times can lead to good times

BAD TIMES CAN LEAD TO GOOD TIMES

sometime it takes adversity to make you successful
you see it a lot in sports and business
i saw it in my own life
it seemed to go in 20 year cycles

i attended a small school and was the valedictorian
i received a scholarship to attend the nearby college
i started the freshman year but didnt make it through the semester
my goal to be a physician got dashed that year

over the next two years i worked as an orderly then on a bag assembly line in a nearby plant then i worked a few months on a road crew making bridges
i found myself in the mud to my knees in the hot arkansas humid summer working with ex cons doing that manual labor

i thought ive reached the bottom of the barrel and may not make it out

that summer thanks to the encouragement of my historian brother and my rainwater brother and the realization that i had hit bottom in the job market i made a move to southern california where i eventually graduated from college there met my wife she and got married during our junior year

i never thought in that two years after high school that i would ever reach my goal
much less attend college
i was doomed it seemed to never reach my goal

but
i made it eventually and graduated from medical school and finished residency
a high point after a low point a few years before

then
after finishing residency i owed the federal government 3 years of medical practice
it was at this time that reagan cut the program and the promising financial incentives and guaranteed income went away just as i started my commitment

that plus a drop in the economy doomed the practice that had been established
when i finished my commitment the practice failed financially
i sustained a large financial hit that affected us for the next 10 plus years

this was another low point as low if not lower than the one that happened about 20 years before
i wasnt sure we would ever recover
but
thanks to the support of family and a close friend we were able to get ourselves reestablished in the central texas area
after several years we overcame that financial hit that occurred several years before

because of that experience and the help again of that friend and my two brothers giving me financial advice i was able to prepare myself for a long career that was successful
i must say my wife she and i had our doubts that that recovery would ever occur

i learned a lot about personal finance and was able to prepare ourselves for the distant future
its because of that second adversity and our reaction to it that made us and well me aggressive in preparing for our financial future
so that now we can retire and live a comfortable retirement
i am not sure that would have happened if that second event had not happened

this second event made me i think reach a lower point than the first one
but i we recovered


yes good can come out of bad times

so we were humming along
being successful in my practice
i was busy
maxing out all our retirements
moving out to the best place we have ever lived at the country n
our lives were just doing great

yep
you got it
it had been 20 years
so here it comes

first my mother developed alzheimers and died in the final stages
then my younger brother was diagnosed and began a slow slide down the alzheimers slide
and
because of their diagnosis i entered a research alzheimers study to be in the normal control group so i could be monitored into the future
boy
was i ever blindsided
my diagnosis mild cognitive impariment thats due to alzheimers disease

let say you are in your prime of your life and at the peak of your profession
then
you get this diagnosis of say untreatable cancer or als or ms or parkinsons or another untreatable fatal disease
it stops you in your tracks
thats what happened to me and my wife she

stunned
i must say after seeing my mother and my brother die with it then i get diagnosed
knowing how fast it can move
i was at a low point at times much like the last one maybe worse and definitely worse than the first low point

but
i decided i would attack this on all fronts
i entered the research study in the abnormal group then from there i entered the biogen aducanumab study getting monthly infusions
hopefully that turns out to be a good decision

i have done numerous presentations on my story and alzheimers disease that hopefully has raised some awareness of the disease and hopefully has helped folks deal with it

i have aggressively took care of my health so that i actually feel better than i have ever felt
we have reestablished ourselves here and we both stay busy
i still am putting out the word on alzheimers
and
will soon restart the aducanumab that hopefully will help slow down the disease

i 9 years ago was at a low point and never thought i we would be where we are today

so
these three episodes of adversity could have easily overwhelmed me and my life
but
each time this adversity lead to another chapter of my life that led to a better life

so
bad times can lead to good times

without these adverse events i would never had gone to college graduated from med school and residency and eventually had a successful medical career met my wife she and had our two sons and eventually our two grandkids and would not have gotten a grip on my health to improve it to where i am today

yes adversity sometimes leads to success

the organicgreen doctor