my story revisited #141-the advice is still the same

MY STORY REVISITED #141-THE ADVICE IS STILL THE SAME

when i wrote this blog below i had been retired for almost 4 years
a good friend was retiring so i was giving him advice on what to do

i thought about some of my advice and realized what i told him to do and what i did is part of why i am doing better since my diagnosis was made almost 12 years ago

here i am 8 years later still staying busy with volunteering and grandfathering and being in the biogen aduhelm embark study at ucla getting my monthly infusions
i have recently had a busy month doing my yearly evaluations like the neurological exam ekg lots of labs lots of memory testing a couple mris of the brain and a tau pet scan
i did this plus my usual volunteering and grandfathering that has kept me busy this month

its all of this activity physically mentally and socially that i think has help me do as well as i am doing


yesterday i had my mri of the brain
i have lost track of how many mris of the brain i have had since i retired
its has to be over 10

ive had so many my brain has to be electromagnatized by now
i have another one in august then it should be months since i have to have another one
we should be back to just the once a month infusions

if you are about to retire do what i did and what my friend does

stay busy dont become stagnant
__________
06-30-2014

RETIREMENT ADVICE
when i retired 3 1/2 years ago
i was like a race car every day
zooming around all day up every day
to work before 7am
seeing patients from 730am to 500pm
not really stopping for lunch
sitting eating doing all that paperwork thats required
then
bam i hit the brakes on that ferrari called work
never to drive again

the next day i was in retirement

no time to plan or think about it really
like i guess when you get old and your employer
lets you go out of the blue
i guess its the same thing

now i will admit i knew my day was coming about
6 weeks before it happened
so i was able to prepare things over that time period
and
years before i moved to the country n knowing that
when i retired i would have these things to do to keep
it going
boy was i right about that

but even though i prepared myself for years and i had
those 6 weeks to get ready
there it was
on that thursday
a blank slate for the day

i must say it took be about 6 months to get into some
type of groove as i gradually filled in my time doing
those things i like to do
almost too much at times

i do the country n stuff garden a lot
maintain the place
maintain the water system
you really dont ever catch up

i also dialed in a noon time nap
the best thing ive ever done
maybe we all should do that years earlier
ive worked with doctors that take noon naps

i do my volunteer work with habitat for humanity
with meals on wheels
with the alzheimers association
give alzheimers presentations like im doing later today
and travel especially in the summers

my plate is full
i feel fulfilled every day
i guess i feel as good about what i do as i ever have

now thats what retirement should be about
right

my bff gh from medical school had his retirement party this
weekend
it was fun to see his family and friends again

i spent time talking with him about retirement
he has had time to plan his and plans to stay busy

he will work some part time
thats good

i told him he needs something to do 1 or 2 days a week
working or volunteering
then
take the rest and let them be his days
i know i had a lot of old projects old honeydoes that needed to be
done
they all got done
now that im busy that rate of completion has dropped
i do things now in stages
like the barn its in stage 2 now


so stay busy
but have downtime for yourself and your wife
try some new things
and
most important part of all

take those naps
youll feel better
and
live longer

best wishes on your retirement
__________
that advice still holds true today
its made for a good retirement for me and for him so far

the organicgreendoctor