How do you want to retire?

Be very specific about your wishes because they can and will bite you on the ass. I was forced into early retirement at the age of 50, after coming closer than anyone should to death. Regular readers of this blog for the past 9 years are likely sick of my story by now, so I’ll just give you the bullet points.

5 weeks after my 50th birthday, I collapsed in public with a massive stroke.

I arrived by ambulance at the hospital about 15 minutes later, where the cause of the stroke was found to be a tumor in my right atria, the smaller atria of my heart.

I spent 6 months and 2 days in hospital. First, having a 4.5 hour heart surgery to remove the 4 by 7 centimeter benign tumor from my heart . Then, in the stroke recovery unit of the hospital.

The tumor is called an atrial myxoma, and  one of the most common side effects is sudden death. It was incredible that I survived the whole thing ,10 days in ICU, 3 weeks waiting for heart surgery, and then dealing with the stroke which left the left side of my body paralyzed.

It’s been almost 9 years since then, and I’m still partially paralyzed, and the paralysis I’m left with is permanent.

My retirement was a complete life change in the worst way possible.

If you want to read more about it, just go back through this blog to the year 2015, and you can read all about every excruciating detail.