Author Topic: My retirement blog.  (Read 232933 times)

DeonC

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #255 on: February 03, 2017, 09:11:09 am »
Orca, I might have missed it, but at what age did you retire?

Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #256 on: February 03, 2017, 10:25:16 am »
I was around 56 I think. Nearly 4 years ago but I retired some years before but then bought a small business to keep myself occupied.
I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

Fawkes85

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #257 on: February 03, 2017, 10:54:36 am »
Glad to hear your wife is fine. Started writing that book yet? ;)

Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #258 on: February 03, 2017, 02:30:42 pm »
Thanks for all the heads ups. No F. I haven't got one of these to start the book.
I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #259 on: March 09, 2017, 07:38:10 pm »
Thanks for all the good wishes for my wife's illness. She survived her neurological disease and is almost back to normal...much to the surprise of her neurologist. Then came the punchline. A throat lesion on her soft pallet was found when I told the doc that her speech was not normal.

Due to the size of it, it must have been years old (1.2 cm x 0.8 cm x 3 mm). Early detection of throat cancer is key to survival as we well knew and were devastated. Wait too long and it spreads to other areas and organs. Once outside the throat you are a goner in 3 months.
 
Then the biopsy report came back as the dreaded "C" word. This devastated our lives and our kids as we are a very close knit family. Spent the night just holding my wife to try and ease our darkness of doom and gloom. I cannot imagine how my wife was feeling as she is not yet 58 years old.

Kids skyping so have to close now.

I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

Patrick

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #260 on: March 10, 2017, 11:37:32 am »
It must be a really tough time. Any idea when you'll get an update from the specialists?

gcr

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #261 on: March 10, 2017, 03:48:33 pm »
Orca - all strength to your wife and you with this medical issue - trust very much that you both come out of it without any bad news
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

Moonraker

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #262 on: March 10, 2017, 04:21:13 pm »
Orca, I am holding thumbs. Things will be OK - have faith.


yozzi

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #263 on: March 10, 2017, 04:43:04 pm »
Yes, Orca stay positive and you'll get through this ok

Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #264 on: March 10, 2017, 10:29:12 pm »
Being in the north of Portugal where not many people of our age can speak English we have no emotional support and we are left to our own grief. No friends here and not even our next door neighbours can interact with us.
This is why this forum is so helpful to me when you share your thoughts and give me a heads up. Thank you so much. It really does help.

As I was saying, we went to Porto Oncology Hospital and had to use 3 different trains and a bus to get there.
This is a gov hospital but very larney and busy. This hospital is dedicated to cancer only and has the most sophisticated equipment available to date. This was strange for me as I know how outdated SA gov hospital equipment is and the lack thereof. Been there.

After all that effort for my wife to get there, she was turned back as she did not have a state health security card. WTF I thought. We have private medical insurance but as it is a gov hospital she needed that card.

So off we went back home and got the card when we arrived with no problem. She can now get almost free medical care with old age care, home care, medication and stuff like prosthetics and wheelchairs. A consultation with a doc will only cost her €2.

When we got back to the flat we got a message from the private hospital that her scan results were done so I went over the road to pick it up.

It seems she has stage 1 and it is localized. Her tumour is 13 mm long and stage 2 is 20 mm so her tumour is treatable to almost 100%. Stage 2 is also treatable to 95% and stage 3 is 50%. Stage 4 is a coffin.

So off to 3 trains and a bus on Monday and hopefully she can make it.

 

 

I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

dividendtycoon

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #265 on: March 11, 2017, 12:15:19 pm »
Dealing with state bureaucracy as well as having to use multiple public transport must be very difficult at a time like this, but that is excellent news that is treatable. Hope you and your wife go from strength to strength from here.

PlatinumWealth.co.za

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #266 on: March 11, 2017, 01:54:16 pm »
Wow, strongs Orca.
www.PlatinumWealth.co.za <- South African Investment and Finance forum.

Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #267 on: March 12, 2017, 06:04:18 pm »
There is new technology to treat cancer called "Edge Radiosurgery" that is non invasive and just as effective as surgery.
It maps the tumour precisely and then proceeds to blast it with some form of radiation. The tumour then dies and gets rejected by the body. The patient merely lies on a table for 10 minutes while the machine rotates around them. Star war stuff.

Portugal was the first country to use this machine about 3 years ago and the hospital my wife has to go to has one. Heads up to Portugal. :)
I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

Mr_Dividend

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #268 on: March 12, 2017, 09:01:55 pm »
That's pretty good new Orca

czc

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #269 on: March 13, 2017, 10:55:14 am »
This sounds like it can be beaten, so from the bad news at least there is a ray of sunshine.