Hi,Due to ongoing symptoms of permanent AF, heart failure and mild cardiomyopathy I have been signed off work for a month.
Struggling but also feel a bit guilty I'm not able to support work (been working from home a lot recently) but the tiredness fatigue and constantly being in AFib is knocking me to my knees and feel exhausted and get very breathless.
My cardiologist is arranging a treatment plan which has been stated to probably include a upgrade to my current pacemaker to a CRT, cardioversion and possibly another ablation.
I've not been back to full health for just over two years since I had pace n ablate for having WPW syndrome, since then I have developed HF, AFib and mild cardiomyopathy and it's taking its toll on me, my pacemaker is set at the upper rate to 70bpm ( doesn't go any higher as a higher HR makes my AF worse) so I struggle on exertion.
I'm 53 and starting to worry about my situation and work, feel a bit guilty having to take sick leave and fear I may need to take more in the future, I have a company pension that I could take at 55 but I don't think I'd be financially secure to stop work at 55 (was planning on retirement at 60) just not sure il get back to full health and don't know where I stand between balancing work and looking after my health or if health conditions develop to a point I cannot support work.
Any advice please?
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Nomis21
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Ignoring the health part for a moment I worked fora bank for 35 years and then took early retirement at 52! This was in 1997 when banking was all about selling and I was sick of the industry. What I did was write down on one side of a page my gross salary. On the other I wrote all my expenditures, suits, shoes, travel, lunches etc . mortgage. everything. I then worked out what payng off my mortgage would cost so went into negotiations with a buy out figure in mind knowing that if I could take that and clear the mortgage I would be £3000 a year worse off not getting out of bed. After some horse trading I ended up with an index linked pension, no mortgage and a nice nest egg. OK now at 79 the egg is much smaller but life has been much more survivable. (That resulted from a heart health scare).
Coming back to your health you know really that this is more important than anything. Stress pays an important role in heart matters and as work colleague said to me " if you died tomorrow they would be sad till next Tuesday and forgotten the week after that!
Please try not to get ahead of yourself. It’s natural to consider the worst case scenario but if you’re going to do that also think of alternative options. My late husband never enjoyed his work in accounting, when he was made redundant from his job as an auditor he had a rest to recover his mental health, built a greenhouse and then got into residential letting and property development. It was the happiest time of his life running his own small business and he made quite a lot of money too! I am interested to hear how the CRT pacemaker turns out. Best wishes ❤️🩹
I know how you feel Nomis . I had to take early retirement from my NHS job as a senior community physiotherapist . This was not just due to AF but a series of health issues that combined together and stopped me from doing my quite physical job . I too felt guilty but so many people told me that guilt is such a negative emotion and as Bob says so succinctly , nobody is irreplaceable in the workplace . Your health must be your main priority . I really hope that the new pacemaker will improve your quality of life , I know from your posts you have had a rough ride at such a young age . Best wishes .
we spoke with a financial adviser for detailed information on how we would manage with me not working, how much exact monthly income we’d have and whether we could manage. We saw him about 3 times for reassurance that we could actually manage. Good luck
I can relate to this. I am 49 and at 47 I had to speak to a financial advisor about the prospect of reriring on the grounds of ill health from the NHS. If I made it that far.I was in heart failure at the time, had been living with AF for 20 years , no treatment was working and the medics were reluctant to fit a pacemaker. Though this was an option if things deteriorated further.
I've since had a third ablation that has provided respite and I am no longer in this situation, thankfully. But my cardiologist and EP keep reminding me that I will be back in AF at some point. And I have since been diagnosed with other chronic conditions. So, I imagine I will face these dilemmas again but hopefully a little further down the line and with a more rested heart.
At the time it felt bleak as my work is important to me and I couldn't imagine how we'd copy financially. I'm the main earner in my family.
That said, I know I'd have found a way and I was more worried about my health than my finances. Its such a lot to consider. I do feel for you.
I think getting good medical advice alongside good financial advice was what helped me. And is what I am looking at again now with the other conditions.
You've had some great advice here. I recommend getting in touch with a financial advisor to talk you through your options. It will set your mind at rest as to some aspects of next steps
Some really excellent advice above of strategies to try for both health and stress and also finances. It feels scary now but get a plan together and it may feel more manageable, as you can see, many have negotiated these issues successfully and speak from the heart.
I would add that CRT may give you a completely different experience, may take time for the advantages to really work, up to 6-12 months but for me it was a game changer and in the opinion of my then EP - for P&A patients, CRT should be first line treatment (cost is about x6 of a 2 lead pacing PM.
I would also add that my brother was in a similar position a few years ago, unfortunately that was of his own making, but he negotiated a great pension deal albeit with conditions for two years, and is now MUCH healthier and happier and doing a part-time job and some charity work.
Good luck and get that medical and financial advice to help you decide.
Do your employers have an occupational health dept or access to occupational health? If so use them . BUT . Remember they work for the company - they aim to help keep staff within work by reducing hours and making suitable adaptations to your role. Worth looking into this . They will also help should you have to go down the ill health retirement role.
Also have you looked into PIP. Personal independent payment - a non means tested benefit which can be claimed even if you are at work . When completing the application think of your worst days !!
I know others have gone through similar situations if not worse than mine, it's been a tough 2 years and I have been lucky that my job isn't physical and not sure how others cope who have similar health issues that work in the trade such as construction?
In my case over the last 2 years my health issues have now crept into my head which causes me worry, I have lost interest with a lot of the things I used to enjoy probably because it's a lot harder to do things I use to enjoy and it really takes it out of me, I used to be quite active outside of work however I now struggle and I also find work a chore now and don't feel I can support my role as good as I used to, I have lost interest in my work again the pressures of going into the office and managing adds extra strain and stress and makes things worse.
EP & cardiology are formulating a treatment plan and hoping I can at least get back to where I was 2 yrs ago but can't help but think that I may never get back to good health and can't help to think how I'd cope financially should things turn out that way.
I know there always someone with worse problems and I do try to stay positive but not easy when you have to give in to your body's demands.
Again thank you all for your advice, it's appreciated.
I don't know who you work for but I would check if they will allow you to take your company pension on health grounds. This is usually at the full rate that would have been payable at 60 rather than actuarially reduced for just taking it early.I am an ex civil servant. I left in 2008 and the AF and health problems kicked in in 2016 and stopped working in the job I had as the AF had me I hospital about 20 times in a 6 month period.
I work for myself now but decided to look at taking my Civil Service pension early a couple of years ago (we could get ours from age 50) even though the amount would be reduced by about 4% per year, so 40% less pension if I'd taken at 50.
It was then, I discovered that I could make a claim on health grounds, even though I was no longer in service.
It took about 6 months, involved an occupational health assessment, my EP providing a report to them to confirm that I would not have been able to have continued in my previous job role, had I still been a Civil Servant, but I got it.
Couldn't backdate it to 2016, unfortunately, but I was happy to take what I could.
I am still allowed to work as well, as long as it wasn't in my old job.
If you're able to do something similar, you could look at getting another job when you feel better and able to cope.
Im on the waiting list for valve surgery and a Cox IV Maze but still work part time, for myself, as a Foot Health Practitioner.
It's early days for me and im still hopeful my health will get better but your post is very helpful.
I do have a company pension, I work for a government owned company but in the public sector, I can take my pension at 55 (normal retirement age is 60) which offers a little security ( I only have 14 yrs service in the pension scheme) should I ever need to be considered for I'll health retirement.
I have no knowledge of the ill health claims process but would be interested in how this works and your experience.
Suppose I'm just trying to understand what the process involves should I be unfortunate to go down that road in the future.
I retired at 57 after years of ill health, which is still ongoing. I was working from home but had had enough. I was planning 60 to go as well.
You need to work out your current spending, I had been using a spreadsheet for years to do this. You then know how much you need to live on.
I also used anther spreadsheet to work out different scenario's as to when I could finish work, depending on my current pension savings and taking my small DB pension early. I updated this every month. I set the budget for each year till my state pension kicks in, and worked out how much I needed to drawdown.
Also put as much away in your pension as possible. I had no mortgage or debt other than a car on PCP which I sold and bought an older one outright.
Hope you will feel better after the health plan is implemented, Fingers crossed
Hi Ian,I do the same, have a spreadsheet with all my income and outgoing which like you I update monthly. This is worked out until I'm 60 which is when I planned to retire.
I have a small mortgage balance and other than that a car on pcp.
Kind of on track for the retirement at 60 with the estimated pensionable figures given but thinking I may have to sit down and look at the scenario of finishing work earlier should my health not improve which obviously impact the income of funds.
I'm still hopeful I can regain my health, energy and enthusiasm to carry on working but at this point in time I think it wise to look at the situation and the process of early retirement should I need to throw the towel in.
hi nomis, first thing to remember is you are easily replaced. I found this out ten years ago in the days when we got sent a Thankyou letter for a years service without any sickness absence.
I had ten proudly stashed away in my cupboard.👍
When I needed my first ablation and gave a few months notice of my procedure date and told them I obviously won’t be in work for a few weeks after and explained in detail what the procedure involved, I was greeted with ohh this is going to be in our busy period of the year as well unfortunately, then went on to say it’s a Pitty it wasn’t in the spring time when things are little quieter.!! I was speechless, and hurt.!! I walked out of that office and had a think about things.??
I never I received another letter for next 4 years it was running.! It was eventually scrapped anyway.! Your health is worth more than anything.? 👍
Suppose a lot of others have put work priorities above there own health which I've done myself in the past.
It's only now that I'm in the frame of mind to put my health first.
I'm sure there is quite a few others like myself on here that have seen work colleagues support their work full time who sadly are not with us anymore without them experiencing retirement or even kicking back on reduced hours to ease the burden of ill health. I understand everyone's circumstances are different and financial planning is a big factor in the reasons to continue working during I'll health.
As for me, Im now thinking along the lines that you're only here once and i plan to try to stay positive focus on my health without the pressures of work if that where this path leads me.
I managed to get to sixty before I put my health before my work. I'm now retired and happier than I have ever been. You need to take sick leave when your body needs to rest.
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