Don’t panic I’m not about to give up on Life and shoot my self😵💫.
After the past year of 2 x HT with a quadruple bypass in the middle and all the other treatments and tests. Plus getting PTSD due to it all.
I have decided………… there is far more to life so at the grand old age of 55 I’ve retired🎉. I know I’m very lucky to be able to do this financially but even if I was short on cash I would have still done it, what goods the money when you have worked your self into an early grave.
We all need to remember money does not bring you happiness and if you think it does step back and look at it it’s very short lived, true happiness comes from inside and can only be gained by enjoying what we have and doing the best for ourselves and everyone else. Even if you only smile or laugh one in a day that’s true happiness.
We have all been given our second chances so we must make the most of life and if you can give up work and enjoy your family and yourself more then we should do it. Life can be way to short so what’s the point of chasing the money if you never get to spend it😀.
I hope this makes a few people think and may be make a decision they have been thinking about.
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Jako999
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I agree with every word you've written Jako. I went on to a 4 day week aged around 51ish. then gave up work totally aged 62. You just wonder if you will then feel better. I ended a 13 year relationship with a miserable man, then had a 3rd ablation and have felt so much better since.
Your response made me smile Jean. Love the way that you lumped the miserable man in amongst your retirement and heart problems! Well done you 😘
Good luck with your retirement and enjoying your new found life, without work as a barrier you will begin to understand { judging by your post your not far off } just what a miracle living really is.
Aw good for you! Jako999 🥳🥰My dad retired early wasn't for health reasons but so glad he did. Bet you feel so much better for it aswell very wise descion ☺️👍.
So glad to hear of your news. May your health continue to improve and you enjoy your retirement, wishing you buckets of good health and happiness. Judi x
Hope you have a long and happy retirement. My husband and I retired early on health grounds and never looked back. We've never had much money and we're pretty skint but we just take each day as it comes and decide on the day what we are going to do, depending on how we feel that day.
I too retired at 55 - 4 years after my cabg x 4. Lucky to be able to do this & now making the most of a more relaxed life doing the things that make me happy- which I hope will help lessen the chances of another heart event! Would definitely recommend it although at the time it felt important to me to get back to where I had been before the HA to prove I could.
Wishing you many, many years of a happy and healthy retirement, Jako 👍😀 I went part-time after the bypass last year, after over forty years of the daily grind, and am loving it - I wonder how I managed to have the time to work full-time!😀
You sound much more positive than recent posts I've seen of yours. Well done! Did you have have the stents you were considering?Congratulations on your retirement, the world's your oyster, enjoy!
Hi still awaiting what’s happening next but because the last stress MRI showed that my two arterial grafts are working well and I’m not just going to drop down dead the speed and pressure of having to get something done has dropped.
I think having finished work has also helped, I didn’t think it even bothered me but it now feels like a weight has been lifted which is really strange because I loved my job.
Great decision, we have spoken in the past after very similar events happened to us both. Luckily I had worked for a bank for 34 years I had good benefits, after my heart attack and CABG I received 12 months sick pay (6 months full 6 months half). I then resigned after the 12 months in July 2022 and turned 55 in the October and could take my pension. I haven't looked back, the dogs have never been fitter and the garden never as pristine !! Like others have said life is too short, enjoy what we have left. My late Dad's best friend worked crazy hours and retired at 65. He dropped down dead 1 week after his retirement. There is so much to see and do in this country as well as the rest of the world ! Life is for living👍
Yes you are so right jako999. God knows how many will have to work until they are 70. And never get a retirement. I myself retired at 63 to enjoy life with just chronic kidney disease. But it's been 1 condition after another since retirement to add to the list. But I am still carrying on and trying to enjoy life and spend what I have. Enjoy your retirement and I hope you have a good day. Brian
so glad to hear from you Jacko999, You were the first to write to me, after HA& 5 stents in Florida, a yr ago. I’m still struggling with it& have now been told it may be MVA, it just back from Florida again, trying to get on with it
Congratulations, enjoy every minute of your retirement & live your life.
Hi Jako999, never such a true paragraph on the importance of life.!!I wish I'd had chance to follow your advice and now deeply regret I didnt enjoy more of my life instead of working hard.
I was waiting until retirement to make some drastic changes as I was too busy with work,I rare ly was home. I had high blood pressure which I thought was work related and being managed properly.
However, after 40 years working in the NHS I retired with ill health at 59.
I received my nhs pension (plans for holidays,home improvements,buying my children a small house,joining various clubs)at the same time as a diagnosis of chronic ill health making me almost house bound within 1 year. All my plans and dreams gone.
I'm not telling you this for any sympathy,just to reiterate your message in Block Capitals with bells and whistles!!!!!
I now have the time and pension to fulfil my dreams but with declining health it's worthless! I never thought this would happen to me as I thought (wrongly) I was so healthy.
Live your life don't wait until you retire because you never know what the future holds.
Thanks for this inspiration. I'm early days, just 7 weeks since CABGx4... and feeling low...huge anxiety about going back to work... was getting really stressed, and had HA and collapsed at work in May... so see work as a potential death sentence! (in my mind).
But I have now asked to be considered for a part time role in less stressful area on my return... just by doing this a load has lifted... and now with your post, I might do the same when I hit 55 in 2025!
My wife is really supportive, and agrees with you... we can get by financially if we have to.
I’m glad you read it and part time is a good start. Have you enquired about I’ll health retirement? Mine was NHS there are two tears and one covers you if you can no longer do the job you were employed for, I was a paramedic and work told me from the start I could never go back to the the job I loved. I would have to take a clerical roll eventually, I couldn’t do that I’m hands on so after 22 years I finished and like you said I felt so much better within days.
The mental side of our journey is far greater then the physical so much so that most people need to see a councillor, it really helps to talk, even being on here is a massive help “ask away about anything” I’ve never really understood why people are so proud to get help? We all need it every now and then.
I have spoken to HR and will get Occupational Health support in place before I return to work, so hope that will be the time to address possible medical retirement... that may still be a few months away?I didn't want to miss the deadline for the part time role, so have jumped the gun a bit by putting in an application while I'm signed off... at least they should appreciate my intentions are to return...
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Has anyone had to give up work because of their heart issues?
Picking up the pieces.
Advice on TAVI and recovery times?
On the up, hopefully 
