Hi Everyone,

Well, today was my last day of work. I was looking forward to this day because it meant less pain. I can't believe it is finally here. Such mixed feelings without excitement being one of them. Yesterday was the first Thursday I was able to work all month. It was rough but I made it through the week. Will be calling my Advocacy Company on Monday to start the disability process. All I have now is a little nervous energy as I jump in to the great unknown. Enbrel works but go down hill pretty fast after 4 to 5 days. Hope that changes after I quit working. Cymbalta is working much better than the Lyrica did. Still on Lyrica but only a small dose. Lost 10 lbs too!!! with some diet changes, now my knees don't hurt as much.

It felt strange driving home from work for the last time with all my personal items on the seat beside me.

my condolences

fall of 2009, when i had no idea why i was in pain an order of magnitude greater than anything else i had experienced and no doctors able to help for the three months i sought out their help, we contacted HR about short term and long term disability. when i thought long term disability might be a real possibility, i went into a real mourning. not just the threat of losing the career that i loved, but also my home, life as i knew it. though things turned around after about 6 months, it was a real eye opener of what others go through when they must give up their careers.

thus i think i get a sense of what you must be going through.

on the other hand, life does go on, and after a period of adjustment, i hope that you find life without work to be less physically stressful on your body. and thus less painful, such that you can enjoy life more.

though our careers are a big part of who we are, it is not all of who we are. i wish you much less pain and much more joy in the days ahead

Give yourself some time to adjust. When I first retired from my job, I just rattled around the house. I hope that this will help you with the pain. I'm sure that you will find lots of things to do that you couldn't do before. Think of this as a new adventure.

I think my knees would hurt less if I could lose some weight also.

As this has been a planned "medical retirement", I hope your plans for the future really do go well, and everything works out for you with a much better ability to not just cope, but enjoy life. It will feel a bit odd at first, but best wishes for your new life.

Hey Jeff.I remember my first day retired from work also.At first i thought it would be so nice to be retired at age 49.It was nice in the begining ,for about the first 3 yrs,but for me now i dont really know what to do with all my time.I am really thinking of getting into voluntering some way.You will like it when you are really hurting to be able to take a nap or just get off your feet.It was a weird feeling for me too when i packed up things from my locker from work and bid farewell after 32yrs of running a 7 color printing press.I do really miss all my co-workers though,but not all the deadlines that came with the job.As for my income it reaslly didnt change much,i got disability from work wich is 2/3rds of my wages..but i also got to go on disability from canada government wich made up the other 1/3rd so in reallity i am still makig the wage that i made when i was working.

Hope you enjoy early retirement..now you can at least rest when need be.

Cheers

John

Jeff,
I am onery enough that I have moved and changed jobs every 4 years.. It is a character builder.
Keep on posting. We hope you have a great experince!! and want to see more posting!!

Jeff...I know you've struggled with making this decision for a couple of years now and you've given it such considerable thought, there's certainly no doubt that you've made the right choice in what's best for you, how liberating!!!...good for you!!! You're off to a whole new chapter in your life, very exciting, enjoy it, my friend, because you've earned it and you definitely deserve it!!! Big hugs, my friend...

Michelle

I have faith that you will find something that will light a fire in your heart and mind. You still have much to offer others. This is your time to take care of yourself. Don't let the lack of a JOB define who you are.

It's been a year of forced retirement for me. It has not been easy, but is getting easier as time goes on.

If less pain is something you gain then that's a good start. Its gotta be a bit unnerving, change of a lifetime. I hope it gives you the relief you want and sparks you on the road to do some tings you want to do on terms you can handle them.

I like work but too often it has things come at us faster than we can handle with our bodies constantly slowing us down.

My thoughts are with you during this transition,into better health.

Jeff,
No doubt that was a very hard decision to make. I couldn't even imagine...you know how much I work..lol I know you will find something rewarding to do with your time. Take care of yourself first and here's to less pain!! xoxo

Sherri