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Brian Iverson posted an update 7 years, 7 months ago
My contributions have seriously lagged. Retirement has been less reflection and more scrambling with family and life. But that has suddenly changed. Diagnosed with MDS – myelodysplastic syndrome with multilineage dysplasia. WTF! W/o treatment 3 years to live. With treatment maybe longer. With a bone marrow stem cell transplant if treatment improves my condition maybe 10-15 years. Transplant success rate 60%. Death during transplant 20%. Plus a month in the hospital and 2 months living within 5 miles of the transplant center with a 24 hour caretaker. Average cost $800,000 to 1 million dollars. With Medicare and my secondary insurance I may be liable for only $30,000 to $50,000 estimated w/o benefit of professional assistance in determining costs. I did not plan for this. Just venting. Of course my family and some friends are praying for me and hoping I’ll come around to Jesus. Not going to happen.
So sorry for the bad turn Brian. I just retired a year ago, and about the only thing I fear is getting a sudden illness like the path you are going. My siblings (all 6 of ’em) are hard core atheists, so I wouldn’t have to put up with the baloney of “I’ll pray for you.” If I were to hear that from someone, I hope I’d reply with something like “While you are praying, instead of begging for a cure, please ask your god WHY s/he created this disease in the 1st place. And, perhaps ask why your god doesn’t see fit to have comprehensive healthcare in the USA?” Good luck as you go forward.
Yeah, I did not plan for the unexpected when I retired. My three younger siblings – sisters – I love and want in my life so I ignore their religious platitudes. And my daughter and wife are atheists and maybe my son. So I have some good support. Just wish I had talked more with my niece and nephews about my beliefs.
Thank you for the text.