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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.