B-Pals, I need your advise. I am eligible to retire -- either permanently or maybe just for a "gap year" (hey, if college kids can do it, so can I!). I can't decide whether to retire BEFORE surgery in mid-March, or when things settle down afterwards? Is retiring AND surgery too much to tackle all at once? Its a good quandary to have, not gonna lie, but the decision is twisting me up in knots, and I really need to make a decision.

It is probably only a decision that you can make. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery around 5 years after I retired. The regiment of vitamins/fluids/protein I found to be rather rigorous and it would have been more difficult to follow, if I was still working.

In my case, I was hit with tornadoes a few months after I retired. A couple years later by destructive floods. After these, the surgery was not difficult and being retired allowed me to focus on the process.

Good lord, tornado then flood? I'd've been afraid to have surgery with that streak of bad luck!! Are you still living there, or have you moved?

Retirement scares me a little -- which is why I am thinking of it as a gap year until I know for sure. I do know I want to work someplace different afterwards, something a little less stressful and a little more fun. As I sit at my desk on a personal forum, LOL.

Edited December 12, 20178 yr by Apple203

I would just check the health coverage you will have after surgery. It can be more limiting and require more deductibles and that could cause financial difficulties if you are not prepared for it. Good luck on making the right choice for you!

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4 hours ago, Apple203 said:

Good lord, tornado then flood? I'd've been afraid to have surgery with that streak of bad luck!! Are you still living there, or have you moved?

Yes, I still live in the same place. The tornado missed the house but it did take out about 100 of my large trees. I spent the first year of my retirement cutting firewood. I still have around a 5 year supply of firewood left. Luckily I have a wood stove that I use to heat my home.