I hate what I've become

Posted by mrmacabre @mrmacabre, Apr 17 2:36pm

I've been on this forum for a few weeks now, so I don't think I need to repeat the entire story of the last 15 years of my life here. Long story short, I'm 66 years old, been retired on SSDI for almost 10 years now, and suffer from chronic pain due to osteoarthritis, and idiopathic poly neuropathy in my feet.
From October of 2011 to November of 2018, I had surgery 12 times. I had 5 knee operations, 3 carpal tunnel surgeries, elbow surgery, 2 spinal fusion procedures in my neck, and skin cancer removal.
Physically, I'm now a shell of what I used to be, I have no physical endurance any more, I can't walk for more than 10 or 15 minutes without help, and I have balance issues as well. I'm not allowed to get on a ladder by my family for any reason now, which is humiliating.
I always worked a very physical job for over 35 years, which obviously has taken it's toll.
When I walked away from my job in July of '15, we had to sell our home and move in with our son and his family for 2 years. Retiring the way I did completely screwed my wife and myself over financially forever, we 'll never own a home again, and she's working to support us while I sit on my ass in the house dealing with the chronic, never ending pain.
I swore that I'd never become a fat old man when I was retired, and that's exactly what I've become.
I've decided that I'm done with the "specialist" doctors, I've had so many of them, and mostly what they've done is cost us money that we don't have. How can I lose weight if I can't even walk any more? I'm done them. I'm not going to bankrupt ourselves or our kids with more surgeries or treatments.
My life is pain, and pain just means that I'm still alive.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

Depression and anxiety go hand in hand with chronic pain. I would see a good psych Dr. and try new meds.
I would also get to a good Physical therapist and lose the weight! These will help you but I have found that my faith in God helps alot but I also have to "force myself" to do everything...but I do. I use an upright walker and force myself to walk several times a day and as much as I hate getting up to do it, I always feel better afterwards.
Keeping as physically active as possible will help mind and body.
Losing weight is all about calorie intake, period....all it takes is will power...and when that's low you must force yourself or get help. Being at a healthy weight has ALOT to do with your pain. More weight means more pressure on your spine, nerves, hips, legs, feet and as you age only gets worse.
Also, I try to live have an Attitude of Gratitude. I see folks so much worse off than me...there is ALWAYS something worse. In spite of the horrible pain 24/7/365 I get to church and I try to help others, I volunteer. My state of mind always feels better when using for something other than thinking about my own pain.

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@mrmacabre

Thank you for your response, I've been taking 2 anti depressants for several years now, and have had counseling as well to help me deal with the situation as well. At one point I was extremely suicidal and needed help, luckily my wife and family were there to help.
Most days I feel like I'm 86, not 66 years old. My body began to break down at the age of 56, and I couldn't do my job any longer. My wife and kids kept telling me that I needed to retire and just walk away from my job after being there for almost 17 years, but I refused to do it.
It basically took an intervention with my wife, our son and daughter, and their spouses in our garage to convince me that I couldn't do it any more. This meant having to sell our home so we wouldn't lose it, and we had to move in with our son and his family until we could afford to rent a place of our own, which took 2 years.
I will always consider myself a failure for letting this happen to me. I'm supposed to work to support my family, not sit in the house every day, and continue to work until our house would have been paid off. But it didn't happen.
Now, my wife and I are the "poor" part of our family, we struggle to pay the rent and our bills every month. The one thing that every parent wants for their own kids is for them to be better off than they were as adults, and both of our kids have definitely done so.
Our son and our son in law started an IT company almost 20 years ago, and they have done very well. So well in fact, that our son sold his part of the company back to the other investors and walked away with a nice pay day. He just got burned out by the hours it required. Now he's working closer to home doing 2 jobs that he's wanted to do and is doing very well.
Our son in law runs the business now, and it continues to grow and be more successful, so our daughter is able to be a stay at home mom, a rare thing nowadays. They go to Hawaii at least once a year, Arizona a couple of times a year(all during our PNW winters), they just got back from Louisiana to visit family, and this Summer, they're taking the kids to DC.
The last time my wife and I were able to take any kind of a vacation of our own was in 2019, and it was a 4 hour driving trip to the Long Beach Peninsula/Oregon Coast.
After my older sister died in 2020, my youngest sister decided she was done with the PNW, and ended up moving to Bluffton, SC. a couple of years ago. My other sister and her husband sold their house South of us and bought one just a few minutes West of our place. Then they went to SC and bought a second house on the East coast very close to my youngest sister. It must be nice to have the fucking money to buy 2 houses when we can barely pay our rent most of the time.
Everyone in my family is moving forward and taking trips, and talking about future vacations when we have family gatherings, and all I can do is sit there and not say anything because we have zero chance of doing anything that they're talking about. We're supposed to be happy and excited for them according to my wife, but all it does is reinforce my belief in how badly I fucked up our future when I walked away from my job 10 years ago.
When our lease is over in 2 years, we have no idea where we'll end up living, probably in some shit hole apartment complex without a garage or any storage, or any kind of a yard/garden for my wife, all thanks to me.
I hate everything about our situation, but there isn't anything that's going to change it is there? And please don't bring god into this, the last thing I need or want is an imaginary friend, I'm a life long Atheist.

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I don't know if there is such an entity as a "God,"
but I guess belief helps some people. You might just keep looking for some type of help......Soc. Sec. disability??
Make an appt. with a Social Worker & see what free services are available in your community, since, I agree, an imaginary friend probably won't meet you needs. Good luck. K

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