Some Rumblings

     It's hard enough to actually reach my 66th birthday, not that I actually feel any different in my mind, but my body seems to be troublesome.  I'm facing a consult with a neurosurgeon, for a possible micro-discectomy, in a couple of days, I have an endoscopy slated for a week after my consult, and another round of Radio Frequency Ablations at the end of the month (August, 2017).  I'm supposed to get a call-back for a CT scan, after which  I'm supposed to make and appointment with Heart/Lung/Vascular.  Somewhere, in all of that, I am hoping to have the micro-discectomy done.

     It's pretty much the same surgery offered at any of the Laser Spine Clinics, except this one is covered by Medicare/TCL (TriCare for Life).  They will insert a tube into my bulging disks, suction off enough material to reduce the bulge, stitch up the holes, and I can be on my feet in a matter of hours.

     I've dreamed of not having sciatica, and I'm not sure how long this procedure will last, my current record of consecutive days w/o sciatica/lower back pain is seven and a-half months.  It was wonderful.

     Life seems to be about to change, once again... In our current situation, we make enough to pay all of the bills, but there isn't a lot left over... We've talked about things like, new streams of income, and it is possible that I could get my disability rating up to 50%, it would create a little more taxable income, but it would almost double my current non-taxable income.  We've talked about leaving California, but with my medical care at David Grant, it's not really practical to do.  We've also talked about down-sizing (again), and finding a 2 or 3 bedroom mobile home.  There is a Seniors Only park behind Leisure Town, called Lemon Tree Mobile Home Park, and it has a few places up for sale.

     The master plan is to sell this house, use the equity to purchase the mobile home (outright, or with really low payments), take over $7,000 dollars off our annual outlay for housing, as well as a few thousand in payments for water, sewerage, and trash, and start enjoying our retirement.  In this house, we have an additional $1200+ dollars for the Association Fees every year, as well, and that keeps going up.  Two years ago, it was $900...

     I've known this for a while... It's not like all was "hunky-dory," or anything.  Once Mary retired, and we started getting her social security payments, it didn't take a CPA to figure out that we were fighting a losing battle.  A gradual one, but things just keep going up here in the land of fruits and nuts.

     We have only two credit cards, mine has only $800 on it, and Mary has $1,300 on hers.  Every thing else, we own, except the house.  I'll miss the ability to take Jacuzzi baths, but that's about all.  It's been a good home for the last 8 1/2 years, we've had some good times here, but I think we need to start looking around, while we still have money in savings...