Leaning into the Future
Over two months ago I provided an update on some health issues I was having. I’m pleased to provide a much brighter update today.
A Close Call
Since last January I’ve had one medical “procedure” and two abdominal surgeries. During the first surgery my heart experienced arrythmia twice and the surgical team couldn’t find a pulse. During the second incident they “coded” me to get a cardiac team into the operating room. Before any extreme resuscitation measures could be taken, they located my pulse. However, the surgeon wisely decided that the surgery should be stopped.
Six weeks later, I was back in the operating room. This time the surgery was successful. My recovery started three hours after I was wheeled into my hospital room when the nurses insisted that I get up and start walking. Despite that very painful beginning, my recovery has gone very well, and I have finally returned to my “normal” life.
When Normal Isn’t
Actually, I don’t really want to return to my “normal” life. What I’ve discovered since having these surgeries is that what I had accepted as normal for about 30 years included a lot of physical pain and illness. The condition that made me ill was diagnosed in the mid-nineties but the best approach, according to my doctor at that time, was to manage the condition. I did manage it - for three decades.
During that time, I also came to accept as normal the constant, daily discomfort, punctuated by occasional painful acute flare ups. It was difficult to manage, especially when I was traveling for work…which was very frequently. My doctor gave me a powerful antibiotic to carry with me in the event of a flare up occurring while I was on the road. When it happened, I would take the course of antibiotics and hopefully avoid a visit to the emergency room and still function on the job. The antibiotic would also make me feel very tired and a bit “loopy” which made it challenging to keep working. However, in nearly all cases I was able to do so.
Sometimes you don’t know you have any pain until you realize the pain is gone.
This was the serendipitous discovery I made in recovery. One day, while taking a walk about five weeks into my recovery therapy, I realized my gait was different, I was standing straighter, and I did not have any pain in my abdomen. I could hardly believe it so when I got back home, I decided to try the physical therapy exercises I had been given but had laid off while my incisions healed. I was able to do all of them completely without discomfort in my abdomen. So, then, I wondered if I could swing a golf club. I could and, again, without pain. And I’ve been swinging clubs ever since!
Since my first surgery in late January, I’ve been keeping a kind of journal. I have a difficult time recovering from anesthesia so writing was an exercise I could do to help me focus my mind and regain some of my cognitive thinking skills while I was confined to doing little else. I posted journal pieces on a CaringBridge site I had set up to make communication easier, but I’ve also got a PDF version of the journal. If you are interested in reading it, you can download it here. Please, just remember I was not always thinking clearly when I was writing so a bit of grace from you would be appreciated.
I feel truly fortunate to have had such successful surgery and to have recovered so fully today. I am stronger and more alive than I have felt in years.
Too bad we closed Tenacious Change then, eh?
Not really. If we had not closed it, I believe we would not have survived because of all the deep cuts in Federal funding to public agencies and nonprofit organizations since in the first half of this year. Nearly all of our clients came out of these two sectors, and I believe we would have had to close our doors as many of them have struggled to simply survive.
Over the past few months, I have also heard from a number of friends and colleagues who have lost their positions and/or contracts as a result of the cuts at the Federal level. My heart aches for them as I know these are particularly perilous times. I was fortunate to be able to move into “mostly retirement.” I wish I were one of the billionaires that seems to feel government now exists solely to help them become wealthier. If I were, I would help each of these friends out until they came across the next good fit for their expertise and passion. However, I’m not a billionaire. What I can do is keep my eyes and ears open to opportunities that may be a good fit for them and then alert them. I can also hold them in my heart as I know many of them did for me when I was ill.
So, what is next?
I’ve been quite ill for about 18 months now and I’ve had to let a lot of things fall by the side. There are friends and colleagues who I need to reconnect with. I have managed to keep up with co-hosting and producing the Getting to 3rd Space podcast with Lamar Roth. The ability to pre-record and edit podcasts has been a godsend. In the spirit of being “mostly retired” now, it has been my intention to focus on doing those things that give me the most joy and sense of fulfillment. Podcasting is one of those. So is writing. I also want to make some of the Tenacious Change material available to community changemakers but I’m still exploring the best way to do that. While I sort all of this out, I’m also playing in a weekly golf league again.
Many of you went on this journey with me over the past many months by following my CaringBridge site. Thank you for doing that. It was uplifting to know there were people out there rooting for me, especially in the particularly difficult and scary weeks between surgeries.
Now, though, it’s time to lean into the future.
The Tenacious Change YouTube Channel is now the Klaus Haus Productions Channel
The Changemaker videos and Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom videos can now all be found on the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel. The Changemaker series was started in 2020 and continues today as time and opportunity allow. Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is a twice-monthly podcast featuring Lamar Roth and Tom Klaus who have been friends since high school. We had a decent, and growing, number of viewers on the old Tenacious Change channel but, when we moved to the new channel, we lost those counts. So, we hope you’ll help us rebuild by watching them again or for the first time. Please, be sure to subscribe to be informed of the latest videos. Also, share the videos you think your friends and colleagues would enjoy or benefit from as well.
We will continue to add Getting to 3rd Space podcast videos on a regular basis. The podcast focuses on the topic of civil dialogue. It features guests, interviews, and “table talks” between Tom and Lamar that attempt to illustrate the facets of civil dialogue on a wide range of topics.
Why Am I Receiving this Post
You are receiving this Substack post because you have been on the mailing list of Tenacious Change. Tenacious Change has been closed, and I have started a hobby business called Klaus Haus Productions.
This posting is to let you know what has happened with the change and invite you to remain as a subscriber to these postings on Substack.
Thanks for reading or listening. Let’s stay in touch!