Retirement’s Agony, Adventure, Fun, and Exasperation

About the Book

This book consists of twelve chapters. Each chapter portrays a different era of the author’s life during his retirement. The manuscript actually is a continuation and supplement to a memoir that was published several years ago. These chapters demonstrate the tide and ebb of the author’s life, which the author endured, associated with the tumultuous nature of his life, manifested by his and his family’s numerous health problems. These usually, but not always, pop up during later age, coincidental with the retirement period. This time describes why he has entitled his book Retirement’s Agony, Adventure, Fun, and Exasperation. This period is associated with some misery, as well as the fun and the joyous time of life. This span makes him question the meaning of golden age. On the other hand, it gives him an opportunity to spend more time with his family and doing the things that were not feasible during his hectic personal and professional work. The author realized it is of paramount importance to keep himself busy with numerous trips to the exotic parts of this world. This is why the author started to make several adventures: to write books about the continuous itinerary of his life, which entails numerous cruises and trips to exciting events such as his silver and golden anniversary, while enjoying watching his grandchildren’s (a bundle of joys) growth and development. One caveat about this era of his life is going through a lot of misdiagnosis by esteemed colleagues and being exposed to many unethical jargons and unjustified procedures and experimental tests. But we must remember that medical professionals, while delivering good care to their patients, are poor patients themselves of medical care providers. This does not mean that we do not have an access to good-mannered, well-experienced, and astute care providers, albeit, unfortunately, not many of them are around at the present time. Therefore, like a roller coaster, he has good and bad and up and down spans of his retirement. Our society has gone through an enormous number of changes that we have ever imagined and/or predicted a decade ago, such as IT and the new discoveries and peculiar behaviors. Remember, retirement is not the end of life but something we must look forward to. Don’t retire if you do not have many hobbies and you are enjoying your job. This is one of the many reasons the author opted for the title of this manuscript to be Retirement’s Agony, Adventure, Fun, and Exasperation. The author is retired officially but not functionally, for he is writing, attending different medical conferences, doing daily exercises, and getting involved in the fascinating knowledge in the field of anthropology. Remember, for your own sanity, you must stay active in society and avoid social isolation, which is a killer. The author is not only doing quite a bit of research and study about anthropology but also is getting involved in the domains of lifestyle, politics, and especially, domestic and foreign policies. This is why he has allocated one of the longest chapters of the book (chapter 12) to this subject, which comprises contemporary and hot topics of today’s events and what exactly is going on in our beloved country, in Europe and, especially, in the Middle East dilemma, and last but not least, in the African hemisphere. It is concluded that altogether now, retirement age is nothing but a number. You are only as old as you feel. The environment aggravates everything in your retirement, from insomnia to indigestion and many other problems, but you have to learn how to cope with them.

About the Author

Cyrus Tahernia, MD, graduated from Tehran University, School of Medicine, with a laureate degree. The author came to the USA for his postgraduate training in the field of pediatrics and pediatric cardiology in prestigious teaching institutions. By training, the author has been American Board certified in both pediatrics and sub-board of pediatric cardiology. He is a senior fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP), cardiology section, and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC). He held the position of professor and chairman in the Department of Pediatrics and, later on, the position of clinical professor and director of both the Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). He was a visiting professor in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of thirty scientific peer-reviewed publications in American and British medical journals and also the author of three recent books, entitled The Long and Tumultuous Journey of My Life, Where Have We Been, and Where Are We Going? and Lifestyle Is Driving Us toward Impending Demise, in 2007, 2010, and 2013 respectively. He was a reviewer of two pediatric cardiology books. He has endured and experienced quite a bit of good and bad events during his retirement. This is why his very recent book is entitled Retirement’s Agony, Adventure, Fun, and Exasperation. This book consists of twelve chapters, with a preface. Each chapter portrays a variety of contemporary and hot adventures, including making many adventurous trips around the world, and it also portrays, especially, some disappointments about himself and his immediate family.