Plans to Make When Facing a Medical Crisis

How to plan amid uncertainty.

Image created via Midjourney

“Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

A phrase attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower, which he used repeatedly throughout his life.

Planning has always been an integral part of my personality. I budget for different financial scenarios in my business. My home is filled with lists and calendars to keep our family of five organized.

I carefully planned to quit my corporate job in 2021. Months of thinking about the timeframe. Agonizing over our budget and whether we could afford such a drastic pay cut that would come with a new career. Eighteen months and two jobs later, I found myself without a job. I had no plan for that scenario.

Sometimes life hits you and you can’t plan. It might be a job layoff. Or it might be a health condition, like my recent diagnosis with a brain tumor.

I’ve spent the last few weeks intensely planning for post-surgery and recovery time. But it’s also impossible to know the outcome. Everything is in probabilities and likelihoods, with nothing definitive. I might be fine within a few weeks. Or I might face a really long recovery.

Still, I’d rather plan than not plan. It’s the only way I can navigate uncertainty without surrendering to the…