No, the world is not coming to an end… Unless someone that you love is coming to an end. Unless that which you know has dissolved into that which you wish you did not know. Unless you miss by-gone friends. Unless…unless…unless…
{sigh}
Just now it feels like all those “unlesses” apply.
My son’s beautiful dog, Charley the Golden Retriever, has been sliding into superannuated illness for weeks. We’ve expected him to pass, but he has held on. And held on. And held on… Until today he fell and hurt himself, apparently pretty seriously.
Dayum! It looks ominously like he’s on his last paws. My son is beside himself. I don’t know what to say or do to help. Terrible. So very terrible.
Meanwhile…I hurt. And hurt. And hurt. And hurt. Peripheral neuropathy. Cause unclear. Will it go away on its own? Unknown. Will it hang on till I croak over? Unknown. Will it make me want to exit this sylvan vale ASAP? Not so unknown.
So here we are…not exactly ALL Hell breaking loose…but it feels like a significant portion thereof.
What next, dear Lord? What next?
I’m sorry about Charley. It sounds like this is it for him, but at least he had a good life with your son.
I’m sorry about your peripheral neuropathy. Has it gotten worse? I’m sorry that it’s been one damn thing after another after another after another…
My poor son had to put Charley down yesterday. That just about unraveled the man. Truly, truly horrible. Turns out he was a lot worse off than I understood: the tumors on his tail and waypoints were as nothing: his lungs were full of tumors, too. The busted leg was just a painful coup de grâce.
Too, the dog was much older than I recalled: he was 14(!!), a Methuselah for a large, overbred dog. Normally you wouldn’t expect an animal like that to last longer than about nine y4ars.
The PN remains the same. From what I can tell, that’s about the best we can expect. Apparently this kind of nerve damage is permanent. Sometimes it’s a little better than other times: one can’t say it comes and goes, because it never fully goes away. But it’s up and down: one moment it’s pretty horrid, and then other times it’s tolerable.