60+ year old thread.

Good morning! Easy like SUNDAY morning....yeaaahhh.
Beautiful sunsplashed day. Hope your Sunday is blessed and safe.

 

I haven't posted in a few days - just wanted to let you know what's going on.

We have two Labrador Retrievers - one is 8 and the other 13. The younger one has been having back discomfort and we thought she might have a compressed disc. A CT scan on Tuesday confirmed a malignant spinal tumor. Radiation treatment, even if possible, will cause more discomfort for her than it will be worth, longevity-wise. Prognosis is 2 to 6 months. We're managing her discomfort for now - she's happy but slow moving. Still eating, drinking and wagging her tail.

On Monday night before taking Sunny to the neurologist in Allentown, our older Lab Duffy had what we thought was a stroke. She's since been diagnosed with Vestibular Syndrome. Not wholly stable to walk, nauseous so she doesn't want to eat. It "should" clear in a few weeks, hopefully.

In the meantime, both dogs have diarrhea from the meds/stress. They need to go out every hour or two. Sunny takes her meds, Duffy hates them. Duffy will, a least, eat lunch meat and cheese, chips...any kind of junk food we give her so at least we're getting some food into her in the interim.

I've slept on the floor with them for the past 3 night so I can know when they have to go out. Getting 1 to 2 hour bursts of sleep and sore hips.

What a nightmare. We're afraid we're going to lose both of them in short order.

Cancer and old age suck.

 

So so sorry to hear this Mark. Dogs (labs) are my life, they are my kids. Having to deal with their pain, sickness and eventually saying good bye is the toughest saddest things I’ve ever done. I wish the best for you and your 4 legged kids. May God bless you and your doggies.

 

After our last dog we decided to not have any more. A lifetime with dogs, and I miss them. But the wife has a hard time losing them. It's been somewhere around five years now. Best wishes for the dogs... and you.

 

So sorry to hear this Mark

 

Not gonna like that one,Colonel. Best woofs to both of them.

 

Mark, this sucks to read. We had a bad scare with one of our 2 cats recently. My coworker just lost one dog and his Great Dane has cancer and he's dealing with that. I feel your pain and hope for the best possible outcome for your fur family.

 

welcome

That looks yummy.

So sorry to hear that Mark. Is she really 8 already?... I remember you posting pics of her as a baby. Pill pockets work great (well they did for Annie when food ceased to entice her to take her pills)

 

prayers to you and yours in this time sir

 

Evening all:

Sorry to hear about both your furry family members having problems Mark. There's only so much you can do for them and I'm sure that you will do everything possible that you can to help them out, but unfortunately there comes a point!

Got five minimal branch messes cleaned up, six more to go plus the downed tree! I need the snow gone to be able to use the garden tractor and cart to haul the cut-up branches from the yard to brush piles over in the woods, the ones I cleaned up already had brush piles there from prior storms, after doing a walk around I had more branches down than I originally thought!

 

Bonfire!! And smores

 

@Devious6 sorry for the heartbreaking news about your pups. Dogs are great but they leave a mark on your heart.

 

This hits home, I hesitate posting this (don’t intend a pity party) just passing along some personal experience…

I retired in late September 2023…we left for a weeklong vacation to one of our favorite remote spots in New Mexico. Things were off to a great start, lots of deferred home projects were now ready to get started.

Fast forward to December, I went to the ER for a foot infection and was promptly admitted to the hospital. It turns out the infection was flesh eating bacteria. Two surgeries and 10 days in the hospital they remove a bunch of flesh from my foot, but I was LUCKY-there was no bone infection and I still have all my toes and my foot. I am still undergoing weekly cell replacement therapy as the doc woks to be build my foot…hope to be at least weight bearing sometime in March.

in the meantime, in early February I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Kinda sucks, but while the tumor was large we caught it early and the prognosis is good. I start weekly immunotherapy on March 15th that will last six weeks-at that time I will have a Cystography to evaluate progress.

sorry for the length of this post, thank you if you’re still reading…

Life will knock you down, when you get up, it just may try and knock you down again. My wife and I joke ‘crap, what’s next’?

I’m lucky, my wife loves me (41st anniversary in March), my dog adores me and the cats tolerate me. Life is good!

retirement WILL happen

 

@Devious6 Sorry to hear your news. So hard to do the right thing for them when it breaks our hearts to do it.

 

Damn, that's hard to read. I couldn't imagine having to live it. One foot in front of the other, that's the only way! Glad to see that the outlook is positive, still, damn.

 

Can't give that a like, sorry. The possibility of losing 2 dogs in a relatively short span is harsh. The good memories they brought will always be there.

 

Sometimes morbid humor is the best approach…”one foot in front of the other” ain’t happening quite yet at least in a literal sense. Appreciate your comment and I’m confident on a good outcome.

 

So sorry to hear this, our dogs give so much and expect so little in return. Hugs and tears to you and your wife..

 

Spent the day working on bedroom furniture drawer slides. I can't believe how much crap my wife had stuffed into the drawers! No wonder they busted. I feel like I spend a good part of my time
fixing shit! Better than buying new bedroom furniture I guess. Should be good for another 30 years. By then I won't give a crap!

 

My wife talked me into going to a square dancing class, all senior citizens. Had to wash my hands twice, hands and arms spelled like an old person. I'm in that age range, but I
smell like beer, JD.