I just read my high school welding teacher had passed away last year a few weeks shy of 73. What made it even sadder was reading he struggled with dementia for the last 6 years of his life. Even after graduating he was someone I could go to for advice and let me build a few projects as a former student. Just an all around great person. He also let a retired judge come in the shop and make metal ornaments. Probably the most liked teacher in the school. There are some people that really leave an impression on you and help shape your future. He was one of those people and I will always remember him fondly.
As someone who is just a few years short of that age I can have strong feelings about his situation. Know a couple who we used to ride motorcycles with for many years the wife has totally lost all memory of of who her husband is and even gets mad at him for talking with the young girl who stops over now and then, that his her daughter and mother of her two grandsons who are both in college! I'm hoping I never get to that stage! Guess we have been "lucky?" in our family as I can't recall anyone suffering that way at least as far as my grandparents on mom or dads side.
My father is in stage 4 of Alzheimer's as we speak. Its really a sad situation, even worse for my poor mother. We have a lot of history in my family with these type of brain diseases.
Alzheimer's is a tough thing to witness. My mom just turned 96 this last Nov 3rd.
I can relate. I'm the nearest relative to a 93 year-old aunt who is slowly retreating from the World. It's difficult to witness it when you remember what she was like only a couple of years ago when she had all her marbles. Having said that, up until very recently she smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. She's bipolar, and many years ago had about half of her stomach removed to treat an ulcer long before the modern miracle drugs came on the scene. TBH we're amazed she's made it this far .........!!
To all who have aging loved ones, I feel for you, Through the years I've lost family members and friends. It seems to be a sad part of living, we're all going to die! How do you view death? With the sadness of losing someone, or celebration for the existence of a person's lifetime on earth? It makes me wonder, Why are we here? In this body, on this planet we call earth. Forgive me, I don't want to offend anyone (on this subject) loosing a loved one is very emotional and filled with (for me) sadness and questions about our very existence. Why are we here? I just don't believe we crawled out of the oceans and evolved from monkeys to caveman to human beings! I'm not a subscriber to the belief. So why, or how are we here? I toss this out to the community searching for answers . . . Why are we here? To Learn? To Teach? Must we "learn" whatever it is we must, in order to pass to the next level of existence? The next "grade"? I feel we're here for a reason . . . I just don't know what. I'm 62 (May 2020) Lifes end grows closer by the second. My best years are behind me. I am blessed and thankful to enjoy every day I have on this planet. Thinking of dying is emotional! It makes me tear up thinking of my life ... no more. why are we here? Your thoughts, please. (save any witty or grade school remarks for the appropriate forum)
Watched my dad succumb to it as well. Terrible to see someone waste away. Thankful for all he did to make me who I am today.
I lost my Dad to Alzheimer's in '97, I watched him deteriorate for 7 years, he reverted to a child. It was God awful. I remember praying during his last week for God to call him home and end his suffering, that was a real tough thing to do. I still tear up every time I think about it.
Lost my Mom and Her Dad before they were 65, my Dad made 82 but was confused and having issues with brain hematomas, just would come on not any accidents. Grandma on Mom's side was fully sensible until she passed but lost hearing and sight as well sense of smell before she left us at 101. F.I.L. had COPD, Horrid way to die, lasted four years with full blown not enough O2 available to help him, M.I.L. had a series of strokes and then began a short trip down that Alzheimer's street but lost to the strokes before lost who she was. Dementia, Alzheimer's either are just Gawd awful to deal with as can do nothing for the patient.
That COPD is a barstard of a thing. My wife has it and got to the point 10 metres is a big walk most days. I have had to tell her kids and grandkids so they can make the most of her time while they have it. It's no time to be sad, there's plenty of time for that later
My dad suffered from severe copd. In 2010 he was the recipient of a double lung transplant. The doctors told us the average life span of a set of transplanted lungs was 10 years. It took my dad about a year to recover from the surgery and I’m happy to say he’s still going strong. He takes a handful of anti rejection meds daily. That being said, his body could still reject the lungs at any time and that’ll be it. It was quite a gift for my father to get a second chance at life and he hasn’t wasted it.
If loosing a parent can ever be done in a good way I guess I was spared too much grief. Dad had some heart problems and after doing good for a few years with a couple stents finally took a turn for the worse and per his wishes elected to go into hospice and only hung on for a couple weeks. He was just a bit past 86. Mom went just a few days short of two years latter. My sister stopped by one morning on her way to work and only problem mom mentioned was that she felt a bit tired. Latter that day the neighbor asked her adult son to go over and check on our mom as she had not seen her all day. He found mom just laying on her bed, looked like she had sat down on the edge of bed and just layed back and was gone. She was 83. Like I said above no one in my close family has spent any real time in extended care. Closest was my dad's mom and she spent her last days in an assisted living apartment. She actually spent a day with many relatives including my brother, his wife and my dad (her oldest son) and my mom at a family reunion/her birthday party and before dad and my brother had time to drive back to New York she had passed.
Sorry Dave. Losing a friend, parent , child or loved one is never easy. It's strange but for some, losing a pet hurts even more. Why? Who knows. But death is one of the few things that each and every one of us has in common. Seeing that your teacher suffered with dementia for 6 years ..... I don't know man? It breaks my heart, makes me angry and makes me question God ll at the same time. My dad died from Alzheimers and my mom from pancreatic cancer. With my dad, I wasn't able to be there when he passed. The hospice where he was at actually had me escorted off of the premises when I questioned then ended up getting in a huge argument regarding his care. With my mom, I was there with her, trying to keep her clean and trying to give her some form of dignity as she bled out. So death, anyone's death is one of those subjects that brings out some strange, sad and very scary emotions in me. I need to stop right here. Like I said, it's not easy. Sorry for your loss Dave.
Death comes to each of us. Some too young, it is tragic. Others too old, nobody remembers the good person you were. What I want is to die old with little warning. I want to be vital to near the end.
Lost too many people close to me over the years both family and friends but as Wille said it's coming for all of us. Lost my Mom in April 2018 to cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, went through surgery, radiation and chemo. Her markers were great for over 3 years and just shy of the 4th year the $%&#$% **** came back, this time on her bones. Cancer is the most evil thing I have ever witnessed a human being going through. Last week a friend of mine that is also a GC we work for told me he has stage 4. Cancer sucks!
My dad passed away in his sleep unexpectedly. They said he had a build up of plague in his arteries. Only real symptoms are you're more tired but he was 73. I don't think he suffered long which is a good thing. Had a friend die of ALS. If anything is worse than Alzheimer's I think it would be ALS. Your mind is fully intact but your body doesn't cooperate and you can't communicate. Lost my mom last Nov. at 87. She kept getting infections and went 16 days without eating any solid food. At least I got to talk to her a couple weeks before she went.
WD and ROP, can agree on that as to pets loss hurting so bad. Has now gotten to where the current mutt will be the last for some time after he leaves us, too much pain too often to repeat that over again for awhile. Wife can replace me with one after I am gone. Loss of my Mother and Brother in back to back years was damn near crippling where loss of 'My Girls' as to pups hurt near as bad. May be partly due to their unlimited no matter what we do affection and that they lead such short lives.
I have been following this thread since Welder Dave started it. My wife is 73 years old and has had dementia for the last six of those years. I can closely relate to the sadness you all are posting about. Just like Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease we have to watch helplessly as they slowly lose the battle. Sadly there comes a time when death is a blessing for the victim of these cruel diseases.
Amen!
I have to agree on this. I think one of the reasons is, at least for me, that you are not sure the pet understands what is happening or why. Two of the ones that hit me the hardest were first my Shepard Husky mix, Harley. Had him since he was a little pup. When first wife and I got divorced he stayed with me and supported me big time through that period of time! After I met second wife she came with a Australian Shepard. The two of them hit it off great then at one point Harley went down hill bad and started having problems and could not control his bowels and you could tell he felt bad about making a mess. When we took him to the vet to be put down as the vet gave him the shot he clamped down hard on my thumb, it was sore for several days always felt it was his way of saying by! Second one that hit me hard was Libby the Greyhound, we more or less inherited her from her owner who was a Veteran for whom she was a service dog to help him with PTSD and stability problems do to injuries. He got to the point he could not adequately care for the dog and as we had been Libby's foster home when he had to go in the hospital on a couple occasions he asked if we would consider adopting her. That was a no brainier as she was not only the sweetest dog ever she also was extremely well trained. Then one day I took her out to the pen to do her business and like often she took off to run a bit first. Flat out diagonally across the 40X50 foot pen and did a 180 to come back and she let out a scream of pain and just barely was able to limp back to me. Long story short turned out she was dealing with bone cancer and that quick move shattered one of her rear legs. To see her go from being happy and full of energy one second to extreme pain while I stood there was hard to take.
Losing my first black lab boo was the hardest death I ever dealt with. She got bit by a couple different ticks and ended up with what the vet called the trifecta. Lyme disease, erlichea, and antiplasmosis. She was always high energy and when she quit eating was the first clue. Vet thought she had a stomach bug so we gave her pepto and it worked for a week or so. Quit eating again and it was in for blood tests when we found the real problem. She lasted about a month longer and I fed her chicken broth with a large syringe thing. I kept telling the vet not to keep her alive for me. Vet said “ look at her. She’s not quitting yet” well quitting ain’t my style either so I basically handed the vet a credit card and we kept trying. One night the dog came over and put her head in my lap and we both knew it was over. I took all 35 lbs of her in the next morning and put her down. Vet gave her the first shot to relax her. While that was setting in boo locked eyes with me and we said our goodbyes. Vet gave her the shot to put her down and she never lost eye contact until she shut them. I’m not ashamed to say I cried a good plenty over that dog. It’s been 6 years and I still feel guilty for not catching it sooner.
And then there is this one: No that is not a dead dog! just a crazy Greyhound who likes to sleep in all kinds of strange positions!
Had issues trying to answer this post. Lost my first long term pup Sheba to old age, she had Ehrlichi positive tests from age 7 or 8, just old age got her at 15 almost 16. Cross mix Husky with Keeshond, she had a series of strokes per the vet, and we put her down similarly, she actually disliked the vet ever touching her but this time no complaints no reactions just let him give the injections, as if she knew.
I have a female cat that does that exact same thing!
Sorry to hear that. I had to put down my oldest male cat about a year ago. I had him for 18 years and it was the toughest one to let go yet. I cried like a little kid for a week over it.
We adopted Bruno when he was 8. He had traveled the world with his previous people who were professional polo players. He wasn't just a dog as he had an almost human character. It was strange in a way. Its like he understood every word we ever said to him. He was regal, a gentleman. When the time came, there was no way I was going to load him up, remove him from his home and familiar surroundings. Instead, the vet came to our home. Bruno on his blanket, Kiki his buddy and our cat curled up next to him, Great Gig In The Sky playing in the background. He was 14 years old. That was 13 years ago. I still cry. I'm crying right now sitting here in my truck waiting to start work. Oh... Kiki..she's 15 now.
Us hardasses are not quite so tough it seems. They are family.
Very often loosing a pet can be harder in some way than loosing person. At least some of the time with a person you get a chance to say your good-byes. But yes sometimes a pet can seem to say "It's OK, you've been great for all these years!". Or then there are those Like Harley my Shepard/husky mix that was a long time friend for me, through a divorce and remarriage. When his time came to go we took him to vet and I was petting him and just as he got the shot he chomped down on my thumb hard, did not break skin but was sore for a week or more after that, got me right at the base of the nail! Guess it was his way of telling not to forget him! However just this week my wife did not have that opportunity with her father-in-law, not my dad but a father-in-law from previous marriage. They were still close 20 years after that husband had passed. He picked the wrong time to be in hospital with breathing problems among other things. Spent the 14 days in isolation to be sure he was Covid free and test said all was good then after about a week went down hill and next test said positive. He only lasted a few days more and with restrictions on visitors could not have any family in his last days . Wife is on her way to take part in what will pass for a funeral in these times and help clean out his apartment.
Condolences KS
Hey Owl Creek, good to see you back, and you brought a video from my favorite entertainer!