It's a damned shame... A neighbor and close friend of ours, Tim D., is hurting. He had a nasty form of cancer, in his neck and head. This necessitated surgery late last year, and he's been on radiation and chemo until last month. He's lost 15% of his weight, and has gone from a hale and hearty farmer to the point where he can't safely stand in a light wind (seriously). His appetite is practically gone; food even smells unattractive to him. His voice is almost gone, from dry mouth and overall tiredness. It's so sad to see him suffering like this. He's told his doctors he's stopped taking one particular medication, because it's knocking him for a loop; as best we can tell that drug is for his rheumatoid arthritis, so that seems like a good tradeoff.
Debbie and I spent some time with him today, to give him some company and whatever comfort we could provide. During that visit, which was generally pleasant and full of good humor, we learned from Tim that his beloved dog Lexy had died. As if things weren't bad enough for Tim already! She was badly injured by a swather (a giant mower that cuts alfalfa for hay) in Tim's hay field, most likely because she was nearly deaf and probably didn't hear the machine approaching. When they got her to the vet, the only real option was to euthanize her -- that must have been an agonizing decision for Tim...
Lest I sound too hopeless, I should point out that we are still hopeful that Tim recovers from his cancer, and that something else can be done for his arthritis. Our reactions here are for his current unhappy state. He's such a good man. Life often seems unfair, and this is certainly one of those cases...
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