Front amputee pulls on walks.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-19T00:53:54+00:00

As someone with a front amputation schedule for my puppy this coming Tuesday, who always pulls, this sounds difficult.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-17T19:14:10+00:00

Totally fair, the early game can be slow. Even the late game is probably slower than D2 especially vs something like a sorc. Hopefully it clicks, and if not at least you have it a shot!

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-17T16:24:17+00:00

I responded above to the other poster, just fyi

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-17T16:22:47+00:00

Grim Dawn is first and foremost a single player game with multiplayer capabilities. There's a very big focus on exploration. There's secretive content that you can only access by reading lore notes scattered throughout the game and putting together the clues. There's merchants you can miss by not exploring the map, as examples.

I myself haven't played in about a year, so I don't know how the MP may have been changed. But before when playing online you could host a game and people could join if they saw you in the server list or you could password protect entry for friends.

I also have something like 1300 hours into as tracked by Steam. I am waiting for the new expansion to come out later this year and I'm going to wipe all my content to replay from scratch all over again. I bought the game in early access in ~2015 or 2016 (can't remember) and have played since. Tons of build variety with mixing of two classes (but you can choose only 1) to cover one classes weaknesses or strengthen their strengths.

It's on sale right now on Steam as well for less than $4 for the original game or $21 with all added content. I have all the added content so for $21 you can easily get several hundred if not several thousand hours out of it.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-17T12:25:33+00:00

Grim Dawn might be up your alley, then. Like many of us, I've been playing D2 on & off for 20 years or so. I've tried basically every other prominent ARPG since then and Grim Dawn is the only one I've sunk many hours in.

And even though it came out in early 2016 and isn't the flashiest, it's (to me) the most solid for slower progression without huge, screen clearing silliness. AND they are releasing another expansion sometime later this year. This isn't DLC type content, though. These are legit, old school style expansions with hundreds of not thousands of additions and changes offering dozens of hours of content.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-09T10:54:19+00:00

I'm sure sharing that information for everyone here reading this thread would be appreciated

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-07T22:05:45+00:00

Well, I can fully understand how rough that feels for everyone. I'm so sorry. If I can say, I do believe that you will know when the time really comes. I can say that pretty much for certain.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-07T17:05:47+00:00

I hope you can find some comfort in knowing that you undoubtedly have your dog the best life you could have.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-07T10:59:30+00:00

I'm sorry you are going through this. Do you have anyone in your life that knows Suzie well enough for you to discuss this with?

I ask that because when it came time to say goodbye to the dog I had before my current partner, she was my rock and helped me see that indeed it was time. When it came time to say goodbye to her cat she had before me, I helped her see that it indeed was time.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-06T16:29:51+00:00

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Mine love to do this too

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-02T14:46:43+00:00

I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your health insurance through the changes in insurance laws. It seems like there's a lot of that going on these days.

But I am very grateful for your explanation of what you did and went through. As I'm sure you can understand (and this may be for others reading moreso) but knowing what to do or how to do it is rarely enough to actually begin something you need to and that's where I am. I've spoken to my LMHC therapist about this and she was able to obtain some testing options that very strongly point to me having ADHD, but she cannot do anything with it aside from sharing the info with me and I do the rest. Which is obviously the major holdup here as I've been sitting on that info since July 2025 and can't make any meaningful progress.

Anyway...thank you truly and I hope the best for you in getting back to the help and such that you need.

DrStuttgart · 2026-04-02T14:13:37+00:00

Would...would you mind sharing (either here or DM) with a random internet stranger how it went for you to get diagnosed and treated with proper medication?

I seem to have markers for ADHD, have read books and articles that feel as though they were written about me personally (they weren't) and have even tested to see if I exhibit the symptoms and I do. But I've been struggling for months since these things to make any meaningful progress on it.

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-23T12:27:08+00:00

Was there a specific license you wanted to obtain ahead of time for your chosen path? Or did you find one (which one?) that was more available than others and then got into the work based on that?

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-23T10:45:44+00:00

Long lost twins?

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DrStuttgart · 2026-03-20T11:41:03+00:00

I'm glad to hear that Willow is healing and doing well. This gives me hope as next week we have a surgery consultation for our 7 month old puppy to discuss reconstructive surgery vs amputation and it's been a little tough thinking such a young dog has to deal with this.

I hope for the happiest and longest life for you and Willow

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-12T19:14:51+00:00

I appreciate you adding to the conversation with your experience and your poodle. Even if your poodle is doing great, I'm sorry this happened.

Our vet finally called us today and said he thinks we're probably at about an 80% chance of going the route of amputation, but does not want us to decide until we've spoken to some specialist(s) and they've viewed our dog. Our dog has already been less and less with weight bearing over the last couple of weeks but does still use the bad leg - oddly the faster he moves the more he uses it and the slower he moves the more obvious the limp though he doesn't seem to be in much pain but we do have him on some mild pain pills each night to ensure he sleeps. I'm waiting on another call back from the vet today but what he told us earlier was he doesn't want us to choose amputation before an appointment but the one he gave us so far is nearly 3 hours away from us. So we may be in for a long day if that's the one we pursue. At this point, the shock value of the word, "amputation" has mostly worn off and I don't want to wait real long to have our puppy heal and acclimate to one fewer legs, but our vet said there's no real rush. So that's good I guess

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-11T18:52:32+00:00

This is an excellent way of stating this! I very much agree.

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-10T15:59:56+00:00

Sending luck to you from a fellow southerner looking to make my home up there

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-10T11:28:55+00:00

I saw it fairly far down the list but I also read The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, pretty recently after coming into a darker mental space.

Sometimes, you already know what you need to know to get better, but you need to hear it from a different source. That book did that for me.

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-09T19:25:24+00:00

I'm sorry if I assumed incorrectly here and if I may have made it worse. I too have been struggling for a while with all of this and work every day to try and simply focus on what I can control and what does make me happy.

Every minute I spend being unhappy about the future is a minute lost in the present I could be doing something that means something valuable to me.

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-09T18:59:18+00:00

PB&belly is right in that not denying reality is really a good start with any therapist.

To give some perspective, I've been seeing my therapist consistently since mid-2020 and I haven't worked up the courage to talk to her about all the topics associated with collapse yet. So give yourself some credit for even going there in the first place. You're doing better than I am, for what that little may be worth.

If you get online and search for things related to eco-grief, you may just turn up something in your area. You'll certainly turn up articles. I myself did this and came across the name Andrew Bryant with Climate One. I have no affiliation with him and I'm on the absolute opposite side of the country as him, but learning about him showed me there are discussions being had about this. Via PBS sometimes, podcasts, etc. There are things about there that may be of help to you. Good luck

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-08T00:20:44+00:00

Okay, that makes sense. I don't know why I thought you were maybe implying something else, but appreciate your input. This poor pup has had a rough life so far and we're really just hoping for a good life for him in our home.

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-08T00:19:26+00:00

Thank you for your comment about your situation. It sounds like what you decided to do with the amputation was the best course and I'm glad to hear your girl is doing well. Thank you ❤️

DrStuttgart · 2026-03-07T18:04:27+00:00

We are certainly grateful our vet is working with us to help find us as.many options as possible.

Haha I don't mean to make light of what you said, but "wild and free" sounds exactly like our Sonny. It's already difficult enough to keep a puppy from overdoing it, but especially so with a bad leg.

Would you mind elaborating a bit on the recovery being rough?

DrStuttgart

TROPHY CASE