Thank you for your response and empathy. I’ve actually mentioned it several times in my post history, so I apologize in advance to any future lemmings who care to review my comments. That said:

It’s bad. I can’t comfortably shower or check my mail. However, it could be worse. I can still stand and walk and, if I’m willing to endure the discomfort, go through fairly normal tasks like the above. I have gained a lot of weight since it happened and my body is an embarrassment, but oh well.

I’m coping. It’s been almost three years. I don’t really have any choice; I can largely function like a normal person, it just hurts, but it’s not impossible. Thank you for asking, it’s very kind of you.

I do miss my dog. She was a good dog.

edit: I appreciate your use of footnotes.

Very funny, I bet that argument works for other slurs too.