Done.

Thank you so much frien! I know people feel a bit uncomfortable when they are asked to do things like this, but I'm in a position where we all really want to help my Dad. Hes been the most selfless person his whole life and this is really important for all of us.

I also voted! Happy to help! It was on the first page for me, though.

Thanks frien! Yeah it moved up to the front page cause of the votes. Appreciate it so much!

Also, if I may make a suggestion, perhaps you could doodle up something quick and make it a submission to suggest going to vote on this because people look at submissions more often than journals I believe!

I just feel odd using that art section for this kind of personal thing. My family is doing what it can to get support and its doing pretty well right now.

Alright, that's up to you, just wanted to offer advice if it might have helped!

Thanks frien! It means a lot that you care.

Snugs a fuzzle doge, and snugs a fuzzle doge papa, tu! 2Paw hopes he did it right; the only voting panel (with an older fellow and big bushy beard, and a younger person with a baseball cap) labelled 'For My Dad' was the one 2Paw put his vote down for. 2Paw's Da has been Upstairs for a while noo (he passed on in 2006) but knows how much he loved him, and had no doubts about helping you help yours, Fuzzle. You've been an ossum friend to 2Paw, and he's more than happy to help you be an ossum friend to your Pa. <hug!>

-2Paw.

Thank you so much paw! Yeah you found the right one. The two in the video is my brother and Dad and we're up to 41 likes now and on the front page! So I really hope this works out and my Dad gets this, I hadn't even known that he was having as bad of a problem as he was because he just hid it really well. I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad passing and also really grateful that you're helping mine. <('0'<)

Snugs a doge all proper! I know my Da would want me to give a hand when I can, and I'm more than happy to give you and yours a hand thus now. ^_^ I have lots of good memories of times and hugs shared with my Da; most of the hurting-sad is gone, although there are of course days I miss him a bit more. But those excellent memories, and knowing what he did to get me as far as he could before it was time to head Upstairs, stoke my heart-fire and remind me to live life and embody the 'normal' we built together for me. :) Remembering him gives me more and boosts my mood more than anything a sad memory might take away.

You are very welcome, thus, and I hope it'll give your Da a fighting chance to have Uber Toofs! ^_^

-2Paw.

That's great that you had a good relationship with your family. My Dad has always sacrificed and given his whole life, I really want him to get something back, something really substantive that will improve his life. Pappa Paw sounds like a great guy, I'm sure he raised you to know the value of family and twix! You need uber toofs to eat uber twix! So important.

O, the toofs part was drilled into me (no pun intended) at a very young age. My Da had late-onset diabetes, because he ate much too much sugar and soda when he was in University and the first ten years in his chosen profession; it did not require him to use insulin, but he needed to be very careful about eating (or specifically, not eating) sugar (his only real indulgence thus was HP Sauce/brown sauce, which he loved on eggs at home), even things like ketchup; diet sodas and black coffee were about as close as he got after that. And both Type I and II Diabetes runs in our family. So far, my brothers and I have kept well away from that trouble, but bodily care was always there, and we all brush and fluoride rinse regularly, and while we do have treats, not a huge amount of extra soogar.

Your Da sounds like someone my Da would've loved to meet, had fate or Providence allowed. For now, I hope my small kindness will reach out from the part of me that is my Da on his behalf, to your Da, who sounds like a really kick-ass, stand-up human being, and someone I'm very glad became you and your brother's Da! :) <hug!>

-2Paw.

Have you tried stevia? I've been using that for a long time when it comes to sugar replacements, there's sodas like "Zevia" that use only stevia, I drink those all the time. I know my Dad loves soda, all my life he and the 7/11 big gulp were inseparable. :V

I gave it a go with Stevia extract for coffee sweetening in place of white sugar a number of months back, and I couldn't manage more than a sip or two of the flavour. I do drink some sugar pop, but most of the time I stick to things like diet soda, or just a big mug of water or milk. Coke Zero is probably my go-to for that, and I gave Pepsi Zero a go a number of months back: it's really, really good. It's almost as good as Pepsi Sugar IMHO, but at the moment it's only available in 2L bottles, if you can find it at all (it's often not available here). I can get Coke Zero in the 6x710mL 'cases' at a big huge discount at a local grocery every weekend, and that's usually when I'll get it.

I've been looking around at different 'fizzy waters' (as in non-sugared carbonated water), and after advice from a friend in the UK (she's here on FA, too) I've given serious thought to investing in a 'soda shooter' and finding a place that sells unsweetened or non-sugar 'cordials' or syrups, which might be good enough to take the place of sugar pop at all, and I could pick out a half dozen flavours at a time to see what strikes me the best.

I do appreciate the mention of Stevia, tho'! <hug!s a fuzzle!> A lot of saccharines and pseudosaccharines (including some fruits which have naturally heavy sweetness, like honeydew melons) do not at all agree with me; I'm reasonably sure it's a sensory issue as opposed to any sort of digestive or allergic reaction, as I have a number of flavour/texture troubles amongst them. While I haven't been to a 7-Eleven in many years (the closest one that's still a 7-Eleven proper is a bit of a ways from me here) I have plenty of excellent memories of picking up a Dr. Pepper Super Big Gulp (no ice, of course) or Slurpee and a handful of Coke-Bottle gummies right after high school finished for the day (there was and still is one, the one I mentioned, right across the road from the subway station home). Even got lunch there sometimes; a couple of their chiller Bacon Cheeseburgers. They weren't high-end, but they didn't need to be; they were both inexpensive and a very filling meal, even when cold.

-2Paw.

The thing with stevia is that it varies a lot by manufacturer. Some molecules have bitter aftertastes and others don't. I don't much like sweetening stuff with those stevia drops, but zevia soda tastes great. I can't drink the other stuff or have caffeine so its a good thing it tastes good cause its my only option.

Coca Cola is actually making a stevia only version but its only available in New Zealand right now. You used to go to 7-Eleven after school, I'd go to safeway and get chinese food haha. No wonder I shot up to 220 lbs in those days. Back in the day I didn't have digestive problems, our family always bought pepsi, but honestly I prefer coca cola...can't have that anymore though. I really loved Dr. Pepper but again, can't have it, zevia even has a dr. pepper rip off but it has caffeine so GRAAWW! Since developing my intestinal disorder I've had to look at a lot of alternatives and read EVERY label ever, its just a shame not being able to eat like everyone else, wherever you want, whenever you want.

I mean I could drink caffiene free soda with sucrose or mexican coca cola but those calories and all that sugar is too much. Its hard enough trying to reduce your daily intake to 1,800 calories, I can hit that number in 20 minutes!

Believe me, I understand such temptations and their inevitable consequences quite well. ^_^ I was on the other end of it from gaining weight; until I started taking my current meds, I had been chronically underweight most of my life (close to seven feet tall, but barely part 160lbs). The last several years I've gotten into weight training (not heavy lifting, but muscle training) as well as regular, brisk walks most days of the week. I love my soda pop, though, and that's the one habit that I know will be the toughest to kick. I won't say I had a particularly bad relationship with food, but I don't think until I was in my teens I ever really liked most of the eating I did; it was more often than not a chore, unless it was a rare treat of a food I really liked.

Funny (or Fuzzle-y! ^_^) you mention Zevia Soda: I know we've had it at the local grocer for a while now, and your mentioning that there are different production formats (say comparing Stevia powdered or liquid sweetener to something like Zevia with it added in during production) is making me mind that I should give it a try. I think we have at least a half-dozen flavours, and I know one of them is Orange, and that to be honest would make an excellent substitute if I can handle the variety of Stevia used in Zevia's concocting. Thank you for the suggestion of giving it a go; I'll invest in one or two packages (two different flavours, meaning) of Zevia when my next grocery budget month comes along in a little over a week. I think I remember seeing a cola of some type; neither of my doctors have any issues with me (nor I health-wise, per my heart/cardiovascular business or blood pressure) having a reasonable amount of caffeine, being that sugar is the thing I do need to do a better job at kicking, if I can, and I'm really looking forward to giving such a Zevia Cola a try.

Noses a fuzzle about the intestinal disorder: I don't recall if you mentioned it to me before (and I'm sorry if I've forgotten it); does it have to do with gut flora, or something to do with digestion/absorption? A good friend of mine living just outside of Ottawa, another city like Toronto here in Ontario (and a Furry like you and I) has had Crohn's disease for most of his life, and he's needed many surgeries to maintain his health, including the surgical modification of a decent part of his digestive tract. Just going back, I noticed you mentioning a Dr. Pepper-style Zevia...oh, I'm revved about that! ^_^ Dr. Pepper is my biggest guilty food pleasure, and if I can handle the Zevia Doc P, it might lead to my considerably limiting my consumption of the other. :)

I hope you, your brother and your Da are having an excellent day when you receive this post; I think New Zealand is about fourteen or fifteen hours ahead of us here in EST (it's about 12:30am here in Eastern Canada), so you'd be enjoying your early Thursday afternoon right now. :)

-2Paw.