I wish I had some good advice. I have read a lot here and have followed several threads but I am not a vet by any means. You are hundreds of posts ahead of me already!
We say actions speak louder than words. I would wager that acting as if applies here. This sounds like something your W will have to figure out.
If there was some advice I would confidently give it would be what you have already said: put one foot in front of the other. Oh and do not look at that stuff!
