Scribbles and Bits

Rogan: word of advice for anyone undergoing a hysterectomy who do not like dresses: kilts.

I bought a basic discount Verillas kilt as a sort of COVID luxury buy, and I have never been so grateful for the purchase. The enormously-adjustable velcro waistband doesn't dig into my incisions (unlike all of my jeans and even some tights), it has big roomy pockets that don't bang into any of my healing parts (also unlike my jeans), no bending is required to put it on or take it off, and it is just the most comfortable piece of recovery wear I own. It is cool in the summer and easy to layer for warmth in cooler weather. Also, they come in various pride colors. (Mine is just plain olive drab because I am a boring man with a boring favorite color.)

I am super grateful that my roommate VR Viking told me about them, and let me try on his so I realized that I wanted one and would not hate the results of buying online. (VR Viking could shove me down one pant leg, so yes, the waistband is THAT adjustable.)

I was able to recline and take a nap today! And I haven't needed nearly as many pills. So we wanted to say thank you to all the wonderful people who've been helping us through all this:

minoanmiss  for making me chicken soup and bringing it to my door, even though it is cold out there and I know she has a lot on her plate. My stomach is starting to accept proper food again!

grahamlore , runeroot , and their household for the care package of food they gave me on the first day. As stressful and tumorous as this business has been, it's been a relief to know that food will not be a problem.

storyheight  for watching Atlantic Rim 2 with me, despite being in a different state and me being too doped to be any technological help at all. Bad movies with good friends: what more could I ask for?

Genius Cat Owner, for surprising me with a gift of books so even though screens are giving me trouble, I have not been bored! I finished the Disabled God, now for Matrix or Even Though I Knew the End!

sinistmer , for the lovely surprise card.

marzicastella  for medical advice.

Double thanks to my roommates for taking me to the ER, filling my Rxs, taking me home from surgery, helping me get up and down, and just being generally kind and firmly helpful, even when pain was taking out my sanity.

And thanks to all of you who've sent well-wishes and congratulations. If I deserve the kind, caring friends I've got, I must be a helluva guy. Growing up, being incapacitated this way was terrifying, and it's been a moving experience to realize that it doesn't have to be a nightmare, to realize that no, I have great people in my corner that I can rely on. This experience had the potential to be absolutely traumatizing, and that it wasn't is because of all of you. I have not been alone in this at all; on the contrary, this surgery has made me more aware of the web of relationships I am tied into, and it's a wonderful feeling.

You guys are the best. Thank you. <3

 Rogan: surgery had complications, so am now frontstuck to take the pain.

Turns out one of the tumors had grown through a blood vessel, so we lost about 400 mL of blood (and a bunch of it is sloshing around where it shouldn't be.) Combined with the CO2 they pumped our guts with, that is putting pressure on our phrenic nerve, causing intense pain that heavy painkillers barely put a dent in. Now I know for certain what a purely-physical level 9 pain feels like. It sucks.

Without the heavy dose, breathing, talking, reclining, or lying down all hurt. With it, the pain is manageable.Fortunately, it seems that pain is all it is. Everything else is fine. Just gotta wait this out for a few days.

We also apparently have a dermoid ovarian cyst but that is a problem for future LB. (But another golfball sized tumor? Possibly with teeth and hair inside? UGH. So sick of tumors. At least they're all noncancerous?)

 Usually we are in the Artist Alley, but this year I got confused and applied for the Dealer's Room instead. This proved the right choice: we made more on Saturday alone than we did all of Arisia 2020. $566 total, if our math is right! That's more than we usually make in a month! Lesson learned. Madgic #2 sold well!

That said, the hours were long, longer than our ability. Saturday was a 13 hour workday, not including commute, and that was way, way too many hours. We had to come in a hour and a half late Sunday, to recoup the sleep required to function. Thankfully, surgery prep means we COULDN'T be there today. I mostly slept and cleaned up today.

Wednesday is surgery! We'll be resting and prepping till then.

EDIT from Mori: Also, we will be switching from Etsy to BigCartel. We are sick of Etsy's bullshit, I crunched the numbers, and it's no longer cost-effective to be staying on Etsy. Time to move to a place that doesn't autocrop off chunks of all our covers!

 Good news! We don't have cancer!

Miranda: Having surgery. Wish us luck!