Update #12

(Making this a public post so that everyone can get caught up on what I've been going through the last six months.)

If you've been following me for awhile, you might have wondered where I've been since May. I haven't talked about it on here, but I've been dealing with carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel problems in both arms. It's not only kept me from typing, but the condition has gotten so advanced, that I could barely hold a pencil. If you've been wondering where the art went, that's where. I guess, I was going at art too hard for the last couple of years... or decades really. It all caught up with me and between art, games, posting, and life in general, the grind and repetition burned things out, and now I can't do much of anything with my hands.

I tried removing things from my life, like games, limiting my posting, and using tools like a speech-to-text app to help me type, but nothing helped. Things kept getting worse and eventually I just had to stop doing almost anything that involved using my hands. Yeah, both hands.

I went to the doctor, and started the whole process of being seen, scheduling appointments, getting sent to specialists and special tests to check for nerve damage. Meanwhile, I sat around and tried not to do anything to make my hands any worse, always hopeful that a couple of weeks of rest would let things recover naturally.

It's been over six months now. While my hands aren't any better, the situation with the doctors has progressed. I'm going in for surgery on Tuesday of next week. (Dec 3rd, mark your calendars.) We're starting with my left hand and arm (my dominant side), and possibly following up with the right sometime next year. We're optimistic, I'm optimistic, that this'll finally get me back to the drawing table. I REALLY WANT TO GET BACK TO DRAWING. IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY! No seriously, this hasn't been great for my mental wellbeing. Take everything else away, and art is what I love doing most. In short, I'm going for it. Surgery soon.

I've read differing accounts of post-surgery recovery time, everything from 3 days to 6 months, but according to my doctor, recovery should take about 3 weeks. That'll mean if everything goes well, I should be back at art, making sexy babes in yuri-type situations starting in early 2025. All I want for Christmas is my hands to work again... well that and a copy of Metaphor to play (soon as I can play it) ... and that Riesz figure from Trials of Mana that SquareEnix released last year. I'd like to study her... better angles, some. Haha. Honestly though, I just want to draw again.

It's so frustrating, but things seem fixable. At this point, I've just gotta put my faith in the doctors and see what they can do with me. So, that's it. That's what's been going on with me for the last six months. Now that I've got that out, I'll keep you all in the loop about what happens next with the surgery and recovery. Honestly, I think this'll do it. I got too messed up doing too many repetitive tasks with my hands for too many years and the damage built up. Surgery should repair things, and then I just have to be more careful in the future. So, here's hoping this can get me back to work. I'll keep you all posted.

To anyone whose followed my art over the years, thank you for the attention and support you've been able to send my way. It has kept me alive during this rough patch. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'll do what I can to recover, and I'll be back at the drawing board (Cintiq) soon.

Love you all,

Mina