I don't know how much people still care at this point, but I thought I'd knock some dust off and let folks know I am still alive. I don't want to get too much into personal stuff, because I could probably whine for pages, but suffice it to say 2020 was about as abysmal for me as for everyone else. 2019 and 2020 had absolutely endless real-life complications and obligations that slowed writing to about 5k-9k words per year. But I have good news and bad news, so let's do bad news first.
The main reason I wanted to actually post here was because I wanted to people to know I am actually alive, and I do not say that with any exaggeration. This Christmas I became extremely sick, and after over a month of trying to solve a medical mystery, I ended up at the hospital with my liver enlarged to the point that my right lung had mostly collapsed. My IBD has only gotten worse over the years despite some upswings, and it finally almost killed me by causing multiple abscesses in my liver and lungs. After 2 weeks in the hospital during COVID I was released on a couple months of IV antibiotics followed by several more of oral antibiotics, which have for now ended, but may have to resume based on bloodwork results in the next month. Worst case scenario I may need most of my liver removed, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.
During all this my IBD has been completely untreated and worsened by the antibiotics. Until just a month or so ago I was too constantly exhausted and sick to even converse for more than a half hour at a time. I also have heavy scarring in the liver and lungs, and my heart has been experiencing regular tachycardia since December. The earliest estimate for when I will be mostly recovered from these infections is October. But now the good news.
Luckily in the last week I was able to resume partial treatment for my IBD and it has given me some much-needed relief. Even before then I actually started writing a few things for practice, and I'm sort of getting back into the swing of things. At the very least the desire to write is returning, and that's the first step towards making it habitual like it used to be for me.
I'm not promising anything at all, and anyone who knows me well enough by now should know not to expect anything consistent from me. I just wanted anyone who was interested to know that I am still alive, I do still write, and I do still plan on expanding on my existing projects. God willing I won't relapse into infection, have worsening heart issues, or have another flare up of my IBD, but none of these things are outside the realm of possibility. There's also multiple obligations such as taking care of my (now extremely) senile grandmother. My life is not in any kind of danger anymore though, as I am being well looked after by multiple specialists who have been checking on me regularly since February.
I intend to keep writing, more importantly I want to keep writing, and if nothing else stops me, I am going to resume working on TiTS again whenever I have time. Thanks to everybody who reached out to check on me during my overly-long hiatus. I really do appreciate it, and I apologize for being a complete and utter ghost for over two years now. I am too busy to be as active as I was once upon a time, but I am going to make an effort to at least be active at all now.