Updates about wrist + WEDDING!!

This week has been crazy, full with important decisions, bad, good and weird news. It has been definitely an interesting week and for sure next one will be even more.

Let's start with everything about my wrist.

News about my wrist.

Sometimes I assume that everyone who are here in Patreon read my updates and journals, I shouldn't. I also understand that, despite I'm also support other artists here on Patreon, I don't always read their new posts. And I got many messages from Patreons who asked me why I was not drawing anymore, or why I was taking so long on their rewards. Also... I write a lot when I write these announcements and journals, I also understand why it could be not interesting for many.

If you haven't read my previous posts, you need to know I've had, since March 21st, a problem on my wrist that have made me stop drawing due the pain, I started visiting doctors since then, first doctor treated my problem like if it was an inflammation after discarding it was a broken bone or arthritis , and second doctor thought it was carpal tunnel. 

I visited a specialist, a traumatologist specialized in wrist and arm problems, he diagnosed my problem as "Teres Pronator Syndrome", and with medicine, ointments and rest I was treating my problem. In the meanwhile he was requesting me more tests to keep discarding carpal tunnel and other problems.

But this week, in the last appointment with him, he told me that, after not healing nor improving, it was necessary a SURGERY. Something that scared me a really lot. But for justify the surgery he needed a last test, an ultrasound of my forearm specifically on my pronator. He recommended me a specific radiologist for this test.

The phone of his recommendation never picked up, I gave him chances for two days but they never answered. So I started searching for more radiologists on internet who could make this specific test, and in Guadalajara (my town) there are very few, but I read about one who had lots of good recommendations, many were saying he was one of the best ones in the country, that he was even interviewed on TV. I don't get impressed that easily but I gave him a chance, and when I called, the lady on the phone was very kind and she even asked me why I needed this ultrasound, she knew about my syndrome. And when I called to other radiologist, not many knew about my problem, they just told me directly how much was price, they were way cheaper than the other one, but even one lady on the phone asked me "pronator what? what's that?" and that made me not to trust, so I made an appointment with the first one, despite it was kind of expensive.

When I arrived, same lady who I was called on the phone with was on the front desk, she was indeed kind and very funny, not awkwardly funny, she was really funny with her comments. But then she made me go in a room with a TV, and then I was watching about the doctor and about the ultrasound I was going to get.

This was like one of those pre shows from rides at theme parks, I had never experienced a pre show for making a test with a doctor, and then, when the video was over, the door of the doctor's office opened and the doctor showed up. "Oh, this is the man from the movie I just watched!". So he was indeed a show man! That made me, at that moment, not to trust so much and started doubting about my decisions of had chosen this particular one.

Spoiler: He was a really good doctor in the end!

When he was searching with the ultrasound device through my arm, and I was watching on the TV how my arm looks from inside (no, I didn't have a baby :( ) he was asking me about my problem, my work, how exactly was my pain, he was asking me everything. And he said "I really don't see a big problem on your pronator, are you sure your doctor told you needed a surgery?" Then he decided he needed to search further, and he made me grab a pen, a paper, and draw something (I drew something with my right hand after not doing it for weeks T_T I drew my panda bear, of course), and he made me point where exactly was the pain while I was drawing, and when I was pointing where, he was marking with a pen on those areas. Then he started searching on those areas, and boom! He found some tendons on my forearm that looked wore out, he was taken also screenshots of those tendon problems, and he kept searching more around all way of those tendons, keep searching for more problems. We took more than an hour on that session, but I really liked he was going very into my problem, he made me draw again but now to look in another areas, instead of asking me things, he was trying to analyze the way I drew and how my tendons were reacting. He was really a pro, I think that other radiologist would have just followed the instructions of the order of my doctor and just check around my pronator and that's it, but this was was very intense with finding my problem.

When we were over with the ultrasound, I was on the waiting room while the doctor was printing and writing the results. When I was waiting, I was thinking about wanting second opinions, that maybe my specialist could be kind of insisting on needing the surgery just as proud, that maybe he wouldn't like that another doctor could tell him "hey, you were wrong", and I really needed a second opinion of someone who could know about this specific problem, another specialist, but I don't know many. I have doctor friends who are furries, but despite they have been giving me their opinions as well about my current problem, this is not their specific area. So I asked the doctor's helper, who suddenly was walking around, if the doctor could tell me about someone who could give me a second opinion about my problem. The helper got in the doctor's office. And after some minutes she told me the doctor wanted to see me again.

I got in the doctor's office, and he told me that he was very glad I had asked him that, because for professional ethics, he couldn't just recommend me another one nor suggest me my doctor was wrong and even less to suggest me to change of specialist. But that he was really scared that my current doctor was suggested immediately a surgery when he didn't know all the problems I had, before even had asked me an ultrasound to be sure that I really needed a surgery. In his opinion, my problem was definitely not for surgery, that it was for physiotherapies, and he recommended me a good physiotherapist he knows.

I got to show the ultrasound with my doctor friends and all of them agreed it was not a problem for a surgery. So... for now I'm not visiting my other doctor again, I'm ignoring his surgery suggestion for now, and I made an appointment for the physiotherapist, which fortunately the appointment was for the next day (yesterday).

Yesterday I went with the physiotherapist, he checked again all my tests, I got to tell him ALL my problem from the beginning, and about my job, about my obsession to draw, how exactly was my pain. It was about telling him everything. 

He also agreed my problem was not for a surgery, but that I will need to keep resting, and also I will need many sessions of his therapies, the first session was shock waves, which was painful, but it was like a miracle than after the therapy, I felt like my pain was gone. He told me that indeed I was going to feel like it was gone, but it was temporary for now, that I needed to still avoid drawing for now, and no drinking alcohol nor smoking (those two last, easy for me, the drawing part, still frustrating to me)

I will need at least 5 sessions of this, and then I will need another test to see how much I'm improving. But well, that's the current status of my problem. I'm still confident I will get better, and I will be able to draw again eventually, even on a very slow pace.

I need to get two sessions per week for these therapies so they won't take too long.

Again, thank you all of you for your support, without your support I couldn't get through these times that easily, all my doctors always worry about me when they know my job is about drawing and that I'm not able to do it not only for weeks but for months, and yeah, since this is my main income I would have been completely screwed. But it was thanks to Patreon that I'm able to survive this time. I'm so grateful with all of you and I promise you'll get back all the goodness you're giving. And I'll be paying you back with more great illustrations when I'm finally recovered for this.

But then it comes a new topic on this announcement:

WEDDING TIME!

Yes, Roni and I are getting married!

WHAT? Are you getting married while you are under a health treatment? And why that sudden!?

Fortunately in my country all these treatments and tests are not hell expensive. Health care is a thing and for many things I'm not paying.

For those who didn't know. I had proposed Roni on May 19th, 2022 while we were on vacations in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. We hadn't made the wedding during all this year until now, because we wanted our families (parents and siblings) were present in the ceremony, but my sister is not living in Mexico, and I wanted to wait for her to know when exactly she could be here.

Dates were completely uncertain because my sister knew she was going to be around April to June 2023, but she didn't know when exactly and for how long. She arrived in the middle of April and she told me she was going to remain for only one month, it was very short amount time to plan a wedding so I tried to push it as far as possible to have as plenty of weeks as possible for organizing it. Our original date was May 13th (good luck number!), we booked the events room, and when we were about to book the civil registry for that date, I received some calls this week, knowing that my sister had to leave on May 8th, actually she was going to leave originally this week, but she could convince her boss that she couldn't leave that soon; she could stretch her stay in Mexico until May 8th, but definitely not later. So..... we had to move heaven and earth to move all bookings we had already done to May 6th. It was a miracle that we could! All of them!

So yes!!! My wedding with Roni is happening on May 6th, 2023!! :D

Yes, that's in a week! Next Saturday! Very rushing celebration. Actually it is going to be something very small, nothing bigger than just the official wedding, dinner, cake, coffee and tea. We're not doing one of those traditional Mexican weddings with ballrooms, dances, DJs, mariachi, la víbora de la mar, and all that. It's not even our style, I never liked those parties, and I'm glad Roni doesn't like them either. So...it is going to be something small and simple, just with our families and our local friends. Especially since we didn't have too much time to organize it. And good thing is we're not going to spend too much on the celebration either.

So yeah! I'm going to be a married panda!

Thank you all again!!

Thank you all for your awesome support!
Sorry for not inviting you all to the wedding! As you could read, it was a rush to organize this, but the important is that we're going to be officially together, not like we haven't been together for 11 years already.

But thank you for help me to contribute my healing on my arm, it has been more painful to not be able to draw normally, I really can't wait the time I can draw again, and I promise I will do it on a slower pace, this problem won't be repeated again.

You all are the very best! Thank you, my dear friends from the Clubhouse! I'll save you some cake!

Paco.