Wow… people are appearing from the mists of time to wish us well, that’s amazing. You guys are awesome, thank you!

I guess I hadn’t realized, in writing that last post, that not everyone was actually aware of what has been happening in our lives the last couple of years. I guess we didn’t say all that much about it at the time, and people just thought we’d gotten out of the habit of updating regularly. I don’t want to be depressing or whiny and distract from what’s happening right now, but maybe it would be good to provide a cheat sheet, so here’s a rough timeline of what’s been happening the last couple of years.

Summer 2010 - Our house decides it hates us, and Poe has some kinda nasty though not dangerous health experiences.

June 2010 - I’m diagnosed with primary dysmenorrhea. This is the beginning of a lengthy diagnostic and treatment process which to this day has not been concluded.

November 2010 - Michael and I get a horrible flu which I guarantee everyone in Cincinnati remembers as that week where nothing stayed in their bodies. Ours lasts two weeks, sequentially.

December 25, 2010 - We get the call that Michael’s dad has died. Michael’s his next of kin, so all of a sudden we’ve got his affairs to settle. This includes a house packed full of a couple generations worth of stuff. In addition, I’m preparing for a diagnostic surgery.

January 2011 - I go in for the first of many surgeries, a laparoscopy to check for endometriosis. It’s negative, and I recover well, though it’s a couple of months before I’m back in physical shape to deal with all the new problems in Alabama. Poe is still pretty out of it.

February 2011 - Poe’s honorary stepfather dies of lung cancer. Also, his uncle died that same month. Also our good friend’s father died that same month. It was a really crappy month.

April 2011 - My Grandma died. We couldn’t go to the funeral, but at this point I can’t remember why.

June 2011 - I start getting occasional weird, sharp pains and feeling sick all the time. Among other things, this causes me to miss most of Akon, which is unfortunate both because it leaves Poe the hearing-impaired introvert handling the table by himself, and because there were people I wanted to talk to but couldn’t. I still regret not getting back to the Studio Foglio table.

August 2011 - Sick time and the estate stuff in Alabama has left us stretched too thin. We have to shut down all aspects of the business that aren’t the comic while we try to catch up. The plan is to do the catching up over the fall, and come back better than ever. Still working on that.

September 2011 - It turns out I need to have my gall bladder removed. The surgery is scheduled for October 3.

October 2011 - I get my gall bladder removed. Everything goes EPICALLY WRONG. Poe has to spend every single day at the hospital so that he can consent to treatment for me.

November 2011 - I’m still in critical condition in the ICU. At the time Poe made this post, they only thought I was awake, in fact I was still hallucinating really badly and only occasionally got the data around me, with no comprehension of the actual situation.

December 2011 - I finally get out of the ICU and into a rehabilitation hospital. Poe gets sick, but because he’s always keeping me from freaking out at the hospital, he doesn’t get a chance to recover.

Time becomes glacial, but on the 28th I finally get to go home to be sick in my own bed, with kitties to keep me company. Poe no longer has to commute, but with no nursing staff that doesn’t mean much of a break for him.

January 2012 - I was still relearning that whole walking thing. I spend most of the month obsessed with becoming strong enough to stand up from the floor without assistance. The rest of the time I spend feverishly attempting to figure out how to pull us out of our now much-advanced tailspin. Poe is still so busy taking care of me that he has no time for anything else.

February 2012 - The months of stress catch up with Poe, leaving him severely depressed. I start trying to talk him into seeking some help with it.

April 2012 - I’m feeling better and am back in physical therapy, Poe is getting treatment, and things are optimistic enough to try to let you guys know what’s going on.

May 2012 - Poe’s uncle dies. My physical therapy runs into constant issues with my insurance and financial aid that to this day I haven’t had the energy to sort out yet, even though I think they actually are supposed to give us back some of the copay money.

July 2, 2012 - My best friend commits suicide. I am shattered, and accomplish nothing for three months, and to be honest not a whole lot since, either. Poe spends a lot of time taking care of me instead of being able to do anything. Again.

October 2012 - Semi-truck retread shreds the underside of our car, forcing us to rent one for about two weeks while it’s repaired.

November 2012 - Poe gets a cold, I get it nastier. It goes away mercifully quickly, but cancels some of our plans regarding finishing the stuff in Alabama.

January 2012 - I get another nasty cold thing, just on New Year’s Eve. It keeps me from breathing to the point where I go to the doctor. On the way home, the car that we just repaired gets banged up by a hit and run driver. It’s drivable and we’re sick of putting money into it, so we haven’t even filed a claim because we can’t spare the deductible again so soon. Poe catches my nasty bug thing a day or two later, kicks it, and then catches another one right on its heels, not realizing that he isn’t just taking a long time to get better. Also, I have another surgery, this one to remove my thyroid so that in theory I can breathe again and get my voice back. Guess who takes care of me?

February 8, 2013 - Poe finally goes to the emergency room after weeks of nagging from everyone he knows. He is admitted with acute renal failure.

So now you’re all caught up. I’m sorry it took so long, but, well… I guess that’s kindof the point, isn’t it? I really do wonder whose luck we’re balancing with all this, and I definitely wish we could someday get to make a list of spectacular lucky things that happened that isn’t really just a litany of, “It could have been worse.” Maybe we could accidentally discover a cure for cancer, or learn that Poe’s ability to speak with his eyebrows has won first prize in the secret intergalactic talent competition, and now we get a TARDIS. Something, ANYTHING. We just need to catch a fucking break.

-_-’

Edit: Oh, there were links to some newsposts in there, but it seems they don’t show up. I’m too tired to fix it, they’ll highlight if you mouse over them. I’ll give you an update on Poe’s condition in the morning, when I’m not so tired and pissed off at the universe that I can’t see straight.

Edit (kaitou): Links now show up slightly whiter – hovering over them will change to a purple color.