Wow has it been a long time. Well here we are again, it being spring break, and me being at home for a short week and a half. I can't put any artwork up yet, but I'll be able to soon. Hopefully. There just isn't enough time to upload artwork and keep up with class work and all. So for those of you who are eagerly awaiting new work from me, I'm sorry that it's been such a long time. (As if there were a whole lot of you, really.) Thank you to those who support me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you undeniably wonderful people.

Anyways, so on Feb. 29th my dad went through his surgery where they removed a piece of a disk in his back that was pressing on a nerve that was affecting how his leg was functioning. He was released from the hospital almost five days afterward, when in reality he was supposed to be discharged two days after the surgery. Unfortunately, the world does not work in perfect ways so he waited a few more days before he could return home.

Well now it's been about 3, 4 weeks and yet his pain has increased, ten fold since the last surgery and had to increase dosage on some big pain killers. It was weird, the doctor said, that he is still having pain and in such a magnitude such as this. For a while my dad felt he was only imagining the pain, as some patients often do after a surgical removal. Somewhat similar to a phantom limb or something. It's like you feel it there, but it's not there at all. Yeah, it's like that.

With so much pain and stiffness, my dad hasn't been able to sleep very well; has been waking in the middle of the night, sometimes three or four times, and weeping because of the intense pain. Usually if he hadn't woken up in the middle of the night at the right times, it meant that the medication was not in his system quick enough and the pain would come back. So after a couple of weeks my dad said that's it and talked to his surgeon about the pain and how the prescribed pain medication was not helping. The doctor increased medication dosage and after a while it stopped working too. So now it was time for a new solution. The doctor told him to come in again for another MRI.

He went back to meet with the surgeon again last week on Monday to see what the last recent MRI had revealed. The news wasn't too wonderful, really. Another disk in his back has been pressing on the nerve that is connected to his right leg and causing excruciating pains shooting up and down the leg. Mind you, this is a new disk since his last surgery on Feb. 29th. It's become so bad, I've had to help him get his socks on because he can't bend over to reach them, let alone without causing terrible pains. When he walks, it is with a limp so much that he barely puts pressure on the right leg. He cannot lay down in a position for more than ten to 20 minutes because of the pain. It's like watching someone die slowly and I know that might sound like an exageration, but this is my father we're talking about here. The relationship I have with my dad and mom is so close that I feel there is nothing I wouldn't tell them. Nothing. And that is the honest truth. Without them, life would be void, null, far gone.

It's insane watching him like this. There's nothing I wouldn't give in this messed up world for the return of a smile to his face. I would give anything so that his pain would be relieved.

He's more than likely going to have another surgery, and when I mean likely I mean it's scheduled for Friday this week. Yeah, it's possible too, that he'll be having a spinal fusion (don't know what that is? Spinal Fusion).

Anyways, if anyone is interested in hearing more about my hectic life and severely sad present, let me know.

I implore all of you to pray for my dad's health and speedy recovery. He can't take much more of this intensified pain and suffering. I would very much appreciate it.

God be with you all.