Sharon's health (Stan's Facebook updates)

[Ghost9]

Such a rollercoaster ride. Hang in there - we're all rooting and praying for you all. The hiking trail pics are absolutely beatiful! (As are the Usagi pages - wow!!!!)

[Thomas Froehling]

Thank you Sensei for sharing your moving hiking story; my thoughts are with you and Sharon....

And thank you, Steve, for forwarding those facebook entries for those (including me) who don't use facebook.

[Stan Sakai]

Sharon may be moving out of the hospital soon.

Inking page 1 of UY Senso #1. "Senso" translates as "War".

[Steve Hubbell]

Yesterday

I get home pretty late after visiting Sharon at the hospital, so there is no time for an elaborate dinner. Yesterday I bought a chuck roast, browned it in a pan, deglazed it with white wine, then put it in the slow cooker with thyme, herbs de Provence, bay leaves, and carrots. When I returned, dinner was ready. Rather than plating it, I just ate it in a bowl over rice, did some drawing, then went to bed.



It was really good.

Yesterday at 12:27pm
I did take out the meat before deglazing the pan. Oh, and salt and pepper. Mustn't forget those.

22 hours ago
Deglaze just means to add a liquid--wine, broth, even water--to a pan that's been used to cook meat such as beef, pork or chicken. It just loosens and dissolves the pan drippings so you can use it in a sauce, or to cook veggies, or just to increase flavor.

21 hours ago
Also, by browning the meat first, it gives it flavor and locks in the juices.

17 minutes ago

Sharon had a good morning yesterday, but got a fever in the late afternoon. It did not last long, though, and it started going down even before they gave her any Tylenol. Still they tested her for blood clots.



Here's the preliminary inks for page one of UY Senso #1 that I did when she was sleeping yesterday afternoon.

[Toukon]

I know I'm not a regular of the DojoBoard but my whole family knows of Usagi Yojimbo thanks to my comic collection (except my brother who knew him already from TMNT) and I told them subsequently about Sharon. We're sincerely sorry to hear things took a turn for the worse again, you're both in our thoughts and prayers.

And thank you, Steve, for forwarding those facebook entries for those (including me) who don't use facebook.

Same here, thank you Steve.

[Steve Hubbell]

Yesterday
Rick Detorie (One Big Happy) contacted me about hiking up the Mt Wilson Trail, so I got ahold of Tom Gammill (of Doozies fame) to join us. We three cartoonists went up today. Tom had a meeting to attend, so went as far as the two mile point. Rick, who is a year ahead on his comic strip, and I, who am so far behind deadline that another hour wouldn't make a difference, went on another 3/4 mile to the Helispot. It was fun, great conversations, and we even got some exercise.





Sharon had a cat scan yesterday. She is allergic to the dye that is used, so was given Benadryl and slept most of yesterday afternoon. Her numbers were all good, though. There is still some fluid in her lung, so a drain tube will be inserted, probably today.

3 hours ago
Stan, Great hike yesterday. Thank you. As the summer heats up, remember it's cooler along the coast. Come on over. Here's the Los Liones hiking trail, which, ironically, has no mountain lions.

3 hours ago
I had a great time. Thanks for contacting me about going up the Mt Wilson Trail.

16 hours ago
I'm in Sharon's room right now. The Internet here is spotty, at best, so I rarely log on from here. She is doing really well today. She still has some allergic reaction to yesterday's cat scan dye. They gave her some Benadryl, and she is sleeping now.

I helped exercise and massage her legs earlier. She has been lying in bed for going on 6 weeks, and her muscles have atrophied, despite physical therapy. She is still unable to stand or even sit up on her own.



Here's the page I'm working on while she's asleep.

[Steve Hubbell]

17 hours ago
We thought Sharon would have a "procedure" today, but it's been rescheduled for Monday.


Meanwhile, here is today's hospital page. UY:Senso issue 1, page 11.

17 hours ago
When will this be out Stan ?

15 hours ago
Joey--don't know when this will be out. We want to get at least 3 issues in the can before we even solicit. We want it to be released monthly, and, right now, I'm taking more than twice as much time per page than I should.

17 hours ago
Stan, you are probably the most disciplined person I've ever met.

15 hours ago
Tak--I've traveled a lot with Sergio Aragones, and he is the most disciplined person I've ever met. We were in Norway in 1999, taking an overnight train from Bergen to Oslo. He had to maintain a schedule of a page a day for Groo, and was inking on the moving, bouncing train. I slept.

14 hours ago
Sergio and I went to a Motor City Con in Detroit in the 90's. I got to the airport early, but Sergio never showed up until the plane door was closing. He had been in a quiet corner, working of a short story called "Bhutan" for an autobiographical anthology for Dark Horse (I turned in my story months before). On the plane, I wrote an Usagi story while he did gag ideas for A Mad Look at The Mummy. When we got to the hotel, he faxed the rough to Mad Magazine for approval. That night, I edited and lettered Bhutan while he worked on Groo pages. The next day, I gave him lettered pages and, during the con, he penciled and inked those while I worked on Simpsons pages for my Treehouse of Horror story. That evening, he heard from Mad as to which gags they liked and worked on those finishes while I continued on Simpsons. Next day, he FedEx-ed the gags to Mad. At the con, he continued working on Bhutan, and I continued Simpsons. One the plane trip back, I thumbnailed the Usagi story I had written on the flight over while he worked on an idea for his next Groo story. That's actually a typical trip for us.

13 hours ago
Sending prayers for you and Sharon!

13 hours ago
Thank you, Marc, and to everyone else for the support we've received. It does make it easier to know that there are so many people rooting for Sharon.

[Steve Hubbell]

7 hours ago

John Higashi came by to visit Sharon this afternoon. He was at Phoenix Comic Con, and collected a lot of get well sketches on a large card.



Thank you, Terry and Robyn Moore, Andy Runton, Tom Hodges, Todd and Dawn Nauck, Whilce Portacio, Don (chili man) Rosa, Joelle Jones, Jim Cheung, Billy Tucci, Mike Mignola and Christine, Geoff Darrow, Bret Blevins and Beth Neely, Aaron Lopresti, Autumn Fredickson, Nei Ruffino, Mark Dos Santos, Jamie S. Rich, Katie Cook, Agnes Garbowska, Frank Cho, Stuart Sayger, Danny Miki, Matt Wagner, Mike and Laura Allred, Brandon Peterson, Mike Choi, and, of course, John.



John also made a thousand crane origami streamer, which is a traditional symbol of good fortune and long life. We have not opened their wings completely yet.

7 hours ago
People have been so generous. Sharon has received a lot of neat get well gifts such as a hand made quilt to Native American medicine bags. Thank you all!

[Maka]

7 hours ago
People have been so generous. Sharon has received a lot of neat get well gifts such as a hand made quilt to Native American medicine bags. Thank you all!

Those two gifts (handmade quilt and Native American medicine bags) and others were from people on this Dojo Board or on the UYD mailing list. You are amazing fans and this continues to be the best comic fan board on the internet.

Peace, maka

[Steve Hubbell]

15 hours ago
I was hiking this morning when I got the call from the hospital that they were set to do Sharon's procedure. She has been unable to swallow, so they put in a G-Tube, a feeding tube that connects directly to her stomach. This way, it will bypass her throat, and will be a lot more comfortable. It went very well



I've been doing okay fending for myself. I bought a pork roast this morning, thinking to make either Filipino adobo or Hawaiian Kalua pork. I chose Hawaiian. I didn't make it the traditional way, though. That would mean getting an entire pig carcass, filling it with super heated rocks, and burying in the back yard covered with ti leaves for a whole day. I took the easy way with a pork butt, Hawaiian salt, liquid smoke, and a crock pot. I had it with rice and cabbage, because that's traditional. I even made some macaroni salad, in keeping with the Hawaii plate lunch theme. I did not have macaroni, though, so used rotoni.

[Ghost9]

Stan is always making me hungry with those plates!!! Looks like he's quite the chef. Thanks again for the updates....

[Steve Hubbell]

6 hours ago
Sharon will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and will go back into convalescent care at the facility she was in last week.



Tonight's dinner for me was rosemary salmon with crispy skin, on zucchini and crook neck squash sautéed with garlic, and white rice. For those FaceBookers in the LA area, Sprouts has cherries on sale for 1.88/pound. They're crunchy and sweet. I bought about 6 pounds. Hopefully, I'll have time to make a pie, otherwise I'll just pit and freeze them.

[Stan Sakai]

John Higashi, who gave Sharon the huge get well card and 1,000 cranes, is also a member of the Dojo. He posts under the name "John H".

Thank you, everybody, especially those who sent in gifts and notes. I have not had the time to acknowledge them all, but they are all very special and appreciated.

[Steve Hubbell]

about an hour ago
Sharon had some bleeding around the G Tube feeding tube that was put in yesterday, so she was not discharged to convalescent care. She will be under observation, and, hopefully, it will happen tomorrow.



I made a slow cooker pot roast again. The last time I used herb de Provence as the primary seasoning. This time it was rosemary. We have a big rosemary bush in the back, so I often use it. It's actually getting out of hand. It overtook the oregano, thyme, lemon grass, and even the mint, which I thought was pretty much indestructible.

[Steve Hubbell]

3 hours ago
Sharon was discharged from the hospital, and is now in convalescent care. I don't know how long she will have to stay there. I hope it's no more than 3 months. As it is, she will miss her first San Diego Con in years.



Left overs for dinner tonight.

Hmmm! Let's see, we have rosemary salmon with crispy skin, zucchini and crook neck squash sautéed with garlic, white rice (with something new on top of it), and some rotoni style Macaroni salad. Even your left-overs make a delicious looking meal!

I am hoping that Sharon will be at the convalescent Care Facility longer than last time, but only as long as she needs to recover from the past month's hospital stay. Praying for health, strength, and patience for both of you.