Sharon's health (Stan's Facebook updates)

[Ghost9]

I don't care if the texture of the paper can't be eliminated. I'd love to see these published in a book!!!

[leonid]

it's amazing this is the second time i find Stan is somehow involved some of my other interests not related to Usagi. first i saw he was good friends with the writer of Bone and now I see he is involved with the Witcher. Is that for the new witcher game the wild hunt?

[Steve Hubbell]

3 hours ago
Here are a few things I got in the mail recently.

Remember that Eric Carle original I got? Well, I got a whole bunch of postcards soon after. I will be giving these away at conventions.



I posted the wrong photo. Here's the one I meant to post.



Travis Hanson does an excellent series titled Bean. He just came out with a wonderful art book as well as a coloring book. His work is all-ages, and well worth picking up.



Gigantor! a surprise from Michael Takahara, who got this from a street vendor in Japan. Cast iron, nicely articulated, with accessories.



It even has batteries, so his eyes light up. Gigantor was one of my favorites when growing up. There is even a life-size statue in Japan.



It was put out by Ban Dai. It really is neat. I've got a few other Gigantor figures, and this one is by far the best.

Sean Wang's excellent sci-fi series and sketchbook. It even has a back cover quote by me.

[Stan Sakai]

I was asked to delete posts showing the Witcher art, even if it was only part of the image. I'm still not sure what exactly it is going to be used for. I thought it may be a pin-up for the upcoming DH comic, but it may be for a giveaway poster. The licensors would like to reveal it on their own time.

[Steve Hubbell]

about an hour ago
I sometimes have to redraw pages. It may be because of some inaccuracy on my part such as when I confused the game of Go with Go-moku in Demon Mask or it may be because I did not like the pacing of the page. A couple of times, I could not decide between two endings of a story so drew both of them up, and chose one (once I even had Editor Diana choose for me).

Here is a very recent example of a redraw. This is for UY: Senso #2, the issue I had turned in a couple of weeks ago. I put 4 characters in the first panel in a reaction shot, but that weakened the impact of the larger image. I redid it as a splash page which worked much better, and it set up the story for the big reveal shot of the space ship a few pages further on. Too bad. I like how I handled the title calligraphy on the original. I know I can drop it in the new page, but that seems like cheating.

10x15 inch image area on 11x17 inch 2-ply cold press Strathmore 500 series bristol board, drawn with Koh-i-noor ArtPen and Badger Black Opaque ink (old formula). It was hand-lettered with Rotring ArtPen medium nib. Title was lettered with a Pentel Brush Pen.





I thought of the Gone With the Wind railroad station hospital scene where the camera keeps pulling back and we see more and more of the wounded, until it comes to rest with the Confederate flag in the foreground.

[Steve Hubbell]

November 26
Thank you, everybody. I had been gone from FB since yesterday and did not realize that CAPS had started the solicitation for art auction donations to help with Sharon's care.

A bit of background with what this is all about: In 2004, Sharon woke up one morning and said, "I can't hear anything out of my left ear." It was traced back to a meningioma brain tumor. It is benign, but large and inoperable. There was no hope of it getting smaller. The most we could hope for was that it would not grow larger. She underwent radiation therapy, and that seemed to control it. She went in for regular MRIs, and no growth was detected.

However, it started growing in 2010, and very aggressively. She has facial paralysis on the left side (everything happens on the left side). The paralysis includes her throat, vocal chords, and it has even deteriorated her neck bones. She had lost almost 40% of her body weight in a year. She is undergoing chemotherapy. Doctors don't see any end in sight for this. There are complications because of the tumor, medications, or just coincidence--diabetes, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, compromised immune system. She has a tracheostomy tube for breathing and a G-tube connected to her stomach for a liquid diet. She can take nothing through her mouth. She is bed-bound, but we try to give her daily physical therapy--walking a couple hundred feet with a walker and/or sitting in a wheelchair.

She had been in the hospital and nurse care from April to September, but we are glad she is home. She requires 24 hour care, so daughter Hannah and her family moved in with us. This includes 18 month old grandson Leo, and another grandchild due in February/early March.

A lot of you do know Sharon, as she had been a fixture at my booth at San Diego and many other conventions. Thank you all for your help, good thoughts, and prayers.

http://www.garageartstudio.blogspot.com ... i.html?m=1

[Steve Hubbell]

about an hour ago
Sharon had chemo therapy today. They are very accommodating for her wheelchair and her oxygen tanks, always giving her a larger space. Today she had a private room with a great view of the Griffith Park Observatory. The really good news is that she is up to 88 pounds. She has put on 11 pounds since returning home in mid-September. However, she is losing her muscle tone. She is not able to walk as much. Yesterday's physical therapy was cancelled by the therapist.



Chemo always tires her out, and she fell right asleep when we got home. She even slept through most of chemo.

[Steve Hubbell]

6 hours ago
It's 12:45 AM. I just gave Sharon her midnight meds. I get my sleep in about 2 hour increments. I'll go down again at about 3:30, then at 5:30 when my day begins. Watching an episode of the Untouchables now. Great guest stars--Jack Klugman, Gavin MacLeod, Martin Landau, and another character actor that looks familiar but I can't name. Happy Thanksgiving. We really have a lot to be thankful for. The top of the list is that Sharon is home.

[Steve Hubbell]

15 minutes ago
It looks like it will take a few weeks to resolve that issue with PayPal.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We had a nurse visit. I was surprised they did a regular visit on a holiday, but they treat it like any other day. As usual, we went to a friends' home for Thanksgiving dinner. Though Sharon could not eat anything, she was able to join us at the table. It was her first major outing, and she was a bit exhausted after.

We had our first dietician visit yesterday (Friday). She is pleased with Sharon's weight gain. An average woman Sharon's size should be 110 pounds, so that is our goal. Only 22 pounds to go! She may change Sharon's liquid formula for one with less calories but with more fiber, and increase the flow rate. Right now, Sharon is on a continuous feed that runs about 22 hours, then a few hours rest. It's about 1:30 AM. I just gave Sharon her midnight meds and mixed her formula, watched The Untouchables (Ed Asner guest-starred), and now it's back to bed until about 3:30. My real day starts at about 5:30.

Thank you for your help and prayers, everybody!

5 hours ago
Due to the initial overwhelming flood of monetary donations, CAPS has run into a glitch with its PayPal account that will take a few weeks to straighten out. In the meantime, donors can continue sending monetary donations in the form of checks to:

SAKAI FUNDRAISER
C/O CAPS
P.O. Box 656
Burbank, CA 91503

Checks can be made out to CAPS or directly to Stan. We apologize for this hiccup. As soon as we sort out the PayPal situation, we'll make an announcement.

Also, original art and other items for the fundraising auction (the date of which has yet to be determined) can be sent to:

SAKAI AUCTION
C/O TONE RODRIGUEZ
5740 Craner Ave.
North Hollywood, CA 91601

If you have further questions, please contact CAPS President Pat McGreal at patmcgreal@gmail.com or call 310-365-8457.

Thanks on behalf of Stan & Sharon for your interest and compassion.

[Steve Hubbell]

12 hours ago
There are glitches and surprises each day with Sharon's care. Sometimes it's with her medications and supplies, that has to be overcome with creative solutions. I had told about the time her nebulizer medication was unavailable even though we called in the orders days before. Sharon needs a breathing treatment every 4 hours, more frequently if she has trouble breathing. This is a liquid medication that is heated up in a small chamber connected to her breathing tube. The mist it creates opens up her breathing passages. Anyway, they did not have it in stock, and calls to pharmacies within a hundred mile radius could not find any. I was about to see if I could get some from a hospital when the pharmacist realized that they had the individual components in stock. We got that, and mixed it at home. We still do it that way, as it's easier to get the components.

Sharon has a lot of fluid build-up in her trach which needs to be gotten out. This involves slipping a tube down her trach and using a pump to suction it out. On a good day she'll need to be suctioned every two hours. On a bad day, it's an hourly thing. We use little pink vials of saline to loosen up the phlem. We go through a lot of vials. We ordered some last week, but just heard that they are out of stock, and don't know when they will get more. No need to panic, though. We ordered some large saline bottles, and will use a syringe to refill the small vials.

9 hours ago
Getting the saline is no problem. However, we need them in these pink vials. They connect up to her trach suction tube and, when squeezed, the saline flows into her trach to loosen the phlegm for easier suction

.

[plasticplayhouse]

wish you guys the best stan! keep strong!

[Steve Hubbell]

10 hours ago
I have been working on Usagi Yojimbo for 30 years, illustrated the 47 Ronin to much acclaim, and am working on Senso a story that I have been developing for 15 years. However, right now I'm working on Groo. All my credibility is gone.

These are two panels of Sergio's pencils. Two-ply Strathmore 500 series Bristol cold press with a 10x15 inch image area.

9 hours ago
The lettering is the only thing worth reading in Groo. (!?)

4 hours ago
This is not "Groo Meets Conan". I am not doing the lettering for that one. I think they are currently working on the third issue of the 5-part mini-series. I don't know where this story goes (though I can guess). They just send me pages, and I letter them.

[Steve Hubbell]

about an hour ago
You know how you go to the market, and buy a pound of ground beef. When you get home you think, "Ah, meat loaf!" Defrost a pound of ground pork to add to the beef, add a large chopped onion, three carrots, bread crumbs, herbs, spices, garlic...long story short--you end up with a five pound meat loaf.

Had it with rice, steamed crook neck squash, and mushrooms sautéed in butter with a splash of Napoleon cognac.

[Steve Hubbell]

4 hours ago
Sharon is graduating out of home care, so we looked into hospice care for her. There is a program that lets her stay in a facility for up to five days a month. This will give us a break as care providers and will definitely help when I have to travel. Unfortunately, just the fact that she has a g-tube feed eliminates her as a candidate, as they do not accept anyone with life-saving measures.

Our next option is palliative care which will allow her to have home nurse/doctor/social worker visits. Unfortunately, this would not allow her any out-patient physical therapy. It's a rule with medicare. Even though Sharon is too young and is not covered by medicare, they still follow its guidelines. (If you do not qualify for medicare by age, you can if your condition lasts for more than 24 months.) She was scheduled to begin PT in a couple of weeks, so we will have to cancel it. Still, I feel it's worth it just to have the reassurance to have medical professionals looking over your shoulder.

Sharon's numbers had beed good all week, but her blood pressure was low this morning. I got it raised to over a hundred, but it soon went down again. We'll just have to keep monitoring it. I hate it when things like this happens. At least she is responsive.

[Steve Hubbell]

8 hours ago
Sharon had chemo therapy today. It always tires her out. They gave us a private room, again looking toward Griffith Park Observatory. It was a nice sunny, though a little chilly, day.



Last night was one of those nights where, though I went to bed at 8, I only got about 4 hours sleep. It was a hard night for everyone. However, I did get a catnap while Sharon underwent chemo. I'm going to forego inking this afternoon, and take a nap.