scottcalico
patreon
2026
🕑 Added 2026-01-08 05:01:09 +0000 UTCHello again o^o7 I need to take the time to talk about important stuff mentioned last month.
I'm not even entirely sure what the cause is, but over the past year I've been experiencing a worsening problem with my wrist. It's as though I karate-chopped somebody very recently and the severity seems to vary. It's not my only problem, either, I've been managing pain in the shoulders/back, neck, and index finger.
I've always been pretty 'play through the pain/take a break for a day or so if it's too much' about all this but when any involuntary motion gives me a sharp pain in the part I need the most to do my job—and the problem's been sticking for about a year—it needs to be addressed instead of worked around. Fortunately the orthopedist took me seriously and got me an MRI. Thankfully there's no structural damage that they can see, but the median nerve is enlarged. They aren't calling it carpal tunnel, but they've started off with injections to reduce the pain/inflammation and see how I respond to those. The best case scenario is that I could be feeling better within a week, or just need to keep doing that every 3 months until it's over for good, but that's a hypothetical—I worry that if recovery was going to be that simple, this would've gone away by now.
Because I would like this problem to go away, I will not be offering any larger-scale projects until further notice. Points auctions for this year can be expected to contain crayon drawings, 1 to 2 character colored sketches, and YCH's (static or animated, I'll try to make them themed for a broad audience), and possibly some other ideas to try out. The reason for this is to have more control over how long it would take to complete each. I relish in going the extra mile, but it might be costing me my drawing hand and I'm fearful of permanent damage. There's also been some pushback on not enough personal work being put out there, and I want to progress my comic more frequently—I've been coloring the next page this past week when soreness allows.
I say all of this with a heavy heart and a feeling that I'm disappointing people, and I'm sorry for that. I'll evaluate January/February works over the next week or so. As always, thank you for your time in reading this.
Comments
Scotty
The way I healed myself of chronic joint pain (hands, wrists, toes) especially back pain, was to give up all animal-based foods. I read that our bodies confuse the animal proteins in the food we eat w/ our healthy tissue—joints especially—causing inflammation, as our immune system sees the animal proteins as foreign invaders. Oddly, The proteins are too similar to proteins in our joints, so through molecular mimicry, our immune system mistakenly attacks healthy joint tissue causing chronic pain. Made worse through strain or movement.
Jakks Pacific
I feel you about relishing going the extra mile—it’s my favorite part of making art! Hope your wrist feels better soon
Nutty Mr Gecky
rest well. Could be a good thing to see a physio in the future. They can teach you the kind of stretch that will help you maintain good wrist and back.
