Girl Genius has been nominated for a second Hugo award!!!

Hello again you fountain of awesome people.

I have been remiss in my updates - a fact that I will be trying to correct right now

My Big Floppy Heart
After seeing a cardiologist we are not really closer to definitively saying that “Event X” triggered my sickness. For my age, the most likely cause was a virus that attacked the muscle of my heart leaving it weakened and stretched out. the other less likely option was some kind of mild heart attack.

The end result is that my heart is pumping at 50% efficiency and it knows this - so it’s also trying to pump at twice the speed to compensate.  This causes all the fluid circulation of the body to be thrown off. A side effect of this makes a foamy spit like substance seep into my lungs - the cause of my hack and cough, while more fluids leak into the soft tissues of my legs and feet causing them to swell. Overall this condition is called Congestive Heart Failure.  Wheeee.

The best option right now is medication. I’m taking a cocktail of med’s to lower my blood pressure in the Doctor’s hope that my heart can just heal itself. Right now we are trying to acclimate my body to the medication so that the dosages can slowly be increased. Since I started the med’s my appetite has been easily cut in half; and some days it is hard to eat anything. On the upside I’ve lost 25lbs.

Super Awesome People Are Super Awesome
Again I want to thank all the people that have gone out of their way to stop by, offer help, car rides, company, and generally just been there for Eli and I

The various spontaneous fund raisers blew me away. Thank you’s go out to everyone who felt the need to pitch in (even if you couldn’t - I TOTALLY understand - the compassion and urge to help is a sign of your better nature and I want give you all a cookie). Special Thanks to Whimsy Beading , Joel and the fine folks at Studio2/PEG and of course Phil and Kaja Foglio, without whom I would be a curled ball of panic.

I have applied for kind of “charity care” which we hope will mitigate the costs of the hospital stay. We still haven’t seen any of the actual bill’s yet so we don’t know how deep I’m in for.

The Future - Where We All Will Spend The Rest of Our Lives
As I write this it is 13 days to a super clogged convention weekend. Phil will be down in San Francisco for Wondercon - a convention I often would attend with him in the past. Meanwhile - Kaja will be holding down the fort at SakuraCon here in the Seattle convention center. And Eli’s Handmade Horrors line of crocheted Cthulhu’s and beholders will be making their Norwescon premiere.

I don’t know if I’ll be at any of these (Wondercon is right out) but I want to be at all of them. The summer gaming cons (Origins, Gencon) are probably also out of the picture for me this year. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Comic-Con International in San Diego. I’d hate to miss that - although my usefulness is greatly diminished and SDCC does demand all of your soul.

One con that I am locking in, and will not miss - Steamcon 2. After the fantastic job they did last year I was already sold on it this year - but with Jake von Slatt coming back, and my buddy Shane “Deadlands” Hensley as the games guest…. well I’ve already booked my room reservations.

As many of you may know, On Tues, February 23rd I became so ill that I was hospitalized. My feet legs and midsection were swelling with water. A nagging cough that had been hanging on for a month turned into a relentless dry hacking and I lost the ability to travel even short distances without needing to sit down to calm my breathing

after 3 days of observation I have been sent home with an Easter basket of medications. Looking over them all It’s hard to say what they think I got. No doctor ever came forward and said “THIS one thing” was the culprit. We know my heart is big and floppy, possibly from years of stress deadlines and High Blood pressure, or just as likely for a guy my age - it’s a virus. They don’t know.

Now at home the swelling is down, but is still being controlled with “water pills” that are supposed to make me pee like a race horse. The Dry hacking cough has turned “flemmy” which I prefer — get the stuff out of me I say — but it’s also more painful. I have a basket of Meds for Blood pressure, Cholesterol, Borderline Diabetes, and Antibotics, flu shots, N1H1. I got it all. Maybe one will do the trick — if not back to the hospital I go. I guess.

<SOAP BOX>There is no union for a guy like me, A freelance artist. There is no easy 401K, no dental, no health care. All Eli and I have is our diligent  scrimping and saving of every dime to plan for a future.

This one stumble could undo all of our hard work. Why? Because how the American system has chosen to take care of each other in this country is so fundamentally broken, it’s like a Greek tragedy. Call/Write to your Senator or Congress Person and tell them that we can not continue to live this way. What is the United States of America if not the largest trade union on the planet? WE the people need that bargaining power. — Universal Health Care - for all.</SOAP BOX>

NOW THAT’S OUT OF THE WAY….
What I wanted to talk about was you guys. Oh my god. the outpouring of love and support I have received in the past three days has me on the verge of tears. You are all such beautiful awesome people, and I can not thank you enough. Money has been coming in from the Donation Link that the Foglios set up. Which will go a long way to prevent my total financial collapse. I truly feel like George Baily at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life” surrounded by so many friends. It’s a lonsome life as a freelance artist. And you seldom get a chance to see what kind of an effect you have on other peoples lives. Thank you all so much

Cheyenne