T w e n t y S i d e d

I got through surgery and had my gallbladder removed.

Wow. That was rough. I’m never doing that again.

Thanks so much for the well-wishes from my friends and fellow bloggers who wished me luck. Thanks also to the well-wishers in the comments. Over a hundred wishes for speedy recovery. This is the ‘net equivalent of waking up in a hospital room full of flowers. Thanks again.

I’m alive and semi-coherant. I’m not allowed to run or lift heavy things for a week, which will not impact my lifestyle in any way whatsoever. The doctor may just as well have forbidden me to do any alligator wrestling. Moving heavy objects? Running? Do I look like Gordon Freeman to you?

Read on for the rest of the messy details. Continue reading ⟩⟩ “NumOrgans−−”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Tomorrow, someone is going to knock me out, slice holes in me, and remove one of my internal organs. Then he will bill me.

About two months ago I mentioned that my health was failing and that I’d been to the hospital to have some tests done. Since then my health has remained poor, and I’ve had many more tests. The doctors have finally concluded that my gallbladder is not working right. It’s no longer under warranty, which means the best thing to do is to have it out. Yes, the gallbladder is an optional organ. I did not know this. I guess I’ll find out how “optional” it is after the surgery. I’ve been reading a great deal about this here and there on the web, but everyone is a little different and I won’t really know what it’s like until the time comes. Great. I just love surprises.

The surgery is tomorrow. I have Friday’s DMotR already complete, but I strongly suspect that this weekend I’m not going to be in the mood to make with the funny. In fact, I’ve been pretty short on funny lately to begin with. During my Fear the Boot interview I mentioned I had about three or four weeks of lead time in the comic. I’ve been slowly chipping away at that lead time since I got sick, and now it’s gone. Lately I’ve been cranking out episodes at the last moment. The upshot is that I’m just not going to have episodes ready for next week.

To avoid missing updates entirely, I’ve pulled out a few funny screenshots that should fill the void until I’m on my feet again.

When I warn of missing updates, the most common response I get from readers is, “You don’t owe us anything! Take time off and don’t feel guilty!” I want to make it clear that keeping up with updates is something I impose on myself. It’s just something I want to do. As the comic has grown I have increased my expectations and goals for the project. This started off as a bit of fun, and has become a sort of personal challenge. I want to see if I can pull it off, and see it though to the end. So, don’t feel like you’re being too demanding. The harshest taskmaster I have right now is myself.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.