Spring Update: Optimism! (Patreon)

Hey all. It's been quite a bit, a true hot minute. I hope everyone is gettin' by well enough.
I've been avoiding this subject for a while and dancing around it in updates, hesitating about fully disclosing what's been going on. It's well past time to rip this band-aid off and let you guys know the story.
Strap in, because this is pretty long.

You'll recall, a year ago I had brachial plexus surgery to remove a mass that had been growing on the base of my lower cervical nerve root (upper right shoulder, close to the spine, deep in there). It was causing a ton of pain and numbness in my right hand which the surgery helped with tremendously, though the operation left me with a lot of weakness and debilitation that still persists to this day.
What I didn't tell you guys was that the initial pre-surgery biopsy ended up being inaccurate. The post-surgical biopsy confirmed malignancy. The remaining growth that my surgeon could not safely remove was still a danger. (Its called a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, or MPNST, if you want to look it up)
I was quickly set up with oncology (cancer care) and scheduled for radiation therapy as soon as they could safely get me started. That treatment took place over June and early July. During that time I received a second opinion from the Mayo Clinic who gave me a very grim prognosis. Either take my chances with chemotherapy, which has a low rate of success with this particular cancer, and potentially risk metastasis or the growth moving into my spinal column which would almost certainly mean slow full-body paralysis and a lot of severe chronic pain. Or have the remaining tumor and the surrounding tissue surgically removed via a forequarter amputation: full removal of my arm, right clavicle and scapula, a permanently disfiguring surgery with a very long recovery.
My spirits were crushed, having come so far and finally been freed of all that pain only to be faced with this fate. One of the Mayo doctors spoke with me later and gave me some advice and helpful anecdote as well as encouragement and helped me make the decision to try chemotherapy and take my chances.
Chemo started in mid September and lasted until mid December. It was an incredible trial that I could in no way have been adequately prepared for. I didn't make it easier on myself either, having gone into it in very poor physical shape having been mostly sedentary for near a year and a half at that point. I couldn't lift during that period either as prior to chemo we removed the plate and screws from my clavicle in order to get clear MRI and CT scans. The bone hadn't healed due to radiation interrupting the post-surgery process so I also had to deal with my right clavicle being separated for the better part of 6 months. Between the uncertainty of my future, the never ending trials and the symptoms from the chemo it was really difficult to get even simple tasks done in that time.

Thankfully, in spite of the odds, the chemo has been effective. The tumor has shrunk significantly and has showed no signs of growth or metastasis.
My ortho surgeon repaired my clavicle back at the end of February and with a lot of PT and help from my medical team, I've managed to pull myself back into a forward-facing state for probably the first time in the last two years. I'm not out of hot water by any means, and I may never be. I will have to be keeping an eye on the cancer for many years to come if not indefinitely, and I may not be able to fully avoid that grim outcome from earlier. But things got better and I've been given an opportunity to get my feet underneath me once again so it behooves me to make the most of it while I can.
Granted I still have another 6 weeks before I can start lifting again, but I can cardio up and get keep working on repairing my drawing stamina in the meantime.

Lastly I just wanna thank you guys. Having a small group of close friends, family, medical staff and my followers has been absolutely critical in getting me through this living nightmare. The patience, Patreon support, comments, DMs, casual conversations, jokes and jabs, I appreciate them so much.

I'm doing a cross country move this coming week and will be in limbo while searching for a place to live but once I get my feet planted somewhere I've got aspirations of getting back on the art train. Catch up work, regular sketches and study/improvement work, streams, Themies, etc.
Til next time, take care of yourselves, and thank you. <3

Cheers~