Where Have I been?

I have to step out of character for a bit and update you on some health issues I've been dealing with. There are some of you who have commissioned me to do some commission writing and I'm dreadfully late in delivering what you're owed. I'll make it up to you with some extra word count (and I'll reach out individually right after this message to let you know where things are at).

First things first: blood pressure and high cholesterol. It's not new to me (because it was mentioned to me decades ago) that I have high cholesterol. Since last year, however, my blood pressure seems to have gone higher. I give blood monthly, so my pressure gets checked on a regular basis, but suddenly (after I had covid last summer, which might be a coincidence), the readings have been significantly and consistently higher (150+/90+). It wasn't worrisome until I had a high blood pressure episode a few months back that kept me up all night. I was able to see a doctor early August to get some medication that'll hopefully help me with that. So far so good.

Then there was the eye ulcer back in May. Yeah. An ulcer on my cornea, which wasn't something I knew you could get, but that I had. Plus some early signs of xanthelasma and chalazion, which are things that can  be connected to high cholesterol. So this summer, I spent a great deal of time seeing what I could do about that, including some trips to the emergency room when some things (like the ulcer) got pretty bad.

I'm fortunate to live in Canada, where (if you've got a serious problem) you have access to decent (and "free") medical care. Things got a little bit more worrisome last week, when the ulcer to my right eye reappeared. Fortunately, I recognized the symptoms early on and used the remaining antibiotics I had until I could see an optometrist to help me out.

So the news is fairly good, no permanent damage or serious loss of vision, but these things can weigh on your mind a little. It hasn't helped me get in a sexy mindset where I can write my usual stuff. I apologize to everyone who's reached out and whose messages I haven't responded to. It's a long weekend here in Quebec (Labor Day), so I'll be taking advantage of it to go through my backlog and get back to everyone.

In the meantime, thank you so much for your patience and support. I means the world to me

Best regards,

--Jaycee