Would using a voice typing app be a possibility? I know there are some free ones out there. I use Windows Dictate from time to time but am not sure if it’s actually free or just included in my Office 365. That could allow you to dictate the meat of a post and then tweak the formatting, etc.

Continued best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

Damn, I thought I was a pain in the ass! Rest well, and feel better soon! Captain's orders!

Can't sleep, can't focus to post... turn. More of the same. Turn. Repeat.

STAGE MINUS ONE--SPINAL SURGERY: Hell, I don't even remember half of it. This would have been the spinal surgery to remove the tumor and put me on my back for two weeks. DONE. SUCCESS!

STAGE ZERO--REHAB ERROR: Weeks at rehab facility where inadequate and improper nursing care turned an ordinary bedsore into a far more serious gangrene wound... one that now needed surgery to fix. DONE? WAS THAT A SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

STAGE ONE--BACKSIDE SURGERY: Operation on my tailbone went off without a hitch apparently. Just left with a major wound on my tailbone. Couldn't/can't put pressure on the wound while it heals, thus laying on my side and having to get turned to the other side every two hours, necessitating having to learn to type on my laptop upside down and sideways with one finger. Remember, this is at the BETTER recovery/rehab facility rather than at home, so options are still limited. Did I mention the I-V dangling from my arm that also gets in the way? DONE. SUCCESS.

STAGE TWO--STAPLES/SUTURES REMOVAL: Staples and stitches still need to come out. Don't have a timeline for that yet but presumably soon.
___STAGE 2.1: First half of the staples were taken out Tuesday. On schedule, standard routine. DONE. SUCCESS.
___STAGE 2.2: Second half of staples were removed Friday. Again, right on schedule with no complications. DONE. SUCCESS.
___STAGE 2.3: Sutures are currently supposed to come out on Monday, though that probably depends on how the final healing has progressed, since not everyone will heal the same way. PENDING.

STAGE THREE--WOUND REHAB: sitting protocols start as soon as sutures come out (?). Start getting used to sitting up  again... in 15-minute intervals. No details yet on frequency or duration. Will kind of depend on how well I do, but further complicated by not  having any control of my leg muscles. Requires moving to a normal bed rather than this deluxe air bubbling mattress that's meant to stimulate skin/muscle do I don't get more bedsores.

STAGE FOUR--HOME REHAB: As soon as I can stand up on my own two legs, I should be able to go home for final rehab. Regain mobility. At this point, there's no telling how well the wound rehab and the paralysis rehab will work together. The therapist seemed to think they could make them work together in synergy, but I didn't get a whole lot of enthusiasm from him. I suppose it could be uncharted territory for him.


ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: I now qualify for Frequent Surgery Miles. I've had four surgeries so the fifth one is free! Oddly, I started with the Big One (double bypass heart surgery 15 years ago) and that went easier than these.

Still not sure if there's a light at  the end of the tunnel yet--if there is, hope it's the Battery Low indicator and not the Westbound #9 train!

Excuse me sir. That was clearly an attempt at a humble brag. Full on post, with colour highlights and bold lettering. Are you sure there's something wrong with you?

I didn't think of it that way, but I suppose it is an indicator of my improvement at mastering the sideways computer. Baby steps. Working my way to getting caught up with my posting.

Glad to hear things are going in the right direction. I guess you can add a category for DM rehab which is also progressing well, though I imagine the time it took to type and format is something we can't assess from our end.

___STAGE 2.3: Sutures came out on Monday right on schedule, but the final healing is still in progress for several weeks/months. DONE. SUCCESS.

STAGE THREE--WOUND REHAB: sitting up for continued wound rehab protocols start as soon as sutures came out, about a week ago now. Start getting used to sitting up  again... in 15-minute intervals twice a day. Moved to a standard air mattress bed. Frequency and duration will kind of depend on how well I do, but further complicated by not having any control over my leg muscles and not enough feeling below the waist. Communication/responsibility issue has only produced one session--should have been six by now! PENDING???

___STAGE 3.5--RESUME PREVIOUS REHAB: In a week or two or three depending on how quickly I improve here, I get transferred to yet another Rehab facility for continued wound recovery... takes a long time... as well as mobility rehab.

___Stage 3.7--TRANSFER TO NEW REHAB: So the Wound Recovery has done well enough that I'm getting transferred to a different rehab facility for the Sitting/Mobility rehab. Don't know why there's a difference other than where I'm at is more medical than therapeutic so they need to make room for a new patient.

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL: Different tunnel, different light. I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but we'll have to see how it goes.

Sign of good humour.

A step in the right direction ;)

Alright, so life took a crap on me again just as I was starting to get my creativity back. Needless to say a few weeks ago my oldest daughter Ava was arrested for a class 3 felony. Now while this might not be a massive issue, it'd still be normally stressful one for any family. But for someone like me who suffers from mental illness, or the darkness, take your pick on the term and whose children were the light in the darkness that they cling to when that darkness started to encroach upon them her getting arrested was a massive blow to me mentally.

So for the last few weeks I basically closed in on myself and had little contact with anyone. Barely spoke to anyone, barely ate, and just went to work and bed. Work life suffered, life here suffered, home life suffered, everything just started to fall apart. Then I suddenly woke up this past Saturday and decided it was time to fix my mental state, at least a bit. Suddenly had a good, or better day at work at least. That set me up to want to play some video games again, so yeah I wasted away my weekend playing video games lol, which led me to having a great day at work today, and finally put me to wanting to post again starting today.

So I am slowly starting to get caught up in my games.

Also GM, good luck on your rehab. I wish the best for you! As someone who's been in physical rehab multiple times, I know how big of a task it is to be in rehab of any type.

Good luck! Sometimes its two steps back for every one forward.

In reply to Theirastra Nailo (msg # 113):

Depressive episodes and snapping out of them are quite familiar to me. It's funny how I went 10+ years waiting to "snap out of it" but after actually getting diagnosed and treated I can pretty reliably do so after a few weeks. I'd rather not dip so low in the first place, but still. Getting a handle on it helps you pull yourself out.

Also, in a bizarre coincidence, when I started a heavily modded Fallout 4 playthrough with a female PC last week I chose the name Ava.

Side note/depression trade secret: stash a case of Ensure or another room-temp nutrition drink in your room or wherever you tend to hide from the world. Some highly processed nutrition is better than none.

Looking like you still need a leg up to get things moving.

I'm not going to take a stand or anything, but I have to put my foot down at some point...

In reply to Sala Menes (msg # 117):

Baby steps, my friend... baby steps...

take your time and when your ready, i will be here, as i am sure others will be

It takes time for both mind and body to heal. So, let us be honest with ourselves. If the GM ever decided to post again, not everyone will be here. Life moves on and people find other things to do. Games live and die a lot on Rpol. Some games go on for years while others just last a few months. I always thought there were too many people and then all those people split up in different directions. And then those different parties get in a fight at almost the same time. That is a lot to keep up with and hard on the mind. In my opinion, so many people in different groups have watered down the storytelling. You lose a lot of quality if you go for quantity. But that is my opinion, so please do not bite my head off or degrade the conversation to the level of children. I was having fun roleplaying the character and that was all that mattered.

But the Mushroom in the character's food was annoying. Giving a drug to an already mentally unstable person was not what I considered...fun. But I eventually saw it as a roleplaying challenge. The GM said I could have ignored it and it never happened. I hated it. Loathed it immensely. But...in life, you learn that you have to deal with things. I know the character's actions might seem annoying to many others, but there are roleplaying reasons for what she does. The closest thing that would come close would-be PTSD.

Now the other thing.

Most of you have posted things about yourselves and things dealing with mental and physical health. I did not partake because I just wanted to lose myself in writing. I do not want to share about the real world and my problems. That is why I read novels, play video games or watch movies. It's my escape from my life.

My life is not horrible. Work, sleep, basic survival needs, have a little fun and then do it all over again. That is my life. I guess you can say I am passing my time till the end. I have a slight case of agoraphobia and sometimes depression. But then I pick myself up and appreciate the small things in life before the end comes.

Anyway....

I will most likely still check every day to see if this game continues is some way. Maybe keep trying for another year or so before finally deleting the game off my Rpol. Until then. I wait. I lurk. And Nemeia is still battling a red metallic dragon. I can honestly say this has been the longest combat any of my characters have been in. :)

That's the way it seems to be going this time. Health Care and Rehab can't quite seem to get on the same page. Spent the weekend + Mon in a vege-zombie state--sick, aching, tired, sleepy, no energy... Tuesday okay, but two-steps backwards today.

This was a repeat of Memorial Day Weekend.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 121):

That really sucks. I'm sorry. Hope everything gets better for you real soon!

Folks, this was posted in another game I play in:

Thank you for letting us know. It was a blast role-playing with you all. I hope to see you in other games. Fairwell.

Good bet you have seen almost all of us in at least one other game, but yes that is unfortunate.

If someone wants to take over as GM for this game I am up for continuing to play, but I don't have the bandwidth to do so myself.

This is so sad news, but its really heartening that he probably had as much of his life doing what he loved to do.

I didn't play with the guy as often as anyone else, but what I did see was excellently written.

that is sad news, and i hope the family is all well and supporting each other.

To my rp family, i wish you well in any games out there and if someone has a game they need a player, reach out to me.

Well, dang. That is sad to hear. He seemed like a pretty good guy and fun GM.

Sad to hear. Rpol won't be the same without him. I hope his family are at peace with his passing.