Hey guys, I said I would keep everyone updated on Cassio's recovery and the situation with her arms and hands post-surgery, and I've been pretty distracted and haven't gotten around to it yet, so here goes!The cubital tunnel specialist 'appointment' we went to consisted of the specialist coming in, talking as loud and fast as possible so we couldn't get a word in, and then leaving without us being able to say much of anything. What he said was basically 'we did everything right, we can't be blamed for this, it's common and usual, and I can't test you for anything until three months after the surgery so make another appoint kthxbye'. It was infuriating, but there doesn't seem to be much we can do other than just wait. Cassio's arms are better than they were at first, but her right arm is still firing off random nerve sensations from 'bugs on her arm' to 'fingers being crushed' to 'wrist being stabbed' to 'electric shocks in her hand' and so forth. Most of the time it seems to be ignorable, but she also ignored 21 herniated discs and extreme spinal stenosis for years, so, her power of pain tolerance is above and beyond most people's. Even that aside, the pain still makes her yelp and spasm pretty regularly, and the sensations she describes seem to be sometimes annoying but mostly excruciating. Touching anything with her little and ring finger on that hand is painful, which kinda sucks since that's her mouse hand and they drag on her mousepad while she's using it! She has an upright mouse as well which WOULD be helpful if it wasn't for that fact that, being an order of magnitude bigger than most people, her hands are too big for nearly all computer mice and her hand drags on the mousepad pretty much no matter what. She has a compression glove she wears sometimes that helps. Because of the pain it's hard for her to wear her wrist brace, which she needs to support the De Quervain's tenosynovitis she has on that side (which she's already had surgery for, but it didn't improve it entirely, just made it take longer before she starts getting intense headaches from using her right hand). So her wrist has been hurting her too, for different reasons. It sucks!She also is supposed to be starting physical therapy this week, but nobody has contacted her about it. As far as we can tell, her surgeon hasn't put in a referral for it. I'll be contacting his office on Monday about it, but it just seems to be yet another failing in this ridiculous circus of medical drama. She's eager to start working on her strength and flexibility, and has already started trying to push herself to stand and walk more, though she sometimes regrets it.On the plus side, the surgery itself seems to be working. She's pretty much all healed up now except for a wicked scar (which she's really proud of), and her toes and feet, which were almost completely numb from the stenosis, are starting to regain feeling and movement. Unfortunately some of that feeling is pain, but it almost seems like her pinched nerve symptoms are recovering in the same order they got worse in - and before her feet went numb, they hurt all the time, so it makes sense I guess that now that they're not numb, they're hurting a lot. Even that is getting better though! Some of her other symptoms have been improving too, though not all of them yet - we're hoping all of them will over time. The projected recovery time is 'under a year' - after a year post-surgery it's pretty unlikely her body will recover any further. She also has pretty much no spine pain now - it's all just her back muscles from being so sedentary for so long while she couldn't walk and could barely stand due to the stenosis. So hopefully once PT starts that'll improve too.My Pride month was pretty incredible, from coming to terms with some aspects of my identity I'd been worrying over, to finally (after many years) finding the right word to describe my gender (maverique!) and, a while before Pride month but still applicable, my sexuality (reciprosexual). I also attended my first ever Pride event while visiting my girlfriend Hale's house for the first time since she moved in last fall, and we went to PrideFest together two days in a row! I got to meet a bunch of her friends and in general it was a pretty amazing weekend. On the last day of Pride, Monday, Cassio and I went to a 'dark cirque' called Parnormal Cirque 2 and had an absolute blast, though Cassio pushed her back a bit too far since by the time we got there all the good parking was gone and we had to walk farther than we'd like to get to the tent, and we also then opted to go through the haunted house they had set up inside before getting to your seating. The haunted house was fun though, some of the jump-out-and-scare-you people were kids, obviously belonging to some of the cirque employees - one of them in a demon mask jumped out and growled at Cassio, and she growled back and made him laugh XD Photos from the cirque can be found on my Bsky if you're interested!On the downside, I was kicked out of a Discord server I've spent three years in that housed almost half my social circle and support network, apparently for the crime of being a NSFW kink artist and posting my art related to that server to my social media and therefore 'associating it' with that community, despite the fact that everyone there was aware of what I do for work and what sorts of things I draw and it had never been an issue before, and I had even been told by staff that I was a valued member of the community, and invited to participate in more official ways. Needless to say it was a shock, and pretty traumatic. Fortunately many of my friends from the server stayed in contact with me and did their best to be supportive, so it wasn't a total loss, and I've been dealing with it pretty well I think. I removed all of my art related to the server, but I was also able to make sure that most of the things I participated in during my time there are going to live on with friends who took them over, so that felt good. I'll be giving my therapist an earful next week though. If this isn't vague enough and you're able to deduce what server I'm talking about, I ask that you don't talk about it or stir up any drama about it. I don't want to cause problems for anyone, just update folx on what happened and why I might seem very flinchy for a while.I broke a tooth a few days ago, and while it doesn't hurt (it seems like the enamel on the outside of a filling sheared off and I swallowed it D:) it's left a razor sharp edge on my molar that is constantly slicing at my tongue every time I talk or swallow, and making my tongue swell in irritation so that I am constantly having to get fresh cold drinks to keep it from getting too uncomfortable. It's incredibly distracting and if I'm at all emotionally compromised, it can be almost impossible to focus on anything else. I have a dentist appointment next week to look at it (and get a cleaning, it was already scheduled for the end of the month so we just decided to move it up) but it's another reason for me to be flinchy or easily upset as it's a constant stress. I have three other medical appointments next week and an anniversary visit of unknown length with Hale planned for the week after that so, I might be harder to get ahold of for a while. I am still trying to make as many of my streams as possible, and inform people ahead of time if I won't be able to. If I haven't told you in the next few days that your stream is getting skipped or rescheduled, it's probably fine!Lots of ups and downs lately, but we're trying to stay optimistic. As always your support and kindness are appreciated! Last weekend was a vacation from streaming (and therefore 1/4 of my monthly regular income) as I went to Pride with Hale as mentioned, so if you've been considering art, the stream starting shortly would be a great time to get it! Folx who have bought one-on-one streams or contributed to our weekly streams or anything like that are super appreciated :> If your availability lines up with mine, I'm also happy to book one-on-one streams with yall in the coming weeks - email me at farore.nightclaw[at]gmail[dot]com to book!If you read the novel, thanks!! I'll be trying to get packs out in the next day or two, your patience is appreciated <3 Don't forget to join the Discord server if you haven't already to receive your rewards!!