#autoimmune humor

[chronicillnesshumor]

[disabled-bug]

disabled people when their disability disables them

[spookysalem13]

I felt this in my bones... it hurt 😆😅

[spoonielols]

[whatshouldwecallchronicillness]

All my progress being erased in the next flare...

[the-diabolic-acid]

[vvelegrin]

another funny thing is how every single thing produced or written by a doctor on something that is not commonly diagnosed is like, come on, we're trying!!!! remember that we're trying!!! if a doctor doesn't have the information you need, it's not necessarily their fault, they're working with whta they have :(((( come oooonnnn, it's probably that doctor's birthday, he's just a little doctor birthday boy. you're going to be mad at him on his birthday? wow. did you know every doctor was born on the same day so when you are mad at one you're mad on ALL of our birthdays? we're trying!!!! remember that we're trying!!!! we don't have the resources!!!! and we're not going to look for them <3

[crimeronan]

my latest thing to accept healthwise is that my memory is dogshit and that my recollections are imperfect to the point of being fully made-up and that i can't actually even remember if i've ever Had a good memory or not because i don't know if my memories of having a good memory are real. this sounds like the result of years of dedicated gaslighting but i swear to god my brain actually is this dogshit, no external forces have Done This To Me. it DOES make it really easy to gaslight MYSELF, though.

[autoimmunechronicles]

I know many of us can relate to feeling like a burden and even those dear get tired of being around chronically-ill people such us ourselves.

How do you cope with depressive thoughts?

[oh-look-a-homosexual-punk-bitch]

This but I get sick often

[colleendoran]

Great Big Good Omens Graphic Novel Update

AKA A Visit From Bildad the Shuhite.

The past year or so has been one long visit from this guy, whereupon he smiteth my goats and burneth my crops, woe unto the woeful cartoonist.

Gaze upon the horror of Bildad the Shuhite.

You kind of have to be a Good Omens fan to get this joke, but trust me, it's hilarious.

Anyway, as a long time Good Omens novel fan, you may imagine how thrilled I was to get picked to adapt the graphic novel.

 Go me!  

This is quite a task, I have to say, especially since I was originally going to just draw (and color) it, but I ended up writing the adaptation as well. Tricky to fit a 400 page novel into a 160-ish page graphic novel, especially when so much of the humor is dependent on the language, and not necessarily on the visuals.

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Anyway, I started out the gate like a herd of turtles, because  right away I got COVID which knocked me on my butt. 

And COVID brain fog? That's a thing. I already struggle with brain fog due to autoimmune disease, and COVID made it worse.

Not complainin' just sayin'.

This set a few of the assignments on my plate back, which pushed starting Good Omens back. 

But hey, big fat lead time! No worries!

Then my computer crawled toward the grave.

My trusty MAC Pro Tower was nearly 15 years old when its sturdy heart ground to a near-halt with daily crashes. I finally got around to doing some diagnostics; some of its little brain actions were at 5% functionality. I had no reliable backups.

There are so many issues with getting a new computer when you haven't had a new computer or peripherals in nearly fifteen years and all of your software, including your Photoshop program is fifteen years old.

At the time, I was still on rural internet...which means dial-up speed.

Whatever you have for internet in the city, roll that clock back to about 2001.

That's what I had. I not only had to replace almost all of my hardware but I had to load and update all programs at dial-up speed.

Welcome to my gigabyte hell.

The entire process of replacing the equipment and programs took weeks and then I had to relearn all the software.

All of this was super expensive in terms of money and time cost.

But I was not daunted! Nosirree!

I still had a huge lead time! I can do anything! I have an iron will!

And boy, howdy, I was going to need it.

At about the same time, a big fatcat quadrillionaire client who had hired me years ago to develop a big, major transmedia project for which I was paid almost entirely in stock, went bankrupt leaving everyone holding the bag, and taking a huge chunk of my future retirement fund with it.

I wrote a very snarky almost hilarious Patreon post about it, but am not entirely in a position to speak freely because I don't want to get sued. Even though I had to go to court over it, (and I had to do that over Zoom at dial-up speed,) I'm pretty sure I'll never get anything out of this drama, and neither will anyone else involved, except millionaire dude and his buddies who all walked away with huge multi-million dollar bonuses weeks before they declared bankruptcy, all the while claiming they would not declare bankruptcy.

Even the accountant got $250,000 a month to shut down the business, while creators got nothing.

That in itself was enough drama for the year, but we were only at February by that point, and with all those months left, 2023 had a lot more to throw at me.

Fresh from my return from my Society of Illustrators show, and a lovely time at MOCCA, it was time to face practical medical issues, health updates, screening, and the like. I did my adult duty and then went back to work hoping for no news, but still had a weird feeling there would be news.

I know everyone says that, but I mean it. I had a bad feeling.

Then there was news.

I was called back for tests and more tests. This took weeks. The ubiquitous biopsy looked, even to me staring at the screen in real time, like bad news. 

It also hurt like a mofo after the anesthesia wore off. I wasn't expecting that.

Then I got the official bad news.

Cancer which runs in my family finally got me. Frankly, I was surprised I didn't get it sooner.

Stage 0, and treatment would likely be fast and complication-free. Face the peril, get it over with, and get back to work. 

I requested surgery months in the future so I could finish Good Omens first, but my doc convinced me the risk of waiting was too great. Get it done now.

"You're really healthy," my doc said. Despite an auto-immune issue which plagues me, I am way healthier than the average schmoe of late middle age. She informed me I would not even need any chemo or radiation if I took care of this now.

So I canceled my appearance at San Diego Comic Con. I did not inform the Good Omens team of my issues right away, thinking this would not interfere with my work schedule, but I did contact my agent to inform her of the issue. I also contacted a lawyer to rewrite my will and make sure the team had access to my digital files in case there were complications.

Then I got back to work, and hoped for the best.

Eff this guy.

Before I could even plant my carcass on the surgery table, I got a massive case of ocular shingles.

I didn't even know there was such a thing. 

There I was, minding my own business. I go to bed one night with a scratchy eye, and by 4 PM the next day, I was in the emergency room being told if I didn't get immediate specialist treatment, I was in big trouble.

I got transferred to another hospital and got all the scary details, with the extra horrid news that I could not possibly have cancer surgery until I was free of shingles, and if I did not follow a rather brutal treatment procedure - which meant super-painful  eye drops every half hour, twenty-four hours a day and daily hospital treatment - I could lose the eye entirely, or be blinded, or best case scenario, get permanent eye damage.

What was even funnier (yeah, hilarity) is the drops are so toxic if you don't use the medication just right, you can go blind anyway.

Hi Ho.

Ulcer is on the right. That big green blob.

I had just finished telling my cancer surgeon I did not even really care about getting cancer, was happy it was just stage zero, had no issues with scarring, wanted no reconstruction, all I cared about was my work. 

Just cut it out and get me back to work.

And now I wondered if I was going to lose my ability to work anyway.

Shingles often accompanies cancer because of the stress on the immune system, and yeah, it's not pretty. This is me looking like all heck after I started to get better.

The first couple of weeks were pretty demoralizing as I expected a straight trajectory to wellness. But it was up and down all the way. 

Some days I could not see out of either eye at all. The swelling was so bad that I had to reach around to my good eye to prop the lid open. Light sensitivity made seeing out of either eye almost impossible. Outdoors, even with sunglasses, I had to be led around by the hand.

I had an amazing doctor. I meticulously followed his instructions, and I think he was surprised I did. The treatment is really difficult, and if you don't do it just right no matter how painful it gets, you will be sorry. 

To my amazement, after about a month, my doctor informed me I had no vision loss in the eye at all. "This never happens," he said.

I'd spent a couple of weeks there trying to learn to draw in the near-dark with one eye, and in the end, I got all my sight back.

I could no longer wear contact lenses (I don't really wear them anyway, unless I'm going to the movies,) would need hard core sun protection for awhile, and the neuralgia and sun sensitivity were likely to linger. But I could get back to work.

I have never been more grateful in my life.

Neuralgia sucks, by the way, I'm still dealing with it months later.

Anyway, I decided to finally go ahead and tell the Good Omens team what was going on, especially since this was all happening around the time the Kickstarter was gearing up.

Now that I was sure I'd passed the eye peril, and my surgery for Stage 0 was going to be no big deal, I figured all was a go. I was still pretty uncomfortable and weak, and my ideal deadline was blown, but with the book not coming out for more than a year, all would be OK. I quit a bunch of jobs I had lined up to start after Good Omens, since the project was going to run far longer than I'd planned.

Everybody on the team was super-nice, and I was pretty optimistic at this time. But work was going pretty slow during, as you may imagine.

But again...lots of lead time still left, go me.

Then I finally got my surgery.

Which was not as happy an experience as I had been hoping for.

My family said the doc came out of the operating room looking like she'd been pulled backwards through a pipe, She informed them the tumor which looked tiny on the scan was "...huge and her insides are a mess."

Which was super not fun news.

Eff this guy.

The tumor was hiding behind some dense tissue and cysts. After more tests, it was determined I'd need another surgery and was going to have to get further treatments after all.

The biopsy had been really painful, but the discomfort was gone after about a week, so no biggee. The second surgery was, weirdly, not as painful as the biopsy, but the fatigue was big time.

By then, the Good Omens Kickstarter had about run its course, and the record-breaker was both gratifying and a source of immense social pressure.

I'd already turned most of my social media over to an assistant, and I'm glad I did.

But the next surgery was what really kicked me on my keister.

All in all, they took out an area the size of a baseball. It was  hard to move and wiped me out for weeks and weeks. I could not take care of myself. I'd begun losing hair by this time anyway, and finally just lopped it off since it was too heavy for me to care for myself. The cut hides the bald spots pretty well.

After about a month, I got the go-ahead to travel to my show at the San Diego Comic Con Museum (which is running until the first week of April, BTW). I was very happy I had enough energy to do it. But as soon as I got back, I had to return to treatment.

Since I live way out in the country, going into the city to various hospitals and pharmacies was a real challenge. I made more than 100 trips last year, and a drive to the compounding pharmacy which produced the specialist eye medicine I could not get anywhere else was six hours alone.

Naturally, I wasn't getting anything done during this time.

But at least my main hospital is super swank.

The oncology treatment went smoothly, until it didn't. The feels don't hit you until the end. By then I was flattened.

So flattened that I was too weak to control myself, fell over, and smashed my face into some equipment.

Nearly tore off my damn nostril.

Eff this guy.

Anyway, it was a bad year.

Here's what went right.

I have a good health insurance policy. The final tally on my health care costs ended up being about $150,000. I paid about 18% of that, including insurance. I had a high deductible and some experimental medicine insurance didn't cover. I had savings,  enough to cover the months I wasn't working, and my Patreon is also very supportive. So you didn't see me running a Gofundme or anything.

Thanks to everyone who ever bought one of my books.

No, none of that money was Good Omens Kickstarter money. I won't get most of my pay on that for months, which is just as well because it kept my taxes lower last year when I needed a break.

So, yay.

My nose is nearly healed. I opted out of plastic surgery, and it just sealed up by itself. I'll never be ready for my closeup, but who the hell cares.

I got to ring the bell.

I had a very, VERY hard time getting back to work, especially with regard to focus and concentration. My work hours dropped by over 2/3. I was so fractured and weak, time kept slipping away while I sat in the studio like a zombie. Most of the last six months were a wash.

I assumed focus issues were due (in part) to stress, so sought counseling. This seemed like a good idea at first, but when the counselor asked me to detail my issues with anxiety, I spent two weeks doing just that and getting way more anxious, which was not helpful.

After that I went EFF THIS NOISE, I want practical tools, not touchy feelies (no judgment on people who need touchy-feelies, I need a pragmatic solution and I need it now,) so tried using the body doubling focus group technique for concentration and deep work.

Within two weeks, I returned to normal work hours.

I got rural broadband, jumping me from dial up speed to 1 GB per second.

It's a miracle.

Massive doses of Vitamin D3 and K2. Yay.

The new computer works great.

The Kickstarter did so well, we got to expand the graphic novel to 200 pages. Double yay.

I'm running late, but everyone on the Good Omens team is super supportive. I don't know if I am going to make the book late or not, but if I do, well, it surely wasn't on purpose, and it won't be super late anyway. I still have months of lead time left.

I used to be something of a social media addict, but now I hardly ever even look at it, haven't been directly on some sites in over a year, and no longer miss it. It used to seem important and now doesn't.

More time for real life.

While I think the last year aged me about twenty years, I actually like me better with short hair. I'm keeping it.

OK. Rough year. 

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Back to work on The Book.

And only a day left to vote for Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, and Sandman in the Comicscene Awards. Thanks. 

[chronicillnesshumor]

[spookysalem13]

Felt that! As a chronically ill person this is highly relatable. And I also have a dark sense of humor as a spooky 👻 bish 🤪 so bring it on I'm officially haunted lol 😆

[gorgeousgreymatter-x]

funny story my wart was not large but it was deep because it was there for about a decade because I also got diagnosed with Crohns a little over a decade ago and the feet were just not a priority friends

i actually scared the derm because he froze for like a straight minute and realized I hadn't moved or made a single sound and he was like oh wow you have a high pain tolerance

and I was like haha yeah I feel it I just tell myself it's not happening and do it anyway lol chronic pain ammirite

he did not laugh lmao

lol also yesterday I got the wart frozen on my heel for like the 5th time and now I can't walk because of the hole in my foot

my body is great ya'll it's just great out here

[covid-safer-hotties]

Mild Primary or Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 Infection Promotes Autoantibody Production in Individuals with and without Neuro-PASC - Published Aug 26, 2024

Abstract Patients with long COVID can develop humoral autoimmunity after severe acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, whether similar increases in autoantibody responses occur after mild infection and whether vaccination prior to SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection can limit autoantibody responses is unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that mild SARS-CoV-2 infection increases autoantibodies associated with rheumatic autoimmune diseases and diabetes in most individuals, regardless of vaccination status prior to infection. However, patients with long COVID and persistent neurologic and fatigue symptoms (neuro-PASC) have substantially higher autoantibody responses than convalescent control subjects at an average of 8 mo postinfection. Furthermore, high titers of systemic lupus erythematosus– and CNS-associated autoantibodies in patients with neuro-PASC are associated with impaired cognitive performance and greater symptom severity. In summary, we found that mild SARS-CoV-2 primary and breakthrough infections can induce persistent humoral autoimmunity in both patients with neuro-PASC and healthy COVID convalescents, suggesting that a reappraisal of mitigation strategies against SARS-CoV-2 is warranted to prevent transmission and potential development of autoimmunity.

[nahoney22]

Honeyyyyyy🥰

congratulations on hitting 4000 followers! Thats huge! Honestly, no one deserves it more than you. Thank you for all the wonderful things you have requested throughout the years💕

I would like to request a Jesse x Fem!Reader, where reader gets discharged from a lengthy hospital stay and gets to go home, where her partner Jesse picks her up and takes her home and cares for her. Its a very self indulgent request i must admit. It can be sfw/suggestive or nsfw if you like, but mostly i‘d love some caregiver!jesse 🥺

ilysm 💕🌸🪷

Relief

Jesse X F!Reader

word count: 781

After being discharged from hospital, Jesse shows you just how much he missed, cares and loves you.

warnings: 16+ as there is implied sexual content but nothing explicit. female reader, mentions of hospital visits and reader having a bad autoimmune system, slight angst but fixed with lots of fluff and comfort. Established relationship.

Authors note: thank you for the support always bestie. Enjoy, sorry it’s a little on the shorter side. ily 💜

After what felt like an endless cycle of blurred days and nights, the comfort of home beckoned. Your autoimmune condition had warranted an extended stay at the hospital, and although the memories of long hours and less-than-stellar meals lingered, there was a beacon of hope waiting for you on the other side.

You had been with Jesse for just over a year now and never had you been so lucky. He was the perfect blend of kindness, humor, and of course - undeniable good looks. So, it wasn't surprising to find him eagerly waiting for you in the lobby, his foot rhythmically tapping the floor. But when his eyes met yours, any signs of impatience melted away, replaced with a beaming smile.

"There’s my girl," he greeted with a joyous grin, leaning in to plant a tender kiss on your cheek.

Mustering a weary yet content smile, you replied, "Here I am." Your smile widened in delight as he gracefully unveiled a bouquet of your favourite flowers from behind his back. "Oh, Jesse," you murmured, "you really didn't have to."

"No," he smirked, arm confidently linking with yours, guiding you as he flagged down a cab, "but it made me happy to."

With a content sigh, you both settled into the taxi, heading towards the sanctuary of your home. The mere idea of being enveloped in the soft embrace of your own bed was enough to make you feel more relaxed. Jesse's eyes were fixed on you, tenderly observing the visible signs of your exhaustion. But, he was smart enough not to voice his observations. Instead, he pulled you closer, letting you nestle into his side for the duration of the ride.

A short while later, the familiar setting of your home welcomed you. Stepping inside, you inhaled deeply, reacquainting yourself with its comforting aroma. Overwhelmed by the warmth and familiarity, you sank into your couch, releasing a sigh that echoed your longing. "I've missed this so much," you murmured, gazing up at the ceiling. As your gaze wandered, a realisation dawned. The place was spotless. Not a single trace of dust to be seen anywhere.

Catching your surprised expression, Jesse chuckled, "Thought I'd do a bit of tidying up."

Your laughter joined his as relief washed over you. The realisation that he'd taken it upon himself to do every little chore that was pending made your heart flourish.

From the laundry to the dishes, from taking out the trash to scrubbing that stubborn grout in the kitchen sink you'd been meaning to tackle – everything was done.

"Jesse," you whispered, admiration and affection swelling within you. Although you two didn’t share a home, mostly due to Jesse's commitments with the GAR, seeing the lengths he'd gone to care for your space during your hospital stay only deepened the bond between you.

Jesse's face lit up with a touch of pride as he then pointed towards the fridge. "I also prepped some meals for you." He admitted with a sheepish grin, "Though, I won't guarantee they're gourmet quality – cooking isn't exactly my specialty." His hand instinctively went to the back of his head, a gesture he often made when slightly embarrassed.

“Anything would be better than the dirt they serve in there.” You shudder at the cold gruel you were offered.

Overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness, you responded, "I can't begin to express my gratitude." He settled down beside you on the couch, wrapping an arm around you protectively.

"You could start by resting and taking it easy," he said with a playful smirk, his lips gently brushing your temple. His fingers began to work magic as he moved them into your hair, massaging your scalp and making you sink further into his embrace.

"That sounds perfect right now," you admitted, stifling a yawn as relief washes over you. Curling even closer to him, you whispered, "I love you."

"And I love you," he replied, ensuring both of you were covered with a throw blanket before starting a holomovie, the volume just low enough to be comforting. Cherishing moments like these was essential because they were so rare.

That evening, Jesse managed to whip up a surprisingly delicious meal. The two of you shared stories and laughter, catching up on all the happenings you missed while you were away. And as the night grew deeper, he effortlessly lifted you, a hint of mischief in his eyes, and carried you off to bed. Even as passion ignited between the two of you, kisses turning into heated dances and breathing turning into soft moans, Jesse's touch remained gentle. And his whispers held promises and love that saw you through the night.

Oh, how you missed him.

Requests open until the 15th of October 2023 ☀️

Kofi 🧋

Masterlist

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