Life update: Dog getting surgery, and how it may affect Patreon content (Patreon)

Hey everyone. First, I want to thank everyone for your ongoing support. It means the world to me that I can keep making the stuff I have been, especially the monthly pinup illustrations. I really appreciate it.

I'm here to give an update on how things have been going, as well as how things will go over the next couple of months. As the title suggests, one of my dogs, Mojo, is going in for surgery early tomorrow morning (10/25). For the past couple of months he has been in and out of the vet for his limping, which at first we thought was just a bad sprain, but turned out to be a nearly-torn CCL. It has been a very stressful and heart wrenching time for us all as we kept getting appointments to try to help him, but now it's come to surgery.

He is getting a procedure known as TPLO, which involves sawing off part of his tibia bone and reattaching it in such a way that his femur bone will no longer be moving backwards while he moves. Now, I don't expect things to go awry while he's on the operating table, but you never know, as there's always a non-zero risk when doing anything involving surgery and anesthesia. But, in the unlikely event he doesn't make it.... I'll be offline for a short time.

However, I fully expect the procedure to go well.  He is not supposed to move AT ALL for the first 2 weeks of recovery... which is going to be very challenging for both him and my husband and me. BUT, his recovery will be the challenging part, as he's an -extremely- active dog. Those of you who know me more personally can attest to that. We have rearranged our house's setup and moved my work desk down to the main living area to fully accommodate Mojo, and keep him right by my side while he's to be in his kennel, unmoving. 

It will break my heart to see him cooped up in there, but there's not much we can do to keep him from moving other than that. As such, it may affect my work output to have to keep an eye on him, so please be patient with me while he recovers. The first 2 weeks are the most crucial, as that is the time his body needs to fuse his bone back together in its new orientation. The surgeon tells me that after that, some limited movement is okay, but not much at all for the next 6 weeks. So, I really appreciate your understanding if some art gets done in a slower fashion, and I may (hopefully not) have to cancel a stream, or reward or two. We will see. 

We have had Mojo since he was just 4 months old, and now he's 3 years and 8 months old. He's a fully ingrained family member. We've canceled our holiday and con plans and have spared no expense for his surgery and have gotten a few things to help with his recovery, such as a ramp for our front stoop's stairs, a therapeutic dog bed, a more comfortable kennel, etc. Your support means more than ever to me now in this tough situation we've found ourselves in. I really, truly appreciate you sticking with me while we go through this and help our dog recover as best he can so he can run and play again. If you want to help a little more, feel free to upgrade your pledge or buy a folio from my Gumroad. But do not feel like you have to, especially if you are on a tight budget, yourself. If anything, your good vibes will go a long way.

Thanks for hearing me out on this long update. I cannot begin to describe how important Mojo is to me, so I've been a bit distraught over this whole situation and very stressed. I plan on continuing to do my very best art for you all, so stay tuned. I appreciate your patience.

-Sal