A lot of you have been asking if I’m okay and where I’ve been. Well, I’ve been holding off saying anything because I didn’t have all the info and, honestly, things have been pretty chaotic. But I figure it’s time to fill everyone in on what’s been going on—and where I’m heading from here (spoiler alert: I’m staying). Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping I’d leave so they could snag my work, change the credits, and not have to worry about me calling them out. J/K. :P
For those who know me well, about 7.5 years ago, I had severe liver failure. At the time, the cause was unknown. After a bunch of blood tests, they figured out I have a genetic disorder called hemochromatosis, which basically means my iron levels were off the charts—like 14 times higher than normal. This was wreaking havoc on my liver. Over time, I had to see some nurses and go through what I like to call the "vampire treatment." They’d drain my blood using a massive needle. After about 8 months of this, my iron levels came down, and my liver started to recover.
Fast forward to June of this year. I wasn’t feeling great, so I got tested again, and my iron levels were back up, not as high as before, but still way above normal. I also kept getting infections and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. So, I started treatment in July, and while I’m kind of getting better, it's been slow and tough. I see my oncologist/hematologist tomorrow to check my progress.
On top of all that, in late July, right before my birthday, my mother got really sick and ended up in the hospital. For about two weeks, we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. She’s been fighting cancer since 1997, and she was on her last treatment option. The situation was dire, but weirdly, it turned into a bit of a blessing in disguise. While treating her for extremly severe dehydration (thanks to the cancer treatment), pneumonia, and eventually COVID, it looks like her cancer stopped progressing. She was in the hospital for three weeks, then moved to rehab, which was its own nightmare. She’s doing better now, but these are likely her final months or years.
As her medical proxy, I’ve been handling all her treatments, on top of managing my own health issues, treatments, and dealing with constant fatigue from both liver failure and diabetes. It’s been a rough ride, especially trying to figure out how to pay bills through all of this. Only a few people outside my family and close friends knew what was really going on. I’ve confided a little to some of you on Discord but kept things vague since I didn’t have all the details myself.
So, where does that leave me with HSX and Xtreme? I’m sticking around for as long as I can, but I won’t be as active as I used to be. Honestly, as I write this, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. It’s hard to find the energy to code or even get motivated to upgrade my site—which I still haven’t done, by the way. I barely have time to play a few games, but gaming has been helping me get through all this, so that’s why I’m still gaming a bit.
As you might have seen in a previous post, I’m not completely inactive. I’ve been playing around with scraping Steam to show upcoming games and built a section that scrapes all current sales. I’m thinking about turning that into its own module, but I’m also open to just sharing what I have so others can take it and run with it. Not really sure yet.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be setting up a test site where I’ll update my modules and make sure they work with the latest version of Xtreme. If anyone has suggestions for new features, I’m open to ideas. I still want to finish and implement that avatar mod. We’ll see how things go, but for now, I’m back—sort of. I’m not at 100%, but I’m here enough to be “in action,” even if it’s just a little.
For those who know me well, about 7.5 years ago, I had severe liver failure. At the time, the cause was unknown. After a bunch of blood tests, they figured out I have a genetic disorder called hemochromatosis, which basically means my iron levels were off the charts—like 14 times higher than normal. This was wreaking havoc on my liver. Over time, I had to see some nurses and go through what I like to call the "vampire treatment." They’d drain my blood using a massive needle. After about 8 months of this, my iron levels came down, and my liver started to recover.
Fast forward to June of this year. I wasn’t feeling great, so I got tested again, and my iron levels were back up, not as high as before, but still way above normal. I also kept getting infections and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. So, I started treatment in July, and while I’m kind of getting better, it's been slow and tough. I see my oncologist/hematologist tomorrow to check my progress.
On top of all that, in late July, right before my birthday, my mother got really sick and ended up in the hospital. For about two weeks, we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. She’s been fighting cancer since 1997, and she was on her last treatment option. The situation was dire, but weirdly, it turned into a bit of a blessing in disguise. While treating her for extremly severe dehydration (thanks to the cancer treatment), pneumonia, and eventually COVID, it looks like her cancer stopped progressing. She was in the hospital for three weeks, then moved to rehab, which was its own nightmare. She’s doing better now, but these are likely her final months or years.
As her medical proxy, I’ve been handling all her treatments, on top of managing my own health issues, treatments, and dealing with constant fatigue from both liver failure and diabetes. It’s been a rough ride, especially trying to figure out how to pay bills through all of this. Only a few people outside my family and close friends knew what was really going on. I’ve confided a little to some of you on Discord but kept things vague since I didn’t have all the details myself.
So, where does that leave me with HSX and Xtreme? I’m sticking around for as long as I can, but I won’t be as active as I used to be. Honestly, as I write this, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. It’s hard to find the energy to code or even get motivated to upgrade my site—which I still haven’t done, by the way. I barely have time to play a few games, but gaming has been helping me get through all this, so that’s why I’m still gaming a bit.
As you might have seen in a previous post, I’m not completely inactive. I’ve been playing around with scraping Steam to show upcoming games and built a section that scrapes all current sales. I’m thinking about turning that into its own module, but I’m also open to just sharing what I have so others can take it and run with it. Not really sure yet.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be setting up a test site where I’ll update my modules and make sure they work with the latest version of Xtreme. If anyone has suggestions for new features, I’m open to ideas. I still want to finish and implement that avatar mod. We’ll see how things go, but for now, I’m back—sort of. I’m not at 100%, but I’m here enough to be “in action,” even if it’s just a little.
w/b. Sorry to hear. I remember us talking about it a while ago, but didn't relize. No worries about being away, family and health comes first.
ALSO, YES, work on the avatar frame thing. that whing was cool and would be awsome to have.
ALSO, YES, work on the avatar frame thing. that whing was cool and would be awsome to have.
Thanks. I will see what I can do.