Just a copy of my FA/DA journal so everyone can see the updates and full information.

I've been AFK for most of the last week on account of a horrible situation.

No, this time it isn't me...it's my wife, Lona.

Wednesday before last, she went for a walk. When she came back, she reported a weird, weak, heavy feeling in her left arm. It spread to her face. Her arm "went away" and "came back" about four times over the course of as many hours...then she seemed fine again.

I said I was worried it might be a stroke. She said she felt fine, though, so I let it go. We assumed she stressed herself too much on the walk. Maybe her back was out. Maybe it was a pinched nerve.

Friday before last it happened again. This time I insisted, and we took her to the emergency room.

She and I were at the hospital from that day until this last Wednesday. It turns out that her blood pressure was so incredibly high (240/115 in the ER), that she was literally having little TIA's - transient ischemic attacks. Also known as "mini-strokes." (For more information: http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TIA )

She had several more attacks in the hospital, some that were so dramatic that they included swelling of one side of her face to the point that it looked as if her eye was going to dislocate, and headaches so severe that they had to give her morphine to relieve the pain - and even that didn't take the pain away completely, it only reduced it.

Finally, they seem to have come up on a cocktail of medicines that'll help this not to happen anymore. Three separate blood pressure medications, a supplement (folic acid and B vitamins), Pepcid (to stop all the meds from tearing her stomach apart), Asprin (blood thinner), as well as Cholesterol medication and thyroid regulators.

These meds come to around $200 a month, and she HAS to keep taking them, or the TIAs will not only get worse - she will eventually have an actual stroke.

Since we've been home, she's had one minor attack, yesterday. She's exhausted all the time, and can't work. She'll be applying for disability as soon as she can get herself able to sit at the desk for any real length of time.

Not to mention that we'll have to get her to a doctor within the next month so she can CONTINUE all her prescriptions - they were prescribed at the hospital, which means she has one month to get everything in order before she runs out...and I cannot let her run out. It all comes down to a lot of money that we do not have, and now neither of us are capable of working.

For the first time...I can't beg for commissions to help. All of my time is being taken up taking care of her - as long as she's at such dramatic risk for a stroke, she can't really be left alone for any length of time, and as our desks are in the same room, I have almost no time to work on commissions.

I'm going to try to do a gift piece, at least a sketch, for anyone who can donate, but...I don't know when I'll be able to work. I just...WE just...really need help to get through the next few weeks and months.

Thank you, anyone who can spare a bit to help us.

Paypal: Tigerwolf.2@gmail.com

Dwolla: Tigerwolf.2@gmail.com

I can also take credit cards/debit cards via Square, but we have to set up a time to meet in IMs for that. I have Gtalk and Yahoo.