Hi, folks. I've had a few people ask me how I've been doing, and I've been slow in responding, so I thought I would let those who are interested know in detail.

For almost two years, my life has been focused on acute chronic pain and its management. I had a wisdom tooth come in (mine came in very late, in my mid-40s), and in the process it cracked and abscessed the two molars next to it. I know this now, but didn't at the time it was all happening; that took visits to two physicians, a dentist and an oral surgeon to figure it all out.

The pain was excruciating, akin to being stabbed in the side of the head. Stupidly, I just took boatloads of ibuprofen and hoped the problem would go away. I did this for way too long.

In April 2016, I finally had the wisdom tooth and the molar next to it extracted. The pain subsided somewhat, and I figured what was left over was just something I was going to have to put up with.

That seemed to be the case until a month or so ago, when all the old pain returned, and then some. On top of all the stabbing pain and high fevers, I started having a few mild seizures. I had a stroke back in 2012, so it jumped to the forefront of my mind that I might be having another.

Luckily, that wasn't the case--but what was taking place wasn't very pleasant, either. The cracked and abscessed teeth had been pumping bacteria and other toxins into my head and various other locations on the right side of my body. Since I had delayed having the first two bad teeth pulled, I had only made the situation worse--and it continued even afterward. (I was told this had nothing to do with hygiene, and that all the brushing and flossing in the world wouldn't have solved the problem, that the teeth in question needed to either be root-canaled and capped or pulled.)

Last Tuesday, I had the other molar pulled (all the teeth involved were in the upper right quadrant). The pressure, pain and infection seem to be under control for now, but I have been warned to monitor the signs very closely, and take immediate action should there be another flare-up.

The aftermath has left some damage that could prove to be permanent. The hearing and vision on my right side have been affected pretty seriously; I am told this could improve over time now that the infection has been flushed out, but some or all of the damage could remain. This is the main reason I haven't done any art coloring or writing of note for such a long time--I just haven't been able to focus through the pain or blurred vision. I have also experienced nerve damage on the right side of my neck, and some infection-related issues in my right lung.

My oral surgeon also gave me an ominous warning. He told me, had the infection reached my brain stem, it could well have been fatal. So, as I touched on earlier, this is something I have to watch closely for some time to come.

After all this, I am cautiously optimistic. I am feeling better. After almost two years of constant, piercing pain, it feels like heaven just being able to sleep more than three hours at a stretch.

So, that's why I really haven't been much of a presence for such a long time. This garbage dominated me physically and mentally to the point that all the other aspects of my life fell to the wayside.