These have been a long time coming... well, one of them has been, anyway. The artist had some very severe health problems, over the last couple of years. has been through so much, in the last couple of years, and I have been very patient, in waiting for the commission, that I ordered, and paid for, back in early 2015. For anyone who knows me, I have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), which is a horribly painful nerve disorder. So, I am sympathetic to those of you, who have debilitating pain. Foxiful is one of these people, whom I wish I could just give her any extra energy I have left over, from the day before (which doesn't happen very often, when you have a neurological/nerve pain syndrome/disorder), and I just want to hug her. She's such a sweetheart, and I KNEW that she would eventually get to my commission, when she felt up to it. Well, yesterday was that day, and here are the end results! They're beautiful, aren't they? She drew each one with such skill, and so much love! I'm just thrilled with them both!

I had commissioned the MiLayna Soup Bowl, with a little Ruby Bowl Sitter... but she drew the other, as a gift, because "she made me wait for so long"... as if she really had a choice?! I mean, seriously! Pain isn't a "good thing." Pain DOES let you know you're alive, but with nerve pain, you wish that you weren't. You just want all the pain to end. You can't just "take a pill" and make the pain go away. Medications barely even take the edge off... There are days that you literally CAN'T get out of bed, and all you want to do is cry, but crying makes the pain worse... moving makes the pain worse... breathing makes the pain worse... I recommend to all of you, if you have friends or family members with a neurological/nerve pain syndrome... look up their syndrome/disorder! Google it. Web search it. Go to your local Library, and look through Puplicized Medical Journals, containing the subject or nerve pain, or neurological pain disorders. Look up the McGill Pain Scale, so that you can see just where people's pain rates, compared with those suffering from a pain syndrome, that affects the nerves in the body. Pay attention to the details, and read about actual people, who also suffer with these debilitating disorders. Don't just roll your eyes, the next time someone says they're in pain. Really think about, "Could I live with that kind of pain, 24/7?" Don't think for an instant, that we're just "party poopers" or "lazy" because I can tell you, from experience, we want to be normal again. We want to go out, and sit in a club, with a dance floor, or go to a concert, but the vibrations from the speakers just cause us even more pain. We want the active lifestyles that we used to have... going for walks, or runs, with friends or family, bicycling, rollerblading, surfing, skiing, rock climbing... LIVING NORMAL LIVES! That's what we want... but in most instances, there is no cure for our syndromes/disorders... there are treatments, that are often worse than the syndromes/disorders, themselves, like being practically cut in half, to have expensive medical equipment implanted, in one's body, only to have it fail, and have to go through MORE surgery, AFTER you heal from the first surgery (personal experience), or being put on so many medications for pain, that you just want to sleep, or you feel like a zombie, when you are awake... medicines that make you sick, so you have to take other medicines, to combat the side effects, of the initial medications... that have side effects of their own... This is what it's like to live with a neurological/nerve pain disorder. It's being robbed of the life you once knew, in the blink of an eye. And never being able to go back to that life. It's being told by doctors, that you'll never do something again. In my case, it was walk, and I flat out told them, "Watch Me!" I refused to accept, that I would never walk again. Does walking cause me pain? You bet it does! But the emotional pain, of not being able to walk, ever again, and the depression, from the same, was far worse, than the pain that walking causes me. I can't walk for long periods of time, without resting, but I CAN WALK! And that, right there, is an accomplishment!

Please, don't discount people who say they're in pain, when they "look fine"... Not all disabilities are out in the open for everyone to see. Think about what you would do, or how you would feel, if you were in their place. When you see someone who is overweight, who is struggling at the grocery store, don't just automatically think, "Well, if they just lost some weight, their life wouldn't be so hard." People used to tell me that. My syndrome, and all the side effects of the medications I was on, made me gain a large amount of weight. And I hated it! No matter how healthy I ate, or how small a portion I ate, I couldn't burn enough calories to rid myself of the pounds I packed on. Since my last Spinal Cord Surgery, in February 2013, I have lost 100lbs. And you know what? It still doesn't feel any easier. I am thankful that I lost that weight, and I'm aware that it does make it easier on my body, in many ways, but it doesn't FEEL any easier. Because the nerves are still misfiring, and causing me to be in constant burning pain, and causing me to have to move slowly, so that I don't injure myself further. Almost 2 months ago, now, I tripped over a cord, and fell on the floor, doing damage to the soft tissue in my unaffected knee. Immediately, the CRPS spread to my "good leg" and now, it hurts to just put on pants, again. The slightest touch or anything on my right knee, is agony. And there's nothing anyone can do about it, without cutting me in half, again, and repositioning the leads of my Spinal Cord Stimulator, so that they "help" to block the pain signals from getting to my brain. This does not work as well, as it sounds like it does... So, yeah... moving slowly, and purposefully, is one of the many things that you have to do, when you have a disorder like this one. And each step is a process. Most people take for granted, putting one foot in front of the other, and just walking into a store, and walking out 5 minutes later, with what they needed. For me, and anyone else, who has a debilitating neurological/nerve disorder, each step is a long, thought out process... and takes about 4 times longer, than that of a healthy individual.

So, with that being said, please be patient with us. ALL of us. Because you never know what someone is going through, below the surface. These disorders can hit anyone, at any age, without warning, and completely change someone's life forever. Imagine if YOU had to start all over, and had to think about all the things you used to do, and know that you would probably never do most of them, ever again. How would you feel? It's not something that you "just get over" is it? It's not something you can just "suck it up, and move on" is it? If all of us would think, before saying something, or acting on what we THINK is fact, the World would be a much more pleasant place, in which to live. When you're young, you think you're invincible... until something like this happens, and takes away that feeling forever. Be kind to one another. Be patient with one another. Be helpful to one another. And be understanding of one another.

MiLayna, Ruby & Jacob ©

Artwork & Awesomeness ©  Foxiful

Please Go Give her a Watch, and Fave the original piece here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22990259/