This journal is dedicated to all artists who live with and/or overcome the constraints of their medical conditions to share their beautiful art, thereby encouraging the rest of us to keep going!  I understand – and I thank you!  

WAY WAY TOO LONG!

I have missed all of you and DA!  I can't believe it's been almost 10 months since I last posted anything!  I have checked into DA here and there to view journals and deviations but haven't been well enough to participate.  I am "back now" at least part-time, some of the time and I can't yet say exactly how often or how much, since I have much catching up to do in just "regular life things".

It's been a long haul and "I'm still hauling".  I developed some severe neuromuscular problems with loss of balance, loss of coordination, loss of muscle strength/function with difficulty swallowing and progressive inability to stand or walk, several months ago.  I have not been able to post anything because it became too difficult to hold my arms up to work on the computer for any length of time.

After many different Dr. visits, more blood drawn than you want to know and scan after scan, it was discovered I had a Vitamin B12 deficiency.  Even though I was getting 100% of my daily allowance my body just wasn't absorbing it and my bloodwork was normal, so there was no way to know anything was wrong.  (I'll provide some links at the end if anyone wants a explanation for how this can happen)   

As I unfortunately learned, vitamin B12 deficiency can cause severe neurological symptoms because it takes B12 to keep your nerves covered (protected with myelin) and my myelin was degrading and developing holes in it, creating a similar situation to a hole in the covering over an  electrical wire – which then shorts out and the signals just don't get transferred to the end target so things don't work properly – in this case, my muscles.  

None of the doctors can assure me that the B12 deficiency is the only problem (the symptoms are similar to Multiple Sclerosis) and only time will tell.  I have improved and can at least walk now and stand and swallow with caution but I still have some difficulty and have quite a ways to go.  Nerves take a very long time to heal – up to a year and I've only been on the B12 shots for 4 months.  I'm not looking for sympathy - I'm just informing you so you know why I haven't been here.   Understanding is always nice though.   

To all my friends at DA,  whether it be in Fractals, Photography, Wallpaper or all fields of art – I have missed you!  

For anyone that might have featured any of my work while I was gone, a most sincere THANK YOU and my apologies for not being here to thank you!  

Links to information about Vitamin B12 deficiency:

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Hugzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,

Anita    



ART I LOVE OF THE PEOPLE THAT I WATCH