MegaTokyo Forums

Fred just posted a status update to his Patreon. Copy/pasted below for everybody here.

An update on things
As those of you who follow me on twitter already have probably sussed, I've been in a difficult situation with on of our elderly loved ones that has put me in the situation of literally being a full time caregiver for the past two weeks. It's a complicated situation. That has involved me travelong back and forth between our home and my bus job and where said elderly loved one has been living on his own safely UP TO a few weeks ago when his situation deteriorated rapidly and suddenly. At the time, it was looking like a hospice situation but on a positive note we were able to nurse him back to stable health.

Unfortunately this has severely impacted his ability to live on his own and has required some drastic measures to keep him safe. Right now I'm driving over 120 miles a day to facilitate this, driving the bus and getting jack to and from school. It has decimated my ability to get any desk time recently, and I apologize for the sudden extreme delays, which are even more frustrating as I have this next comic almost fully drawn.

We have a important doctors appointment this morning that should help us determine the next steps in his care and nursing. I cannot continue to do what I've been doing, so hopefully I'll have a better sense after today of when I can get back to a more normal situation. Oh, and I still have two other elderly loved ones who are struggling as well (mom has been in hospice for over a year now and is at least stable even if her dementia keeps gotta getting worse.)

Thank you for your patience, I will have more updates hopefully later today.

As someone with elderly family members in poor health also I fully understand the stress that Fred is under. To Fred, we will patiently wait for you to take care of this latest situation. Family always comes first. Do what you have to so you can take care of your family. We will be here waiting for your return once the dust settles.

+1
What GouryG Said.

+2
What GouryG and cidjen said.

Been there, done that, not fun. Hang in there, Fred.

Ouch... family first. Hang tough, Fred.

More update from Fred today.

https://twitter.com/fredrin/status/1176302544555057152
Finally got home nursing care in. We've been doing this on our own for so many weeks now, gods, my hands are shaking it's good to finally have help

https://twitter.com/fredrin/status/1176531545403908096
Not out of the woods yet, really, not till we are able to figure out how to manage movement and transfers. Lots of help on the medical front, it will take a bit more to determine how to get help for moving around.

More from Fred today:

https://twitter.com/fredrin/status/1178682920229310464
I cant describe my frustration right now. I want to work but I just keep getting thwarted at getting any time to try to draw and when I have tried I've been so tired down I am not getting anything out.

They have some home nursing help now, which is helping some. And they were hoping to get a Hoyer lift soon, which should also help. But it sounds like this isn't near the end yet. Thank you all for your patience and support.

I'll continue praying for Fred and his family

Another update. Fred's father-in-law is going to rehab, which hopefully will help some. He's not in great shape though, so we'll see how it goes. Fred is looking into better ways to work on the comic while he's away from home, since it looks like that might be much of the time for a while yet.
https://twitter.com/fredrin/status/1180151016492343298

I surmised something more important had come up. Patiently waiting until just now, when I went to the Forum to see if there was any news on the current situation. Sorry to read about this — but like Teddy said: family first.
And I’ll add my prayers to those of Ryoga and any others that may be praying for you, Fred.

Wow. I really wish you guys and your family members all the best. =)

*Switching back to patiently waiting, adding patiently praying.*

More from Fred's twitter last night https://twitter.com/fredrin
>> Annndddd.... at the ER at St Joseph's in a2. Argh.
>>I'm so tired of hospitals. -_- so much for how we had things set up now we will have to adjust. They are going to admit him.
>>Ok, that was not fun, that was scary, but thing are stable.and ok for now. Its 3am, gonna head home, Sarahnis gonna stay. That will teach me to plan on drawing live tonight :p
>>I have a half eaten slice of pizza in my desk at home. Gonna go home and finish it.

paarfi wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:36 am

>>I have a half eaten slice of pizza in my desk at home. Gonna go home and finish it.

That is unless one of the cats decided to finish it for you.

All kidding aside, hopefully they can get him stabilized so he can go back home. Be strong Fred, we will be patiently waiting for the dust to settle.

[this is sad]
/me is sending positive thoughts and hope to fredrin

More from Fred's twitter https://twitter.com/fredrin
>>There is nothing as sad as having to help your 12 year old son accept that he will soon be losing his much loved grandfather. He's such a strong and compassionate boy who's trying to support his mom as he deals with his own grief. He's stronger than me. I can't even...
>>If he makes it through the night, they will assess if we can move him home to hospice tomorrow. The people at the hospital have been wonderful and supportive. We have been changing plans and dealing with changing conditions so drastic its been hard to manage.
>>Well, John made it through the night and today we brought him home where he most wanted to be. As much as he can respond, hes happy to be home.

Fred posted an update to his Patreon. Copy/pasted below.

Peace, John.
Last night, Jack's much loved Grandfather and Sarah's Dad, John Wooden, passed quietly and peacefully with Sarah and I by his side. He was a great guy and he will be missed. Peace, John.

Thank you everyone for your support during this difficult couple of months. It was a very difficult time but we were able to see him off peacefully at home as was his wish. I'm exhausted and worn out, especially after the last couple of days here, but after a little rest I can be home here and start working on trying to catch up with everything. Thank you again.[/]

All of our best wishes to Fred and his family. The first two panels of the current comic (#1562) are most appropriate.

We grieve with you, Fred. All our best thoughts and support.

eomdal wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 12:42 pm

We grieve with you, Fred. All our best thoughts and support.

Ditto.

Jack's going to be in a hard situation. I should know: I lost a brother when I was 5. I didn't understand then what I know now. Psych help will always be an option if needed.

In the meantime, my condolences, Fred, for whatever good that may serve.

Fred has been back at work some over the last couple of days, though not yet back up to full speed. There are still issues being handled with his father-in-law's funeral and estate; Fred is fighting off a nasty cold; and there are other ongoing problems. But he is working on getting the Tshirt designs done for Youmacon, and once that's done he should be back on the comic.
Thank you all again for your patience and kind words over the last couple of months.

https://twitter.com/fredrin/status/1186111920958529538
@Youmacon t-shirt is done and links emailed. (raises arms in victory, i finished something!)

Fred also has to do a drawing for the Youmacon ad in the Detroit Metro Times, I think by wednesday. So one last thing before back to the next comic.

Fred got the Metro Times drawing for Youmacon done late last night.
https://twitter.com/fredrin/status/1187257658597953537
I think that's the last major thing before getting back on the comics. Soooooon.

Fred posted this to is Patron today. Copy/pasted here for the rest of y'all.

Back to work on Megatokyo and everything else
Hi everyone. I just wanted to post a quick word that I'm in the process of getting things really rolling again. I've been stymied by a aggressively debilitating cold that (thankfully, after doc visit and xrays and other stuff) is not walking pneumonia like i had feared. Been starting to feel myself again and not needing to lay down for three hours after lifting a spoon and stirring honey in a mug of tea. >_<

I wanted to thank everyone for your patience and support. I'm gonna get all emo and teary eyed if i think about it too much, when i read about twitch streamers who loose 1/3 of their streamers if they take two days off in a row, you folk have been more supportive than i think a lot of people would believe in this day and age. Thank you.

That said, i did pick the worst time to have to hit the brakes two months ago - this next comic is important, and what i do notice from the art i did back at the time is that i was starting to get distracted with how serious things were getting with Sarah's dad and as such i didn't capture what i wanted to at the time. After a bit of work and going over things, and a little re-drawing, i think i am on track with what i want to see for this comic.

Of course, in the midst of this, I have Youmacon looming over me for next weekend. I did get the artwork done i needed to get done, and i will be posting high res versions of it all here. Given how i was feeling and the pressure of a missed deadline I think both versions came out good. I will share them soon. I also have some other sketches and things i can proably pull together and post as a bit of gravy because you guys have had to go a long time without stuff.

Thanks again, and I will be posting stuff over the next few days as best i can. Also be sure to drop in on the live stream where you can watch me struggle with trying to remember how to draw. It's painful, but i know people love train wrecks

Fred

All the best to Fred and his family. I hope they’re coping well and that Fred will be completely over that nasty cold soon.