FAN ART BOX FOR SALE (MONEY WILL GO TO GOOD CAUSE!)

Okay, so here's the deal... My goal for this year was to open a Savings Account for myself. And I was hoping to do it before the end of October because my bank is having a deal where they'll toss in an extra $25 (good deal!), buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...I've done the math and I'm probably going to be about $50 short to meet the deadline. So...I'd like $50.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about my health lately. And, although I've got some troubles (as you may have read about in my other entries), at least I can walk.

Now, this wasn't always the case. Here's me circa 1986:
I was born with a birth defect. Ya know how you're supposed to have a ball & socket on your leg/hip? I didn't have that. So, I ended up needing to have extremely extensive hip surgery that included all sorts of bone grafting and whatnot. This, of course, was very expensive. And my parents had both been laid off from their jobs at the time...

Children's Hospital and Crippled Children's Services came to the rescue. They paid for my surgery in full. That's the only reason that I'm able to walk now.

I'd really like to repay them.

That's where the title of this entry comes in. I've made a piece of fan art and I'm selling it on eBay. I want to keep $50 for myself (to fulfill my dream of finally having a Savings Account!) and then I want to give the rest to Children's Hospital!! So... If I get $150 for my art, I'll keep $50 and give $100 to the Hospital. If I get $1,000,000 for it, I'll keep $50 and give $999,950 to the Hospital! Get it? :)

I will post pictures of the check (and probably me going to the hospital and giving it to them) after the item sells.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd...without further ado, here's what I'm selling:
It's a wooden box. It's eight (8) inches long, four & a half (4.5) inches wide, and one & a half (1.5) inches deep. I used acrylic paints and black ink pens to decorate it. The bottom (not shown) is black with little pieces of felt glued on so that it won't scuff up anyone's furniture. There are fourteen (14) different comic strip/book/characters represented on the box's top. These are all artists/comics/characters that have changed my life in some way or simply make me smile. I hope that some (or all!) have done the same for you at some point!

They are:
1.) Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner
2.) Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell
3.) Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck by Don Rosa (Carl Barks is the original guy, of course, but I adore Rosa's work)
4.) Archie Comics (my fave is Jughead!) by Samm Shwartz (there are a lot of artists that've done Archie comics, but he's my personal favourite)
5.) The Farside by Gary Larson
6.) Questionable Content by Jeph Jaques
7.) Batman (I chose to draw him in the style of the animated series--which was also the comic series I enjoyed most)
8.) Rachel The Great by Rachel Nabors
9.) Cowbirds In Love by Sanjay Kulkarni
10.) Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
11.) Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
12.) Serenity by RealBuzz Studios
13.) SKINCUBE by Ramiro Roman, Jr.
14.) EC Comics (the "Old Witch" from the Haunt of Fear series is featured here)

Here's the listing on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170386715476

HAPPY BIDDING!!! and THANK YOU!!!!!

--Lauren*
PS: This is my first eBay listing, but I used to list things in high school under my parents' eBay name (zotzcoin). So please don't be nervous about my non-existant Feedback rating on my own account at the moment. :) I also sell things on Amazon under the "littlezotz" seller name as well and I have 100% positive feedback on there!

Another Hypoglycemia Post

Okay, so the doctor got the full panel of results back today.

Everything from yesterday still stands. And I got the note to give to Del Taco that says to "please excuse Lauren to take a five minute break every two hours to eat something due to her medical condition." So that should help...

I was also told today that I'm at EXTREME HIGH RISK for diabetes. Apparently my pancreas is being "grossly overworked" (and, yes, my pancreas ACHING is the cause of the mysterious painful stitch I get in my side sometimes--omg). I was told that I will get diabetes, but depending on how well I take care of myself, it could be in a year, in 10 years, or in 50 years. I just have to keep up with my food diary (I write down everything I eat and how I feel after it) and monitor any changes and go in for check-ups and so forth.

I need to eat SMALL, frequent meals. I had the frequency right. And the type of meals right, but I was eating too much. Which is why I would sometimes feel really sluggish and have to lie down after eating. My body simply cannot process large meals. It's even been strongly recommended to me that if I ever go out to eat, to have the cook put half of my meal into a doggie bag before I even get started. I must "never" overeat.

Also, apparently, if I don't watch my weight, it could be the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak. As soon as I get "fat," that'll most likely be what triggers the diabetes to officially start up. O_O Jeez! (Looks like I trimmed down just in time!!)

So... There ya go then. I have to eat ultra small meals every 2 hours, I need to exercise & stay trim, and all that stuff.

Thank you again for all the support.

--Lauren*
PS: If I was ever mean to you because I was going through a blood sugar crash, I am very VERY sorry.

Hypoglycemia

Okay, so a few of you know that I've been having some troubles with my health lately...

• Exhaustion/fatigue
• Headaches
• Irritability/temper flare-ups
  
• Insomnia at night
  
• Confusion/trouble focusing/indecisiveness
• Severe PMS
• Depression
• Nervousness
• Vision problems (blurring, spots, aching eyes)
• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness at random (which comes with excessive yawning & sighing)
  
• Joint/muscle pain, even with little to no activity to "cause" it
  
• Numbness
• Constantly cold hands & feet
• Ringing in ears
• Indigestion & internal tremblings
• Light & noise sensitivity
• Cold sweats

This is partly why I've been even more anti-social than usual lately. I haven't felt good in a long time now.

There are a few of you who know that I'm hypoglycemic. Well, a few months ago, I ended up having a really bad "attack" in Ramiro's car--I went into an angry fit, a crying jag, an anxiety attack, and nearly passed out. It was at that point that Ramiro (poor guy!) went "You have GOT to get yourself under control."

It was at that point that I finally started taking my hypoglycemia seriously. I was first diagnosed with it when I was 15, but for years I was in denial. Then, when I started dating Ramiro, I began to take things more seriously, but I didn't really know how to handle it other than eating frequently (which I had tried for a stint in high school but eventually gave up on). Sooooooooooooooo... I bought a bunch of books, went online, talked to people, etc. and really researched it. And my diet was all wrong! I ended up changing my diet to what was essentially a "Diabetic Diet"--so NO SUGAR and NO WHITE FLOUR--and ended up feeling better than I had in YEARS! (Not to mention I lost 15 pounds and 10 inches!)

But then, I started working at Del Taco (and we get no breaks!--it's absurd!), and then I sprained my back, and then I had my period...and then everything went to crap.

It was a pretty fast decline after that.

Ramiro finally convinced me to seek professional help. I put aside my beefs with doctors and went to get some tests done. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that my glucose tolerance test is today.

Basically, I bombed my test.

The lowest anyone's blood sugar should ever go is 75. Mine was at 34.

So... I don't just have hypoglycemia. I have SEVERE hypoglycemia. The doctor called me up to give me my results and was just...marveling... He didn't even want to think about how low my blood sugar might go (or may have gone!) if I weren't on my awesome hypoglycemia diet. And frankly I don't want to think about it either.

And, on a side note, Glucose Tolerance tests are really Hellish. This was the 3rd time I've had to take one. They're awful. I hope that none of you have to take one ever. You know the part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince where Dumbledore has to drink that stuff to get the locket?? It's like that. Only I had to get a bunch of blood drawn on top of drinking something painfully bad (it felt like it was burning the back of my throat). Ramiro could barely watch. I was so glad to have him with me though. Especially after it was over (the test takes 3 hours). I was very queasy and dizzy and had a bunch of spots in my vison. Terrible. And then I came home and ate 2 sandwiches, a peach, and a bunch of sunchips all in one sitting. haha. I hadn't been that starved since my first black belt test!

So, basically, it's "imperative" that I eat "small frequent meals." I'm going to be getting a note to give to my boss that FORCES Del Taco to give me breaks to eat some snacks. And if they won't comply, I'm going to have to quit (yes, it's that important).

It's also been recommended that I see a "lady doc" for my "lady parts" to get my periods/PMS under control (probably with pills) at least for a little while until I can get my blood sugar levels back to something resembling normal.

So that's the good news, I guess. While I'll always have hypoglycemia and it'll always have to be taken care of (much like my allergies to soy & fish!), it CAN be controlled.

So...there you go then. That's what's been going on with me lately.

And, if anyone out there reading this has Hypoglycemia or knows someone who has it, please take it seriously.

Thank you to all of you who have been so supportive. And special thanks to Ramiro. I love you.

--Lauren*

A Part of You

I posted a new painting on my Deviant Art account last night. My first new painting since May...


A Part of You by ~littlezotz on deviantART

It's fan art of Ramiro Roman, Jr's stuff.

I know it's normally kind of lame to do "fan art" of your significant other's work... But his stuff is just so dang cool!!

--Lauren*

First Post

Hello!

Welcome to the official blog of Lauren R. Tharp

Feel free to check out my website here: http://littlezotz.webs.com

I'll be making posts when I can about me, and my stuff.

--Lauren*