Extra Credits Artist Amazed at Fan Support
The artist who draws Extra Credits shares the details of her injuries and her immense gratitude.
Earlier this week, we learned that Allison Theus, the artist who draws all of the custom images for Extra Credits, suffers from a chronic injury to both of her arms and shoulders. The response to the fundraising efforts of James Portnow's RocketHub page have been phenomenal - as of this writing fans of the show have donated more than $63,000 for Allison's surgery. We asked Allison the details of her injury, how the surgery will help and what the overwhelming support of The Escapist Magazine community means to her. (Hint: A lot!)
Caution for those easily grossed-out, Allison's injuries sound downright awful. "Both my shoulders need work," she said. "The one side needs a couple of ligaments reattached and some crunched cartilage cleaned out - the injury lets the bone slip out of the socket and when it does it lays on the main nerve branch that runs down my arm and causes everything from unpleasant tingling to incapacitating pain and uncontrollable, full arm twitching (it's weird to watch)."
That was the major problem, but then her other shoulder started acting up. "Out of the blue, my good shoulder (the one that had already had two traumatic dislocations and required arthroscopic surgery to keep it in [the socket] 4 years back) decided to tear itself out again," said Allison "Now, I'm faced with a labrum tear and nerve damage on that side."
What will the surgery do to help? "I've been told the one side will need open surgery to fix due to its proximity to the nerves and that there is a risk of partial paralysis should they nick something important," she said. "The most recent injury I hope will only require arthroscopic surgery again to fix. Last time they sutured/stapled everything back to the bone and tightened everything up.
"The worry and to some extent the inevitable outcome is that if I don't take care of this, I will end up needing shoulder replacement surgery and/or end up permanently disabled."
What would happen if the surgery were delayed? "If I don't get the injuries fixed my shoulders will continue to tear and fall out and cause nerve problems that will likely result in paralysis," she said. "If I wait too long, shoulder repair will eventually turn into shoulder replacement surgery. If I do nothing, I'm looking at being permanently disabled, unable to use either arm effectively."
Losing functionality in your arms would be terrible for anyone, but for Allison it would mean being unable to create the art she loves. "Yesterday I was trapped, scrounging around for some way to work things so that I could at least get a little bit of help with my most recent injury, while staring down the realization that I might never be able to use my arms again normally. It's tough to have to confront the fact that you could lose your ability to do everything you love and live off of."
Because of the support from fans, such a scenario has been prevented. "I have to say, it's been amazing watching the outreach from EC fans. I never expected it would be like this, and I'm eternally grateful to everyone who has thrown money or well-wishes or prayers my way," Allison said. "Today, thanks to you guys, I can get one of these shoulders fixed and see it through rehab. It's unbelievable. I can't thank everyone enough."
The support for Allison truly has been amazing. The fundraising goal for her surgeries has already been met, but feel free to continue to offer support for Allison as she recovers from her injuries here [http://rockethub.com/projects/2165-extra-credits].
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The artist who draws Extra Credits shares the details of her injuries and her immense gratitude.
Earlier this week, we learned that Allison Theus, the artist who draws all of the custom images for Extra Credits, suffers from a chronic injury to both of her arms and shoulders. The response to the fundraising efforts of James Portnow's RocketHub page have been phenomenal - as of this writing fans of the show have donated more than $63,000 for Allison's surgery. We asked Allison the details of her injury, how the surgery will help and what the overwhelming support of The Escapist Magazine community means to her. (Hint: A lot!)
Caution for those easily grossed-out, Allison's injuries sound downright awful. "Both my shoulders need work," she said. "The one side needs a couple of ligaments reattached and some crunched cartilage cleaned out - the injury lets the bone slip out of the socket and when it does it lays on the main nerve branch that runs down my arm and causes everything from unpleasant tingling to incapacitating pain and uncontrollable, full arm twitching (it's weird to watch)."
That was the major problem, but then her other shoulder started acting up. "Out of the blue, my good shoulder (the one that had already had two traumatic dislocations and required arthroscopic surgery to keep it in [the socket] 4 years back) decided to tear itself out again," said Allison "Now, I'm faced with a labrum tear and nerve damage on that side."
What will the surgery do to help? "I've been told the one side will need open surgery to fix due to its proximity to the nerves and that there is a risk of partial paralysis should they nick something important," she said. "The most recent injury I hope will only require arthroscopic surgery again to fix. Last time they sutured/stapled everything back to the bone and tightened everything up.
"The worry and to some extent the inevitable outcome is that if I don't take care of this, I will end up needing shoulder replacement surgery and/or end up permanently disabled."
What would happen if the surgery were delayed? "If I don't get the injuries fixed my shoulders will continue to tear and fall out and cause nerve problems that will likely result in paralysis," she said. "If I wait too long, shoulder repair will eventually turn into shoulder replacement surgery. If I do nothing, I'm looking at being permanently disabled, unable to use either arm effectively."
Losing functionality in your arms would be terrible for anyone, but for Allison it would mean being unable to create the art she loves. "Yesterday I was trapped, scrounging around for some way to work things so that I could at least get a little bit of help with my most recent injury, while staring down the realization that I might never be able to use my arms again normally. It's tough to have to confront the fact that you could lose your ability to do everything you love and live off of."
Because of the support from fans, such a scenario has been prevented. "I have to say, it's been amazing watching the outreach from EC fans. I never expected it would be like this, and I'm eternally grateful to everyone who has thrown money or well-wishes or prayers my way," Allison said. "Today, thanks to you guys, I can get one of these shoulders fixed and see it through rehab. It's unbelievable. I can't thank everyone enough."
The support for Allison truly has been amazing. The fundraising goal for her surgeries has already been met, but feel free to continue to offer support for Allison as she recovers from her injuries here [http://rockethub.com/projects/2165-extra-credits].
Permalink