Recently I've been diagnosed with two Stage 4 lesions in my right ankle, will need surgery + bone grafts to repair it, and it's going to complicate NightBlooming for a few months as a result. Right now the surgery is scheduled for July 22, but we're all going to have to start getting ready now (me especally).

I will be 12 weeks non-weight bearing (which means "unable to walk"), and while I hope I'll be able to open back up before 12 weeks is up, I will be in recovery and not able to make or pack things as fast as I normally can. 

There are a few things that are not much time, money, or effort, but would help preparations so much!

Start Stocking Up Early: The worst possible thing for me is a big glut of orders just before I close up (which will wipe out my inventory) and another big glut of orders when I open back up. For the next few months, every time you place an order, think about picking up extra and slowly building a stockpile. If you use 100g of Fire Genasi a month, plan on having an extra 300g stashed by July. Building this up over time is easiest on your pocketbook and on me production-wise as I can then make more inventory in advance.

Spread the Word! I do my best to strike a balance between communicating and not blowing up your inbox, but there are people who always, the day after I close up shop for my Yule break, message me in a freakout because they didn't know. There are lots of NightBlooming customers who are not Patrons, who are not on this mailing list, on places like Reddit, the Long Hair Community, Twitch, and more. If you have reach in those places, or have a platform of your own, letting people know to stock up an lend support does so much!

Refer A Friend for Moonseeds (or just because you like them): At the bottom of the Rewards page is a form that lets you send a free $5 gift certificate to a friend, and when they become a NightBlooming customer and use it, you get bonus Moonseeds that you can redeem for free products, ebooks, and discounts. 

Patron funds let me buy inventory when a bunch of things run out at once, upgrade or replace equipment, and generally acts as a buffer for tough times.

And tough times are for sure ahead!

• Access to the Patron's Only Storefront. Every month Patrons at the $2 tier and above get a code for access to this special section of NightBlooming. It has Blossom-sized shampoo and conditioner bars, honey from our bees, protection pouches, NightBlooming Washi tape and more!
   
• Vote on and have early access to Limited Edition Shampoo Bars: The Springtime ones will be voted on soon, and Patrons will both pick the scent and have early access to it in the Patron's Only Storefront. 
   
• 15% off Evergreen Discount: Every month, Patrons of the $7 Tier and higher get a code for 15% off at NightBlooming. 
   

• NightBlooming & Iyarri Chronicles Merch: At the $20 /mo Tier and higher you get an exclusive item shipped to you every three months on top of your other benefits. Free shipping worldwide but you MUST stay subscribed at this tier to get them. Items include a NB Tote, an Until the Skies Fall mug, an Iyarri Chronicles t-shirt, and a NB mug, all designed by me!
   
• Read my unpublished writing, Wardens of the Equinox: Inspired by my Dungeons & Dragons game, this has been so healing for me after writing The Iyarri Chronicles! (All tiers)
   
• Access to the Crow Keeper's Path Collection: This has been so much fun, and any paid tier has access to watch my attempts to befriend the local crows (and everything else in my backyard). I've set this month's post free so you can enjoy it with a free Patreon account before pledging at a $2 tier to access the complete collection. 

Here's the local murder accidentally taking out their birdbath 🥹This, Skinwalker deer, a chorus of coyote, and more are in the free post, too!

psst... did you know you can GIFT patronage? It's the little icon right next to Membership options.

So if you know someone that would LOVE to be a Patron but can't swing it, or was but had to stop their patronage, it's a quick and lovely gift to brighten someone's day!

Thank you all, so, so very much. I'm blessed to have such caring, lovely customers, many of whom I consider friends. In an insane world, that means a lot! 💚

The Long Version for those that are interested in the nitty gritty details!

For those of you around in 2020 and who did not memory-hole the entire year, you may remember that I had ankle surgery smack in the middle of the COVID epidemic. If I could have at all waited, I would have, but the pain was so overwhelming that the second they opened surgeries back up I took it.

What I had then was called a lesion. Essentially a tiny bit of my ankle bone and the cartilage atop it broke off and I had this bone chip floating in the center of my ankle. It was exactly as painful as you'd imagine it to be.

During that surgery, they removed the bone chip, cleaned up the cartilage, and tamped stem cells into the spot the bone broke off from to try to encourage more cartilage to grow.

For awhile, things seemed much better, but then around 2023 my pain came roaring back. I found another doctor (nothing wrong with the first one, this one was just in town rather than an hour away). Had another MRI. The lesion had failed to thrive and without cartilage there the fluid in my joint had begun forcing its way into my ankle bone, causing it to swell. This, too, is exactly as painful as you'd expect it to be. It's on par with bone cancer.

The frustrating part is that it doesn't cause me to limp (at least not often). For all the pain my ankle is mostly sound (sometimes it clicks, catches, or gives out entirely), and unless the pain is overwhelming I don't favor it. This is because the pain is just always that persistent, it's simply not better or worse if I stand or walk on it.

But I didn't want to get it fixed. Surgery would mean months of non-weight bearing and then having to baby it for the next 12 months so I didn't screw it up all over again. Knowing I had a bunch of DIY on the old house, and a big move that would require a lot of heavy lifting, it was wisest to wait until the move was over.

Well, we moved last August and in Jan I started the process of looking into surgery again (for you non-Americans just trust that anything that doesn't make sense is because of some stupid US health insurance nonsense rule). That kicked off with an MRI to see where I'm at and, well, it's bad.

I have 2 stage 4 lesions now, meaning I have two more little floaty bone bits inside my ankle, and bone marrow edema (the technical term for the ankle fluid forcing its way into my bones). It's so bad my surgeon took one look at the results and didn't even meet with me, she referred me to a specialist. I met with the specialist who said that I will need 2 bone grafts and several of my ligaments adjusted so those bad spots stop banging on the opposing bone and re-creating the same problem.

Recovery is 12 weeks non-weight bearing, and I will need 12 months of physical therapy and rehabilitation before I am back to normal.

To say that I'm on planet "well this sucks" is an understatement. 🥲

Surgery is presently scheduled for July. In the coming months I'll be continuing to work on a plan that minimizes how long NightBlooming is closed (I'm hoping 4-6 weeks tops) gives me the time and ability to pre-make inventory so most of what I do during recovery is just pack orders, not make things blunts the very substantial financial aspect of all of this.

Right now, I'm doing a lot of figuring out and I don't have a lot of answers--but I do want to say thank you--because one thing I DO know for certain is that my customers' support gives me some peace of mind.