WHERE I’VE BEEN & WHY I HAVEN’T BEEN POSTING AS MUCH THIS YEAR! October “23”

Hey there!

This is definitely not going to be like my other blog posts but a bit more personal as to why I quit posting & being as present online as I have in the past. I feel that with everything that has transpired this year, I should post this here for anyone who genuinely wants to know more about this crazy woman behind the machines & cool costumes & where I have been!

I’ve really  debated whether or not to post this but I felt it was important to share. I don't want anyone thinking I am at home playing Call of Duty & just ignoring work lol.

TBH I am a workaholic & rarely take any time off for “me” things.

To be blunt, I have been literally fighting for my life. Yeah 2 near death experiences in such a short period of time can change your outlook on life!

First off I probably sent you here which means we might be Social Media Friends or more! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you that have reached out to see how I’ve been doing! Very few know what I have been going through.

If you’re new to SiQ, my life (in general) is NEVER  this crazy. Lol I promise, this has just been a chaotic past year, to say the least. But we believe I’m through the worst of it.

So, to preface this… This is on the heels of me healing from an emergency total knee replacement from the end of last year which has been a hard recovery! Lol another crazy story for a different time.

So, first part of July, randomly one day woke up & was feeling fantastic. Was excited to start the day. Had plants to go to see the new Indians Jones movie with bf & little brother & back home to get some work done while my chef bro cooked my favorite dinner! Home made burgers & fries! Yum

Within 10 minutes of waking up, I suddenly got sick to my stomach. While I was being “sick” I felt a very sharp pain go up my right side. Figured I’d pulled a muscle “being sick”. But I’d never felt a pain like this before.

Over the next half hour the pain got worse to where I told the guys I was going to have to cancel plans. I insisted they should still go to the movie so their day was not a total loss.

Bf watched me sit on the couch in tears doubled over (still thinking I pulled a muscle or something like that). About 30 min in he said, “grab your bag I’m taking you to quick care”. From the time it took to walk from the couch to the front door I realized it was far worse. I told him, “we need to go to the closest ER, something is definitely wrong”. Talk about the most painful Car-ride EVER! Every little  bump or dip in the road I felt like my side was going to explode!

After about 4hrs at the ER and several tests, meds & waiting later, my nurse comes & informs us that I had acute appendicitis, that it was really bad.

This particular ER was not a fully functioning hospital, ER only. So they had to transport me to the main facility for immediate surgery. I don’t remember much from the transport or getting to the main hospital but apparently within 45 minutes of transporting & wheeling me in their door, I was rushed into surgery. If you know hospitals, that is super fast!

My surgeon came to speak to me afterwards and let me know that my appendix was so bad that if I hadn’t came in when I did, even waited any longer, my story would be very different! My appendix was so bad they worried it would rupture during surgery, luckily it didn’t. Due to the level of pain & risk of infection I was hospitalized for almost 48hrs.

So crazy to think that a small cluster of cells inside your body, half the size of your pinky finger can get pissed off enough it can kill you… and with no warning whatsoever! I can’t express how very fortunate & thankful i am to be alive.

Through the next couple of weeks I continued to work through the pain & take orders, thinking I was in the clear just had a bit of healing to do, it’s not the first time i have done so but… About 2 weeks after my appendectomy I got sick again one night out of the blue. I won’t go into any gory details but it was very different than the appendix illness.

Over the next few weeks I ended up back in the ER 8 times, and a couple of extended hospital stays. More tests, several EKG’s, CAT scans, blood tests etc. to finding out I had Sepsis! 😭 (basically a very serious, life threatening blood infection). Most likely a result from my appendectomy (but the doctors and nurses naturally won’t confirm that). Or from pushing myself too hard too soon, who knows.

Guys, I’m still relatively young & feel like I am healthier than I have been since I was younger (I know it doesn’t sound like that from this post but it’s true… or maybe I’m in complete denial & turning into an old fart lol and that’s on me).

But I’ve lost over 70lbs in the past 2 years. Completely changed my diet & life style & now exercise regularly etc. I know I’m not getting younger haha. I guess Life just happens!

So, we still don’t know the exact cause of the sepsis & I am going through more testing with a specialist, but we believe that I am through the worst of it. 🤞

Obviously, this is not only affected my personal life, but my business life & everything in between and I am deeply sorry if this has affected you and any orders you have placed with me.

I have an amazing assistant/friend that has helped me out immensely since the beginning of this chaos. But there is only so much she could do.

I normally work alone but occasionally have some seasonal help doing prep work etc. But with being unable to work & other very hard circumstances that arose throughout this whole process, she has basically been carrying my company, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

I am back at home as of this last week & feeling a bit better but still moving slower than before, still healing & trying to get back to some kind of normalcy BUT trying to be smarter about it and NOT overdue it & risk my health.

So if you do have an order with me, again I am so sorry for the delay. Obviously, this was not a chosen situation. Believe me, I’d rather be at home building & creating and doing what I love & passionate about, than what I have been going through.

Please continue to be patient with me while I get back into the swing of things, it may take a while. My assistant and I have sent out emails if you have not received one definitely check your spam box. We’ve tried to stay in contact with everyone & keep you all informed but it has been very hard with me being in & out of the hospital & not having access to my home computer etc.

All I can really do is extend my deepest apologies & move forward from here!

I am cautiously eager to get back to costuming & reconnecting with everyone on my social media! I miss building & teaching.

When my body allows it I will get back to uploading tutorial on my YouTube channel. And will start posting progress of commissions on Instagram stories like before!

Thank you for stopping by & reading. Again I know this is outside of my normal content that I usually post on my blogs but felt it was important to share.

Take care of yourselves as well & please be kind to those around you, you never know what someone else could be going through!

Much love & respect, Susie Q