Stan Sakai, creator of Usagi Yojimbo is facing financial challenges due to a medical costs caring for his wife who has been battling a debilitating illness. She requires 24-hour home care beyond what insurance will cover. The Cartoon Art Professional Society is creating an auction to raise money for Stan and are asking for any cartoonists and comic book artists to contribute original work for the auction.
If you’re interested, head over to Bleeding Cool for more info.
Posted by Stan Sakai on Facebook on November 26, 2011:
Thank you, everybody. I had been gone from FB since yesterday and did not realize that CAPS had started the solicitation for art auction donations to help with Sharon’s care.
A bit of background with what this is all about: In 2004, Sharon woke up one morning and said, “I can’t hear anything out of my left ear.” It was traced back to a meningioma brain tumor. It is benign, but large and inoperable. There was no hope of it getting smaller. The most we could hope for was that it would not grow larger. She underwent radiation therapy, and that seemed to control it. She went in for regular MRIs, and no growth was detected.
However, it started growing in 2010, and very aggressively. She has facial paralysis on the left side (everything happens on the left side). The paralysis includes her throat, vocal chords, and it has even deteriorated her neck bones. She had lost almost 40% of her body weight in a year. She is undergoing chemotherapy. Doctors don’t see any end in sight for this. There are complications because of the tumor, medications, or just coincidence–diabetes, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, compromised immune system. She has a tracheostomy tube for breathing and a G-tube connected to her stomach for a liquid diet. She can take nothing through her mouth. She is bed-bound, but we try to give her daily physical therapy–walking a couple hundred feet with a walker and/or sitting in a wheelchair.
She had been in the hospital and nurse care from April to September, but we are glad she is home. She requires 24 hour care, so daughter Hannah and her family moved in with us. This includes 18 month old grandson Leo, and another grandchild due in February/early March.
A lot of you do know Sharon, as she had been a fixture at my booth at San Diego and many other conventions. Thank you all for your help, good thoughts, and prayers.
http://www.garageartstudio.blogspot.com/2013/11/help-stan-sakai.html?m=1