The reason of my absence

[niebla de fuego]

As some of you may have (or may have not) noticed, I’ve been quite inactive in the paper modeling world for the previous months. And it is quite possible that this inactivity will continue in the future.

Life brings changes. Some good, some bad.

In the past months many things have happened. Most notably, my father's cancer. Since September-October he suffered acute pains in the back. And he lost the mobility of his legs in December. The doctors found a tumor embedded in his spine. Unfortunately it was a malign tumor. A myeloma. That is, cancer in the medulla.

He used to take care of my almost blind mother. Now it has been my turn to take care of both of them.

This situation changed our lives completely. It’s been a very hard time, full of challenges.

We started chemotherapy this week. Hopefully it will work properly. The initial treatment will be six months, so we still have a long way to go. But he is optimistic, and so we all are. Doctors say that if he defeats this cancer he may live many years more. He is only 63. And considering that his mother (my grandma) is still alive with more than 80, and his grandmother lived well beyond 90, he may live a long time if he defeats cancer.

But you know: cancer is unpredictable, and we can not feel safe now. He may die because of this, or he may live. We don’t know to which side the scale is pointing.


This all means I have not been able to make anything else in the past months. All the time has been devoted to take them to the hospital, and to be in charge of the house. Chances are that I won't have any time to make any paper models again in the following year.

I still visit the forums. But I don't comment for lack of time. I still enjoy coming here to see what you are building. However, any kind of artistic production I can do is paused until things get better.

In the box awaitig for completion are the ribbed Se5a and the Savoia. I don't know when I will finish them. If ever.

Hope you all have a good weekend, and I wish you the best.

Kind regards,

Ruben Andres Martinez

 

[zathros]

Ruben, it is good to hear from you. This is a hard time your father, you and your family are going through. Hang in there. You have a lot of people puling for you!

 

[Rogerio Silva]

Your greatest treasure on earth...

Ruben

Your family is the greatest treasure you'll ever have in this Earth, so please, don't even start to say that you're sorry for your absence. It's perfectly justified.
Take good care of the ones who gave you your life and took care of you.
The models can wait, and so can we. Do take your time, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that you and your family will be in our prayers.
If there is a God, I'm pretty sure he knows what's best for all of us.
Que tenga suerte/Best of luck

Rogério Silva

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

Family always comes first. All of us here fully understand such. There is no need for apologies or anything else like that. You do what you need to to help your family. We will always be here. You know that you are always welcome here. You can come back when you are ready to do so.
You have our full support. You and your family will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[zathros]

Please keep us informed. Only because we do care.

 

[niebla de fuego]

Hello dear friends.

Thanks a lot for your kind comments and for your words of encouragement.
It feels good to receive all this support.

Last weeks have been good. We went to a control this week and the blood exams apparently show an improvement in my father's condition. It is still too early to talk about a remission of the cancer. But that apparently means that the chemotherapy is working. Next week we start a new chemo cycle.

The physiotherapy have also helped a lot. He is slowly abandoning the wheel chair, and is using a walker. The surgeon who extracted the tumor was happy to see him standing last week.

My father is happy to know that people around the world whom he even don’t know care about him. This makes him very happy, and has also given him additional strength and hope.

Because of all that my father is optimistic. He is trying hard to get back to his normal life. He now spends a couple of hours every day in the business (he is a locksmith) doing what he knows to do.

All this has relieved some stress and we are a bit more relaxed now. It still amazes me how lives can change in a very short period of time.

Thanks to this very small advances and changes, and thanks to him spending a couple of hours everyday in his business I’ve had some more time for me. Proof of that is the attached photo. As you can see, I am back to building again. I still don’t have as much time as I would like to… but this is a lot compared to not having any time before.

And it looks like I need to warm my hands more... I’ve made some small mistakes building the Canon Spirit… but who cares!!! I’m building again Hopefully I will be approaching the RAF Se5a and the Savoia S.21 before this year is over.

Kind regards, and hope to read you soon

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

I am glad to hear that your father is recovering well and he is able (even if it is for short periods of time) to return to work. That should help a great deal in his total recovery.
I am also glad to see that you have gain some time (even if it is a few minutes a day) for yourself.

You and your family are still in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that your father does indeed make a strong and full recovery and is able to fully beat the cancer.

As for your project, what you have so far looks GREAT. I really can not see any mistakes.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

 

[zathros]

Great News Ruben!! Nice model! You father sounds like an exceptionally strong man. I am Happy for you and your family. Let them know, especially your father, we all, everywhere, are pulling for you.

 

[niebla de fuego]

My father is doing well. He's learning to walk again. Now uses a stick.

That was the good news.

The bad news is that my mother had a bleed in the brain this morning (2am). Tht's very bad news

I'm writing this from the waiting room in emergency. Last time I saw her (5 hours ago) she was not fine.

With my Father's cancer, and now my mother's bleeding in brain, this is becoming a year to forget.

I guess it will be longer before I return properly to the hobby.

Regards.
Ruben.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

I am sorry to hear that your family is being plagued with all of these problems.
I hope that the doctors are able to stop the bleeding in your mothers' head, and that she is able to make a strong and quick recovery.
You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

As for you returning "PROPERLY", do not worry about it. Take care of your family. They come first.
We will ALWAYS be here and you ALWAYS have a home here with us!!!

Thank you for keeping us up to date on what is going on with your family.
We here at Zealot are all pulling for you!!!

 

[zathros]

This is sad. You have each other, that's the only thing good, but also the best part of life, the people we love.

 

[tjbmurph]

Ruben, our thoughts are with you. Your family needs you, don't worry about being here. Your "paper family" will always be ready to support you in whatever way we can

 

[niebla de fuego]

Hello my friends.

The worst has passed.

Surgery was yesterday and it was successful, and my mother is already awake and speaking.

She will be in observation for a few more days.

Doctors said she may have some damage, but despite the very bad experience she made it very well. It could be much worse.

Thanks for your words and support.

RUBEN ANDRES MARTINEZ

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

I am glad to hear that your mother is doing well.
You and you family are in my thoughts and prayers.
Please let your mother know that we here at Zealot are pulling for her.

 

[zathros]

Great news!! Being up and alert so fast is an excellent sign. I believe we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief!

 

[Rogerio Silva]

I do ALWAYS listen to Zathros!

Great news!! Being up and alert so fast is an excellent sign. I believe we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief!

Agreed. Perfect post for the moment. I too feel relieved that this battle has been succefully won.
I DO believe in God (which you don't have to, if you don't want to), and it's my belief that if it's in His will, she'll get even better. You honor your family with the way you're dealing with this whole situation.
All the best,

Rogério

 

[niebla de fuego]

Home, home again.

Yesterday my mother left hospital with good signs of recovery. She is still delicate, but looks like the worst is already past.
There is no apparent damage, besides some bad memory for certain events and some confusion.
Having her at home has also brought back hope and happiness to my father.
We are much peaceful and happy now.

 

[Rogerio Silva]

Great, fabulous, fantastic news!!!

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

OUTSTANDING NEWS!!!
I am glad to hear that your mother is now home, and on her way to a strong recovery.

 

[niebla de fuego]

Hello dear friends.

First of all, thank you again for your comments and your prayers.

Things have improved a bit here. On the one side my father's recent exams are good. He seems to be fighting cancer in a quite positive way. the doctor is glad to see his advances. He still has to take 8 more sessions of chemotherapy, but he is optimistic.

On the other hand, my mother looks much better now. After recovering some energy she is more normal. She can walk with the aid of a walker (and someone behind her, as she stumbles from time to time). She can talk, and speaks perfect. The only sequel seems to be the left eyelid: it doesn't seem to work. Which is a bit of a worry, since her left eye is the only one she can use to see and read... almost. Her vision is very poor in that eye after the glaucoma she had 9 years ago. And her right eye is almost useless, she only sees shadows and lights through it, and that's the one she can open.

But the lazy left eyelid is really a small price to pay for the very hard experience she lived. We were expecting the consequences of the aneurisma to be much worse. Fortunately she had recovered in a way even the doctors are amazed. We are still waiting to begin physical therapy to strengthen her legs and to recover some equilibrium.

This were hard times for our family, but fortunately hard times seem to be passing now. This weeks have passed very quickly. They demanded a lot from us, but we are happy we could face them as a family.

There is even a person who is helping us at home with the kitchen and the house, so the burden to carry is less.

I could even devote some time to paper modeling!!!! Soon I'll be uploading photos of some advance I made in the RAF Se5a I was working in last year.

Kind regards to you all!