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By on 8-18-2010 in Important Updates

It is almost a year since Suzanne’s spine operation and the issues it generated (hole in her spinal cord, multiple operations to fix it and then contracting menengitis) and I find myself in deep reflection of where we are and what our future holds,

The medical profesion has left us in a little nothingness, the current situation is however frustrating and draining.  We have tried our best to keep the severity of our situation private as it prove to be distressing to Suzanne to discuss it, but now we need your support more than ever.  I want you all to be part of keeping Suzanne’s artwork alive through this difficult nightmare. Making this post feels a bit  like giving up and has proven to be extremely difficult to write.

I have raided her Sketch books to find originals and unused images to create new artworks from but the truth is we are running short of suitable designs, Suzanne continues to keep  exercising her arms and hands to try to keep her abilities up to scratch but Sketches that may have taken an hour are now taking weeks, she isnt happy with the quality of them!  This is due to loss of feeling in her arms and legs and the constant pain she experiences.  The medications are strong and make her so tired and irritable and often cause her to be unable to think straight.  It has lead us to thinking of closing the shop and for me to seek part time work around the time I spend caring for her.  Sadly the time she requires makes even a part time job out of the question and instead we hope that the gorjussart and etsy shop will contribute to keep our bills paid.  Unfortunately as the months have progressed the lack of new works have taken their toll and we face stark financial problems, we do still have options available to us but I worry about our immediate future.

It has been a roundabout of highs and lows and it has taken its toll on me and I am struggling to keep up with emails and errors are creeping into the orders.  In order to make things more sustainable I am looking at setting a day specifically for making and shipping orders, rather than the current 48 hr options.  It will affect delivery times to a small degree, but will actually allow me to focus fully on the orders and hopefully help getting orders out on time and correctly.  At the moment I am hoping to make this day a Friday or possibly Weds, I may need to alternate it each week.   We are hoping to find a way for Suzanne to create artworks in her own time without the pressures of trying to pay the bills, and we do have some interesting ideas to share with you, please support us by letting us know if the idea is any good or not.  Time is a luxury we are struggling to find.

I’ll explain a little of how a typical day goes from Suzanne’ s point of view.

She will be woken by myself to get her to take her morning meds before I take the kids to school, she is rarely aware of what day it is and often has no movement or feeling in her legs and sometimes her arms.  The pain is intolerable and often as she wakes the squeals of pain start and I have to help her move the affected limbs and possibly rub them to help the feeling start to return ( to HER normal range of feeling!), normally this feels like the limbs are on fire for her and I find it so difficult to put her through this.  After a few hours the limbs usually come back under her control but are so weakened.

After dropping the kids at School I head home to help Suzanne get her morning routines completed, often I have to wake her again for this and the short journey on crutches to the onsuite bathroom is becoming more and more difficult. More often than not I have to carry her to and from the bathroom, other than this journey Suzanne goes nowhere. The only time we have to take her anywhere is to the hospitals and that is a process that utterly breaks my heart.  I can not possibly explain how painful it is to put Suzanne in the passenger car seat, lower it back so she can lie on her side with cushions everywhere and then set off on a journey of her screaming in agony all the way there and back.  Even in her wheelchair the pain persists and by the time we are seen she can’t answer simple questions like her name.

Our immediate goals are to get her able to sit in her wheelchair comfortably so thatour previous ‘normal’ life may become a possibility again, anything that allows us a degree of what we used to love back, but we have no guarantee’s that this will ever happen.  This is something that I have come to realise I have not accepted yet, I have attended many carers group meetings and now realise that I still hold expectations for our future that are now unrealistic.  It is so simple to assume that she will improve with time but the damage may be permanant. The orginal operation that left a hole in her spinal cord, the loss of CSF fluids, the many surgical procedures to fix the hole and the menengitis have all played a part in her current condition.  All could have lead to this damage, the only medical opinion we have is that if it doesn’t improve soons, it more than likely never will. Tthings are slowly getting worse, its so hard to know what positives we have when things are just getting more and more difficult.  We have exhibitions that are near impossible to get new materials for and again I scour old sketch books to find unused gems, sometimes Suzanne will colour them with her amazing pens over the weeks, and it leaves everything so last minute to ship to the exhibitions in time.

We decided we needed to involve you all in this situation not for sympathy but more for your understanding and support.  You all sent words of support and prayers when Suzanne was in hospital and this was a wonderful crutch, what we need from you now is the same, and please do not worry about ordering and filling my plate or overwhelming us with work, I will make time to get orders out with support to look after Suzanne for that day, this will be easier as the support services become more available to us.

The only thing we ask is to not request custom works or commission for the current time, we will make it very obvious if a time arises where this becomes a possibility again.

We promise we will do everything we can to keep our shop open, and keep you all updated through the dark times… and please do keep an eye on the wonderful products that Santoro are making (2011 diaries out now), and please do get your local shops to contact them to stock items.  Santoro is our bright future and we hope Suzanne will be able to build on it in time in some way.   For all the exhibitions, we are moving mountains to get works that are unused and exciting and unseen (including new works made over the weeks) with the new frames we have that are amazing, so please do pop by to see the works and if you love them, support us by buying them.

We know this is a difficult financial time for the world, and money is difficult to find, and with so many good causes around asking us for support and donations, I just have to say Sorry, we would love to donate and help but we’re struggling to keep our house as it is, and all our time is used up with Suzanne’s care needs and the needs of day to day life.  We have donated earlier in the year to some charities, and we love to support them when we can.  I hope we can support these causes again in the near future.

Thank you for your attention and please do encourage people who may be interested to read this post, and please comment below. Do not worry about hoping Suzanne will get well soon, its something I continue to do even in the reality of its unlikliness.

Before you all warn me to take it easy and make time for myself, I have spent months growing a support network of people that I can moan at and run to with problems, these are wonderful external services that I only wish were easy to find, our local carers centre has made all of this possible and I owe them a lot.  So I will be looked after so that I can continue to care for Suzanne to the highest degree.  Thank you all for your support in the past, and I thank you all for your continued support.

Best Wishes

Mr G.

320 Comments

  1. Pra yers and healing thoughts to you all. I am in constant pain with a spinal condition among other things, so can empathise with you. I dont know how you get by day to day, but you do.  Dont lose sight of the fact that there may be a better day tomorrow. with love x

  2. Terrie’s idea is a great one, I love cross stitch and this little girl is so sweet, it would make a lovely picture for my grandgirls. 
    Heather from Canada

  3. Always thinking of you Suzanne and keeping you in prayer. There’s not been any updates for quite some time, that worries me. You are always in my heart, thoughts and prayers. Don’t know you but luvs ya just the same!
    Love & Hugs,
    Cathy

  4. There are so many products yet to do. How about containers for cosmetics like lipstick, lip gloss,
    powder and eye shadow cases. Pencil and pen cases. Dinnerware  for kids maybe toddler sets.
    Sewing baskets and sewing kits. Little wooden cabinets with Gorjuss Girls on the doors.
    You are such a brave wonderful family and I pray with all my heart she will have a total recovery quickly. I pray that these items will be easy to buy in other countries so you can make more money.
    I pray God will meet your every need and if I can do anything to help you from Southern California
    in American I would do my best.
    Cynthia Curts
    Hemet, CA
    Sending you all the love your hearts  can hold.
    Cynthia 

  5. I’m really sorry to hear of everything you’re going through.  I just went on your website, as I love the style of your drawing and then just read this.  I’m not going to ‘bible bash’ you, but all I can say is that when you’re feeling low and desperate, ask Jesus into your life.  I have had a big miracle happen in my life after asking Jesus to genuinely and desperately come into my life.  I believe he heals and listens to you, he healed my husband -so  please just do it, even if you feel stupid asking it or saying it out loud – He hears you, and he can heal you. I truly believe it.  I’m not a nutter!! Promise!! I’m also an artist with my work printed on Advanced Photoshop magazine’s cover and spreads… but I believe your life CAN change.  I will pray for you anyway.  You could always do your work digitally, it takes a lot of the effort and time out of correcting mistakes…. which I’m sure you know!
    Anyway, I really pray that God will help you through your situation and things will improve no end, and that he will reveal himself to you. Blessings.

  6. I feel both of your pain through this-God Bless You both

  7. I really love Suzanne’s Work and I actually have lot of paper goods. I know a lot of people that love it to. What you’re going through is terrible, and I hope she’s well be better soon.

    best wishes

  8. I would like to say, firstly I hope Suzanne is ok!
    Secondly, have just thought of making duvet sets?
    I absolutely love the Gorjuss range… With Ruby & her cat being my very favourite….I would love a duvet set. I imagine it striped with the girl in the middle.
    All the best
    Hayley …. Xxx

  9. any news?

  10. Hello Suzanne & Grant.
    I have MS & it wrecks havoc with my life. No feeling in my legs. I am looking into Service Dogs to help me around my house. They are amazing & well trained. Could help you Grant & Suzanne. They do lots of things. Bring a lot of joy back into daily life.
    Praying daily for you both.
    Stephanie

  11. This is a hard read and I can’t imagine the anguish you are facing. I felt compelled to respond. Suzanne s art work is beautiful and she has a unique style. I think even taking this to Dragons Den would be good publicity…it is already successful in its own right. I spotted the design when someone was wearing a bag. I though gosh that it just gorgeous lol and didn’t know the brand name or artist. I was searching for a gift for a friend a week later and spotted the journals where upon I looked into the artist. You need more exposure. I wish you all the very best x

  12. a screwed up back surgery – so very sorry Suzanne (& you) are having to deal with such a nightmare – my heart goes out to you both

  13. Grant, how are things going for you both now? I would really appreciate an update. 🙂

  14. I just bought everything my money could on gorjuss stuff…. I dodnt know it exsisted until a week ago… I bought so much im broke now… and im still looking for more to buy.. I love that it came to norway, I never seen it here so much, I love to draw myself and I bought this becuase I LOVE the artstyle…… I epecially like the wallet design….. a bit tight for the cards but still awesome…!

    I like the gurl in the red redd and the “I found my family in a book” girl the best,… I hope she gets better soon, I hope you will tell her that I send all my heart to her in hope she gets better and feels better, I am a huge fan…. and I love her art

  15. I’ve seen Gorjuss artwork being sold in CD collections on Create & Craft is this a new thing?

  16. Not sure if you are aware but I’ve seen the crafting channel Create & Craft selling CD’s for scrapbooking and card making which contain artwork by Gorjuss. There is also a CD you can purchase from there that only contains artwork by Gorjuss. I don’t know if you have allowed Gorjuss work to be used in this way but that might be an idea for you.

    If you were to add collections to a CD customers would snap them up like crazy for their own card making projects!

    If you didn’t already know Create & Craft are a crafting channel on SKY (671). They’re part of Ideal World shopping channel.

  17. I’ve stumbled upon your page x I hope things have improved for you both lots of love x

  18. Please, Suzanne needs to read Alice Miller’s books, that will probably save her life

  19. I became acquainted with Suzanne’s work about 3 years ago after receiving one of her cards from my son and his wife and consequently visiting a little shop in Clifton, Bristol that was selling some of her goods. I looked up your website because i loved her work and read there what was going in your lives. I am regularly buying cards, bags etc with her artwork on. Recently I have been wondering again how things are with her, you and the family as I know from personal experience what it is to have to look after someone with special needs and to be inflicted by a crippling health condition. I feel so much empathy with your situation. I honestly hope that you have been able to continue to manage! Anne (from Belgium)

  20. dear mr g i absolutely love these images i think they are what the crafting market needs!, i’m sorry you have to go through this, it must be very tiring emotionally physically and mentally, my thoughts are with you and the family at this difficult period in your life.

    you say that finances are dire. i was wondering i don’t know this but have you thought of putting suzannes work on to a cd rom so people can print images out i would certainly buy this cd rom and i know others who would aswell. i would love to see this on cd. i hope things improve for you.
    sending gentle hugs too Suzanne.
    from

    vikki.

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