Writer and artist Mike Grell, arguably best known for his seminal work on Green Arrow during the 1980s/1990s and more recently on Arrow, has announced via his blog that he has been hospitalised with cellulitis.
Along with Green Arrow, who he defined with The Longbow Hunters in 1988 and continued to do so throughout a continuous 80-odd issue run, Grell created fan-favourite character The Warlord for DC Comics and developed creator-owned works Jon Sable: Freelancer. More recently, he has continued to work with Green Arrow, providing art and covers for the TV series Arrow, which has also named a character for him.
Grell’s full post is below. On behalf of everyone associated with Behind the Panels, and fellow Green Arrow fans, we wish Mr. Grell all the best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Hi, everyone –
I thought it was high time I issued some kind of official statement regarding my health status, especially considering how rapidly Facebook and Twitter have spread the word and how incomplete the information has been.
WHAT HAPPENED? Somewhere around the end of July, I found a small bug bite on my right calf. On 31 July I developed flu-like symptoms and achy joints. That night I fell asleep while reading and awoke at about 4AM with a fever. Alarmingly, my right eye would not track and my first thought was STROKE. Fortunately, I quickly put myself through the stroke evaluation and passed on all counts, so I was confident it was NOT a stroke even before I arrived at Summit Pacific Medical Center, where I was admitted on August 1.
After CAT scans, MRI’s, X-Rays, Ultrasounds and a spinal tap ruled out stroke, aneurism, tumors, diabetesmeningitis, MERSA, Lyme disease, and necrotizing fasceaitis, we were left with what pretty much everyone suspected from the start: CELLULITIS.
By August 3rd, my vision had returned to 100% normal, my general condition was improving and my doctors expected me to be discharged shortly. Then the wheels fell off.
It seems cellulitis is a nasty bug that, even when you kill it off with antibiotics, the dying cells produce toxins that destroy other tissue.
The short version that I’m still in the hospital (a different one after being transferred here three days ago) with a small army of specialists swarming over me like an Indy 500 pit crew. The weird thing is that I don’t feel sick at all, just tired of being flat on my back. My doctors are optimistic and so am I. For the first time, we see daily improvement and I should be on my way home in a few days
Thank you all for your continued prayers and well wishes. I’ll keep you posted as I have more news.
LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER
