PSA: Toonami Squad, My Journey, Where I’m at Now and What’s Next?

Posted on Author Joshua Mathieu (Jmb a.k.a. The Boss) 0

Last Updated on by Joshua Mathieu (Jmb a.k.a. The Boss)

Seven years ago this month, I launched a fansite known as Toonami Squad and went on a journey I never expected to go on. I gained a crew who turned out to be much more than just a crew, they were a family I could count on in the hard times and good times. We covered our first convention within 2 months of launching and nabbed our first interview within 4 months.

After that, we went on to launch our podcast, Toonami Squad Podcast Sessions and from there followed many years of endeavors and accomplishments. We had our ups and down with some of us dealing with our own individual tribulations in life, but we managed to stay strong. I myself talked about my own mental health struggles last year: https://medium.com/@jmb_61614/i-have-decided-to-share-my-own-personal-story-regarding-my-mental-health-to-help-break-the-stigma-25cedce97976

This journey has been an amazing one, and I got to do things I never imagine I would do, like speak with Sonny Strait, the first voice of Toonami’s TOM, sit down and speak with the big man himself, Jason DeMarco, and became good friends with Maki Terashima-Furuta, now president of Production IG USA.

Of course, this journey would be nothing without my Squad, Silver, Logan, Steven, Daniel, Dre, Sam 1, Sam 2, Phantom, Eric, Femble, Bill, and Micheal. Thank you all for going on this incredible journey with me and I hope it has been just as amazing for you all as it has been for me.

Now, for where I’m currently at… I’ve been having problems with my back for some time now. In June 2021, I was found to have spinal cord compression due to degenerative disc disease which has caused radiculopathy, bilateral sciatica nerve pain, and muscle weakness among other complications.

Right after hurricane, Ida hit last year, while still dealing with the aftermath of the storm, I went for a follow-up MRI and it was discovered that spinal cord compression had developed into myelopathy, which damages the spinal cord and surrounding nerves. Myelopathy is irreversible and untreatable, and will eventually lead to paralysis and ultimately, death. The only way to stop progression is through surgery.

I had multiple epidurals to try and slow it down and decrease symptoms but that was only temporary, so on August 12, 2022, I will be undergoing a procedure called a “cervical laminectomy fusion” where the back portion of my spinal bone in my neck will be removed to help decompress my spinal cord, while rods and screws will be implanted to help fuse my neck and help stabilize it due to the missing bone. This is followed by a recovery period of anywhere from six weeks to three months with very limited activity while I heal and recover from the surgery.

So, because of that, after talking it over with my colleagues, I’ve decided that it is of best interest to step down from my duties at Toonami Squad so that I can better focus on my health and recovery.

While I may be leaving that doesn’t mean Toonami Squad’s journey won’t continue.

Silver will be taking over as head of Toonami Squad with Logan as 2nd in command. if you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to reach out to them, my communication will be very limited for the time being.

Hopefully, I will be able to return to Toonami Squad one day but until then, Stay Gold… Bang!

UPDATE 08/28/2022:

Just giving a quick update on my recovery and want to give thanks to everyone who gave me well wishes!

Recovery is going okay not in much pain as I first was, but I now have a type of paralysis known as anaphia in my hands due to the swelling and inflammation from the surgery which sucks but should only be temporary.

UPDATE 08/31/2022:

Finally got my X-Ray results back from August 29th & everything looks good so far. Also incision is healing well.

“Post-op changes status post posterior fusion of C3 through T1. Hardware & alignment are maintained. No evidence of acute fracture or dislocation.”

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