Shejidan / Healthy, happy, and stepping away. A sad day.

**Posted by Aja Jin** 5/12/2026 1:17 pm

starexplorer wrote:
I rely on this group for any information about CJC. I don’t follow any other sources.

What is this business about “bouts of anesthetic“?

Very sad news, of course. I still have many of her books to read, which should keep me busy for a long time after I step down from paid work on May 22.

She had two incidents of cancer, so she would have had anesthetic during those treatments.

**Posted by starexplorer** 5/12/2026 4:39 pm

Aja Jin wrote:
starexplorer wrote:
I rely on this group for any information about CJC. I don’t follow any other sources.

What is this business about “bouts of anesthetic“?

Very sad news, of course. I still have many of her books to read, which should keep me busy for a long time after I step down from paid work on May 22.
She had two incidents of cancer, so she would have had anesthetic during those treatments.

Thanks. Even so, do we understand why receiving an anesthetic would impair her ability to write? Usually the effects of anesthesia are transient. I could understand better were she saying the decision was a result of consequences of cancer or cancer treatment. It is just a bit unusual to me to focus specifically on an “anaesthetic”.

**Posted by Aja Jin** 5/12/2026 6:54 pm

starexplorer wrote:
Aja Jin wrote:
starexplorer wrote:
I rely on this group for any information about CJC. I don’t follow any other sources.

What is this business about “bouts of anesthetic“?

Very sad news, of course. I still have many of her books to read, which should keep me busy for a long time after I step down from paid work on May 22.
She had two incidents of cancer, so she would have had anesthetic during those treatments.
Thanks. Even so, do we understand why receiving an anesthetic would impair her ability to write? Usually the effects of anesthesia are transient. I could understand better were she saying the decision was a result of consequences of cancer or cancer treatment. It is just a bit unusual to me to focus specifically on an “anaesthetic”.

Apparently, based on FB responses, it does effect some people long term. Plus 2x chemo. And she’s 83!

**Posted by Roci** 5/12/2026 11:43 pm

One of the customers I have at my shop is in her 80s and had to go through chemotherapy. She can be forgetful and knows it. Sometimes it shows in fumbling for common words, sometimes in having trouble reciting what she does in the daily routines of her life. She has a bright disposition and calls it "chemo-brain", though I will admit she hasn't specified anesthesia.

Like Cherryh has said on Facebook, she is able to lead a normal life. But from how that customer has described it and from the limited ways it can be a stumbling block when she has to describe how she wants me to change something, I can imagine that recalling so many names, details, and plot threads over two book series would be a struggle.

Last edited by Roci (5/12/2026 11:46 pm)

**Posted by starexplorer** 5/13/2026 2:18 am

I totally get the chemo brain possible issues, other issues related to cancer, and the inevitability of age. I am just a little puzzled by the sole attribution in her statement to “bouts of anesthetic”. But it doesn’t sound like she elaborated on that or had offered insights previously. So I guess it is what it is, and it’s sad, and this day had to come at some point.

**Posted by Griffinmoon** 5/14/2026 12:37 pm

Multiple, prolonged procedures requiring anesthetic does tend to mess up a person's brain. And Herself has had many major surgeries in a relatively short timespan. That effect is why most surgeons suggest 6 mo or more between procedures. And yeah, that chemo didn't help at all. That in itself will ruin your grey cells in a heartbeat.

Last edited by Griffinmoon (5/17/2026 10:19 pm)

**Posted by gadgetnut** 5/17/2026 4:59 pm

I feared this might be so. I'm glad she is well enough to make the decision for herself.

**Posted by Smartcat** 5/19/2026 6:32 am

The news that CJ will no longer be writing was a true gut punch that I am still having difficulty processing. I am not sure why, other than we are about the same age. Meanwhile we each in our own way will have to finish series for ourselves.Just read that Joan Baez is also retiring

**Posted by Kokipy** 6/18/2026 3:10 pm

Very sad. I am close to the end of a re-read of one of my other favorites, Patrick o’Brian, who also left his characters without a final resolution, and I was struck by something he put in the mouth of Stephen Maturin, whom I suspect was often his spokesperson. Stephen says, or thinks, at one point, that novels should not have final resolutions. We should be able to follow the characters in our minds and hearts, after the author releases them. I think we can all do that with CJC’s works. And frankly, I would not want to read about Ilisidi failing, or the alliance falter.

**Posted by Kokipy** 6/18/2026 3:12 pm

Or see the alliance falter, i mean. We know, for example, that the Hinder Stars fail. Who wants to read about that!! It would be as sad as this word from herself.