Meeting of the Medical Minds

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 12:52am by Lieutenant Eiri Ashshy Ph.D & Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:21pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After “Morning after the night before”

A Mission Post by Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson & Lieutenant Eiri Ashshy Dr.
Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After “Morning after the night before”
Wed Nov 7th, 2018 @ 10:34am

ON:

Having gone their separate ways Aeryn had made for her Quarters to change into a fresh uniform. That done sge made her way to see Eiri, as she’d promised John she would. She needed to talk to him about John’s leg and what, if anything, they could do to help him with his recurring pain. "Excuse me, Doctor," Aeryn smiled warmly. "I am in need of your medical expertise."

Eiri looked up from the readouts he had been taking notes on and nodded. "Of course. You may sit." He gestured to the chair across from his desk. He looked at her, his face impassive.

"It's regarding Lieutenant Sandoval." She handed Eiri the latest set of readings she'd taken on his leg. "His old injury is becoming increasingly more a burden for him. I've offered him an increased dose of painkillers, but there's only so much I can do without a long term solution. I have mentioned the possibility of a nerve block, but that would leave him without any sensation, which, of course, carries risks of its own." She looked at Eiri. "What would you suggest?"

Eiri nodded and took the PADD containing the readings. "This is his war injury. He has had multiple surgeries and they have added artificial muscle tissue, if I am correct." He felt that he was correct, but it had been a week since he had looked at personnel files. "There are quite a few options aside from painkillers, although if the Lieutenant does not want a nerve block then most of the options I can offer could be slow going to see long term improvement." He looked down at the PADD and the information on it.

“He feels that he doesn’t want any medication that would cause side effects. He needs a clear head in his duties. I’m not yet up on all the medical options available to him, so I thought you would be the one to talk to.” She smiled as she looked at Eiri.

"There are so many options available to him, but all will require his patience. I would suggest some sort of assistive device, perhaps a cane or brace, just to provide the leg with some extra support while it is being worked on. Not saying forever, just for the moment. He can try acupuncture, or massage or both. I would strongly recommend physical therapy. Often pain is caused by weakness in the muscles. We could try a biofeedback technique, which would teach him to deal and control the pain he feels. There is also hypnosis, relaxation and meditation and talk therapy."

Aeryn nodded, the options were so simple yet she hadn’t given any of them consideration. “I feel silly now for not considering those options.” She paused. “According to the Lieutenant’s latest set of readings he has some, encroaching on, severe inflammation there. He did say that his sparring partner had taken advantage of his leg injury during training and injured it... twice.” She shook her head. “I gave him a slightly stronger painkiller at the time, but I can’t keep dosing him up. I know he would prefer a more long term solution to the permanent pain he’s in. Is there not a surgical option we could offer?”

Eiri shook his head. "Unless there is damage that is not repairing itself, surgery is only going to make the injury worse. I would suggest that he stop sparring for awhile, until the current injury heals. If the swelling does not go down then he should tightly wrap the injury with a sports bandage and apply rotating cold and heat. Surgery is going to lead to more medications and I do not really see anything on these scans that would suggest something that needs surgery versus just needing time to heal. I understand that the patient wishes to remain active, but these sorts of injuries do not repair themselves overnight. We could use the same tools on him that we would use on any other injury, but we cannot replace the strength in something. If his pain is chronic, then we also need long term, permanent solutions."

Aeryn nodded. “Which would be?” She looked at Eiri. “I’d like to be armed with all the facts for next time I speak to him. So I can give him the full facts.”

Eiri tipped his head a little. "That will be up to your patient. I believe that he can reach a more pain free life with any of the options that I presented, but first he needs low impact exercise and the swelling reduced, and by low impact I mean massage and acupuncture, not sparring. Once he has had proper rest and time to heal then he can pursue more strenuous exercise."

Aeryn nodded. “In that case, I will present the Lieutenant with our findings and instruct him to lay off the sparring.” She smiled as she picked up the PADD, she’d already made notes on what Eiri had said as he talked on her other PADD. “I appreciate your help Doctor, I will also sit down and get more up-to-date on my medical skills later. I need it.” She nodded politely.

Eiri nodded as well. "If he wishes to pursue more standard practices for his pain then I believe that you were on the right track. He will need to give the leg some extra support regardless of his treatment decisions. I would insist on a cane or support bandages. I know that as ex-military he might not want to do those things, but it is important that it gets support. If he does not cooperate with your recommendations to use such items then remove him from duty to force him to rest it. As far as surgery goes, there are many things we could do surgically, but I'm not sure he would like the options or the results. Further surgery could do result in more function loss."

Aeryn nodded. "Well he does already have a cane that he uses, I'll talk to him when he returns from Paradise Station with regards his treatment options. Thank you for your help Doctor."

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else," Eiri said simply, his expression never changing.

Aeryn nodded politely and headed for her office, putting the PADD safely in a drawer she sat down at her desk to do some reading. She doubted sickbay would be quiet for too long, but was hopeful if it stayed quiet she’d be able to get across to the station.

OFF