Doug and Sharon (backdated to the 15th)
Jun. 15th, 2019 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_cypher posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsDoug goes in to be poked and prodded, and see if the medical crew has any ideas for things to do to manage his blood curse.
Doug sat on the examination table, in just a tanktop and boxers as he waited for Sharon to give him results of his physical. Previously, the tanktop would highlight his gym-sculpted physique, but these days it was obvious how much of a toll the blood curse had taken on him.
Sharon shook her head as she paged through various screens of her tablet. "The docs will need to check, but from what I can see there is not much change since the last time. Congrats, you remain one of our most confusing cases."
"I feel like this the medical and magical equivalent of 'may you live in interesting times'," Doug replied with a wry twist to his lips. "Thanks, I hate it. Can I have a trade-in on my body?" he asked as he began pulling his pants back on.
"Sure, just let me check in the backroom if we've another." Sharon shot back. "I know this sucks for you. Tell me, what have you been managing so far with your energy level. Work? Some kind of exercise?"
"Work is mostly all right as long as I stay at my desk." Doug snorted. "Exercise, on the other hand, winds up with me sleeping like a koala - twenty three hours a day." He'd even managed to sleep through his birthday. "I'm approaching having napped in every room in the mansion at this point." It was important to have goals or something.
"I'm guessing fieldwork is just as bad?" Sharon offered sympathetically.
Doug bit his lip for a moment. He wanted to blow off the question, but he needed to be honest. "Probably worse." He shrugged. "I haven't really been out in a full field situation yet." And he wasn't exactly looking forward to what would probably be a very difficult and uncomfortable conversation about it.
"If exercise already gets you this winded, I'd say you're not mission ready." Sharon's voice was kind, but she didn't beat around the bush. "I know folks have been look at fixing the cause, but has anyone tried to lessen the symptoms?"
"The nastiest iron-laden protein shakes known to man." Doug pulled a face at just the memory of their taste. "Clea keeps leaving them on my desk, on Marie-Ange's orders." He leaned back, shoulders slumping. "Past that, I'm not really sure what else to do, except kind of try and conserve my effort levels and sleep when I need it."
"How long have you been using the shakes for now?" Sharon paged through the data to pull up the various measurements of the hemoglobin levels.
Doug thought briefly, his eyes casting up toward the ceiling. "For pretty much the entire time this has been an issue," he said. "I mean, I think Marie-Ange even had Clea drop one of them on my shake -before- the mission that caused it." One shoulder came up in an inelegant shrug. "Precognitives."
"So you're saying you've been using them since before the problem started?" Sharon frowned at the data, scratching a quick note checking this with the docs.
Doug shook his head. "Just the one. I mean, cause and effect can get kind of mixed up when you're talking about Angie, but the shakes were only on a regular basis after the mission."
Sharon hummed agreement while she made another note on the tablet. "I hoped we'd be able to say if it's doing anything." She explained. "And I've something to ask you. I'd need to talk it over with the docs first, but would you be up to try some other stuff? Something a bit more out of the box?"
"I mean, considering magic is involved..." Doug was willing to go pretty darn far outside the box if it became necessary. "What'd you have in mind?"
"Basically what I've in mind is see if we can get around the curse with medical measures and restore your ability to function as much as possible. There are a couple of ways we can do that. Blood transfusions is one of them and meds might be another." Sharon explained as she scribbled some more notes.
Blood transfusions sounded like a whole sort of fun that really wasn't, sitting around with a needle in his arm But he'd certainly try it if it gave him some semblance of normality. "Okay, anything else?"
"Like I said, there are medications we can try. One that comes to mind is erythropoietin. It's sometimes used with chemo. I remember from the oncology wards." Sharon explained.
Doug fished his phone out of his pants and tapped in a search on his internet browser. He made a few noises and half-nodded as he read, then he snorted as he found a particular section. "Use as a doping product. There goes my dream of being an Olympic speed skater, I guess."
"I don't think you had plans for that anyway." Sharon volleyed back. "Like I said, I need to talk this over with the docs, but does any of this sound like an option you want to explore?"
"I'm certainly willing to give it a shot," Doug told her. At this point he was ready to give leeching a fair hearing.
"Then I'll get in touch with you when I've spoken with the docs."
Doug sat on the examination table, in just a tanktop and boxers as he waited for Sharon to give him results of his physical. Previously, the tanktop would highlight his gym-sculpted physique, but these days it was obvious how much of a toll the blood curse had taken on him.
Sharon shook her head as she paged through various screens of her tablet. "The docs will need to check, but from what I can see there is not much change since the last time. Congrats, you remain one of our most confusing cases."
"I feel like this the medical and magical equivalent of 'may you live in interesting times'," Doug replied with a wry twist to his lips. "Thanks, I hate it. Can I have a trade-in on my body?" he asked as he began pulling his pants back on.
"Sure, just let me check in the backroom if we've another." Sharon shot back. "I know this sucks for you. Tell me, what have you been managing so far with your energy level. Work? Some kind of exercise?"
"Work is mostly all right as long as I stay at my desk." Doug snorted. "Exercise, on the other hand, winds up with me sleeping like a koala - twenty three hours a day." He'd even managed to sleep through his birthday. "I'm approaching having napped in every room in the mansion at this point." It was important to have goals or something.
"I'm guessing fieldwork is just as bad?" Sharon offered sympathetically.
Doug bit his lip for a moment. He wanted to blow off the question, but he needed to be honest. "Probably worse." He shrugged. "I haven't really been out in a full field situation yet." And he wasn't exactly looking forward to what would probably be a very difficult and uncomfortable conversation about it.
"If exercise already gets you this winded, I'd say you're not mission ready." Sharon's voice was kind, but she didn't beat around the bush. "I know folks have been look at fixing the cause, but has anyone tried to lessen the symptoms?"
"The nastiest iron-laden protein shakes known to man." Doug pulled a face at just the memory of their taste. "Clea keeps leaving them on my desk, on Marie-Ange's orders." He leaned back, shoulders slumping. "Past that, I'm not really sure what else to do, except kind of try and conserve my effort levels and sleep when I need it."
"How long have you been using the shakes for now?" Sharon paged through the data to pull up the various measurements of the hemoglobin levels.
Doug thought briefly, his eyes casting up toward the ceiling. "For pretty much the entire time this has been an issue," he said. "I mean, I think Marie-Ange even had Clea drop one of them on my shake -before- the mission that caused it." One shoulder came up in an inelegant shrug. "Precognitives."
"So you're saying you've been using them since before the problem started?" Sharon frowned at the data, scratching a quick note checking this with the docs.
Doug shook his head. "Just the one. I mean, cause and effect can get kind of mixed up when you're talking about Angie, but the shakes were only on a regular basis after the mission."
Sharon hummed agreement while she made another note on the tablet. "I hoped we'd be able to say if it's doing anything." She explained. "And I've something to ask you. I'd need to talk it over with the docs first, but would you be up to try some other stuff? Something a bit more out of the box?"
"I mean, considering magic is involved..." Doug was willing to go pretty darn far outside the box if it became necessary. "What'd you have in mind?"
"Basically what I've in mind is see if we can get around the curse with medical measures and restore your ability to function as much as possible. There are a couple of ways we can do that. Blood transfusions is one of them and meds might be another." Sharon explained as she scribbled some more notes.
Blood transfusions sounded like a whole sort of fun that really wasn't, sitting around with a needle in his arm But he'd certainly try it if it gave him some semblance of normality. "Okay, anything else?"
"Like I said, there are medications we can try. One that comes to mind is erythropoietin. It's sometimes used with chemo. I remember from the oncology wards." Sharon explained.
Doug fished his phone out of his pants and tapped in a search on his internet browser. He made a few noises and half-nodded as he read, then he snorted as he found a particular section. "Use as a doping product. There goes my dream of being an Olympic speed skater, I guess."
"I don't think you had plans for that anyway." Sharon volleyed back. "Like I said, I need to talk this over with the docs, but does any of this sound like an option you want to explore?"
"I'm certainly willing to give it a shot," Doug told her. At this point he was ready to give leeching a fair hearing.
"Then I'll get in touch with you when I've spoken with the docs."
