Judgement – "It's Nothing, I Tell You..."
by Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton & (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
Post Details
::ON::
Doctor Bridget Stapleton reassured the nervous Bajoran woman that the procedure she would be undergoing would be painless, and that she'd be fully sedated during the entire ordeal, having no memory of the surgery. She double-checked the intravenous drip to make sure it was flowing, and then looked at the chronometer as she counted down the beats of the woman's pulse. It was the old-fashioned method of doing things, and the nurses had wondered aloud why she just didn't use a tricorder. Bridget had just shrugged, and said she'd preferred a more hands-on approach. Her bedside manner was something from another era, and they just really wouldn't understand because they hadn't been there.
She noted the time on the patient's padd-chart, and also mentally noted it, because she had an appointment scheduled with a Mister Monteros. Saying goodbye to the Bajoran, she walked the chart back over to the nurses' station and chatted with one of them about the woman's mental state. As she disinfected her hands, she suggested that the nurse offer a mild sedative; nothing that would interfere with the anesthesia, but which would give the woman some rest from her anxiety.
She saw the main doors slide open, and two people entered - an older man and younger woman. They were approached by one of the nurse's aides, who spoke with them briefly and then pointed in Bridget's direction. Ah. This must be her appointment. She gave the Bajoran woman's chart to the nurse, and approached the couple.
"Mister Monteros? Hello. I'm Doctor Bridget Stapleton," she held out her hand and gave him a warm smile, which she used to also include his chaperon in the greeting.
"Hello, pretty young lady." Gregori smiled, kissing her hand as he did, "I apologize for having to waste your time, but my daughter won't stay off the medical sites and thinks Papa is doing the Macarena on a highwire over his grave."
"Papa, please don't be difficult." Eleni sighed, "I only worry about your health. These muscle spasms are not a good sign."
"They are a sign my muscles still work! That is a very good sign at my age!" Gregori countered, turning his attention back to Bridget, "But, if beautiful young doctor wishes to help, I do have this pain in my butt...."
At this point, Bridget started laughing; she couldn't help herself - the rapid-fire conversation between father and daughter was easily reaching her sense of humor.
"That would be me." Eleni shook her head, "Eleni Monteros, pain in the butt."
"Happily married woman, has a husband of her own and a family." Gregori sighed, "Runs my company and still finds time to meddle and nag. How do you do it, daughter?"
"Mama taught me well, Papa." Eleni laughed, "Okay, Doctor, he's your problem now. Come by the office when you're done here, Papa, I have some ideas I want to discuss with you."
"Bah!" Gregori sneered, "You don't need me to do anything, you just want to keep an eye on me."
"Because every time I take my eyes off of you you're off with your little teenage mini-me getting in trouble." Eleni laughed, then kissed her father goodbye, "But you'll at least bring me lunch."
"Of course." Gregori smiled, following Bridget, "The successful grown woman still needs Papa to make sure she gets a good meal, so I can't be that useless! Now, let us go somewhere more private!"
Bridget shook her head, still chuckling as she led the way to a biobed reserved for the appointment. What a lively family! She liked them already.
"Alright now, Mister Monteros," she patted the biobed, indicating he take a seat. "Why don't you tell me why your daughter insisted that you see me today." Couched in such a way, she took the responsibility for the complaint and placed it squarely on the daughter's shoulders - which should ease the patient's mind in the process, making him feel more like the issue could be discussed in a disconnected way. It was his daughter's problem, not his own. A bit of a psychological trick, of course. But if often worked.
"My daughter needs to be on something for her nerves." Gregori laughed, even though the action caused him some pain, "I've just had a few back spasms is all. Nothing uncommon for man my age."
"Back spasms, huh?" She placed two fingers along his wrist, "Where does it hurt - upper, middle, or lower back?" His heartbeat was slightly elevated, but that could be due to the walk from the turbolift to the main entrance, and the banter with his daughter.
"Or maybe it's your beauty, my dear." Gregori laughed, almost as though he could read her mind. He couldn't, but when she felt his pulse she obviously thought his heartbeat was higher than normal, "But, for my back, it is lower back which spasms and has some pain."
"Oh, we are quite the charmer, are we?" She grinned and winked at him, playing up to his flirtatiousness, and knowing it was completely innocent. "Alright, young man, lie back for me and we'll let this newfangled bed do it's thing. I'll have it do a skeletal scan as well as a focused musculature on your lower back."
"Anything for you, my dear." Gregori smiled, laying back on the bed and stretching his arms, "If anything interesting happens, feel free to wake me." Even though he hated the whole going to the doctor thing, Gregori tried to make everything fun, especially with this woman who looked so like his beloved wife, Marianna.
Bridget chuckled as she pressed a few buttons on the panel. A beam of light appeared over Gregori's profile and moved at a steady pace down his body, pausing about his waist, and then continuing down to his feet. It was over in just a moment. "Hmmm," she said, mysteriously. "Okay handsome, you can sit back up again." She transferred the test results to a large padd, that she could show him as they discussed the diagnosis.
"Ahh, yes, the diagnosis." Gregori laughed, "I guess you think it is time for Gregori to change the oil, no?"
"On a race car like you? Mister Monteros, one should always change the oil on a regular basis."
Gregori laughed heartily, he definitely enjoyed her far more than he did any other doctor he'd been dragged to by on overprotective daughter, "All right, so what do we know?"
She handed him the padd, which showed an x-ray of his lower back. "You see those vertebrae right there?" She pointed, indicating two adjacent bones on his spine. "The disc between them, which is a gel-like pad that should be doing a good job of cushioning them, isn't doing so great a job right now. The bones have been wearing the disc away, and generally the cause of that is stressing the spine by doing heavy lifting or being on your feet a lot. We call it Spinal Degeneration, but that name sounds worse than it truly is."
"So, basically I'm getting old?" Gregori asked with a laugh, "And to happen at my age no less! So, what sort of therapy am I to expect?"
"You're not old, my dear. Just in need of that oil change, remember?" She gave him a grin before turning her attention to the diagnosis padd. A few keys later, and the screen split into two drawings of the lumbar region.
"Okay, there are a couple of treatment options, and both of them will have the end result of your back feeling better immediately, with long-term benefits of restoring the proper function of your back. I'll explain them, and then I want you to go home and give them some thought. You don't have to make a decision here and now, but I'd like to have it by Friday. Yes?"
When she had his affirmation, she continued. "Before you leave today, I'm going to give you a localized hypspray of analgesic directly into the disc space. That will give you immediate relief from the pain and last up to 72 hours - but, don't let it fool you into thinking you can just go about your merry way and do whatever you want. Until your back has some physical repairs to that disc, you're vulnerable to all kinds of risk to permanent injury to your spine. So you are going to have to take it easy."
She shifted the display to an adjacent screen, which showed a machine that resembled an insect, somewhat like a deer tick. "Okay, here is treatment number one. You could have an injection of job-specific nanites that would carry their own supply of annulus fibrosus - that's what the outer area of the disc is comprised of. These nanites would rebuild the worn areas of your spinal disc, and when their job was done, they would automatically shut down, enter the blood stream, and be passed harmlessly through your urine when you void. They are incredibly small, and you will neither feel them nor see them exit your body. The process would take about 7 days, in which you would need to be on a limited mobility schedule. You would have to stay in bed for at least 8 hours each night, and have four half-hour periods of seated rest during the day. After the nanosurgery is completed, you would need to see our physical therapist for about six weeks, to retrain your back muscles so they aren't still trying to compensate for the impaired disc."
She switched back to another screen that showed the lumbar drawing. "In the second option, there would be an endoscopic surgical procedure in which your worn disc would be manually replaced with a prosthetic one. The surgery would put you into the medical facility for approximately four days, and then you would need to be on the same limited mobility and physical therapy schedule as with the first option. The only drawback to this procedure is that the success rate is only eighty percent, whereas with the nanosurgery the success rate is about ninety-six percent. There is a slight risk of rejection for either procedure, and so you would be monitored closely either way."
She paused as she put the diagnosis padd aside. "Do you have any questions about either procedure?"
"No, no." Gregori shook his head, "I have looked at both options long enough to know I prefer the first. Greatly in fact. More benefit for less struggle, less time lost from my other pursuits, it's perfect for me. The only question is when can we do it? The sooner the better."
"Sure. Just see Nurse Thompson at the front desk and she'll schedule it for you. But before you go," she opened a drawer and took out a hypospray. "I'll give you the pain reliever. I'll see you for the nano injection, and then we'll follow up to make sure everything is going according to plan."
She lifted his shirt and applied the hypospray to his lower back, hearing a satisfying hiss as the medication ejected through his skin. "Alright, you're done for now, Mister Monteros. I'll be here if you or your family have any questions." She was thinking of his daughter, whom she guessed would have lots of questions. If indeed he even told her about it. Hmmmm.... if she had to hazard a guess, she would bet that he wouldn't even let his daughter know.
"I'm sure my daughter will have many." Gregori smiled as he straightened his shirt, "But feel free to sedate her if need be, my dear."
Bridget laughed. "Well, tell her she's free to come buy or contact me." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "And of course, you're welcome to do so anytime."
"You might not want to say that to a Greek." Gregori winked and laughed as he left.
Ensign Bridget Stapleton
Doctor (General Practice) - DS5
&
Gregori Monteros
DS5's Favorite Greek
by Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton & (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
Post Details
| Title | "It's Nothing, I Tell You..." | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton & (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian | |
| Posted | Fri Feb 18, 2011 @ 4:31pm | |
| Location | Sickbay | |
| Timeline | SD36 - 1400 (can be adjusted as necessary) |
Doctor Bridget Stapleton reassured the nervous Bajoran woman that the procedure she would be undergoing would be painless, and that she'd be fully sedated during the entire ordeal, having no memory of the surgery. She double-checked the intravenous drip to make sure it was flowing, and then looked at the chronometer as she counted down the beats of the woman's pulse. It was the old-fashioned method of doing things, and the nurses had wondered aloud why she just didn't use a tricorder. Bridget had just shrugged, and said she'd preferred a more hands-on approach. Her bedside manner was something from another era, and they just really wouldn't understand because they hadn't been there.
She noted the time on the patient's padd-chart, and also mentally noted it, because she had an appointment scheduled with a Mister Monteros. Saying goodbye to the Bajoran, she walked the chart back over to the nurses' station and chatted with one of them about the woman's mental state. As she disinfected her hands, she suggested that the nurse offer a mild sedative; nothing that would interfere with the anesthesia, but which would give the woman some rest from her anxiety.
She saw the main doors slide open, and two people entered - an older man and younger woman. They were approached by one of the nurse's aides, who spoke with them briefly and then pointed in Bridget's direction. Ah. This must be her appointment. She gave the Bajoran woman's chart to the nurse, and approached the couple.
"Mister Monteros? Hello. I'm Doctor Bridget Stapleton," she held out her hand and gave him a warm smile, which she used to also include his chaperon in the greeting.
"Hello, pretty young lady." Gregori smiled, kissing her hand as he did, "I apologize for having to waste your time, but my daughter won't stay off the medical sites and thinks Papa is doing the Macarena on a highwire over his grave."
"Papa, please don't be difficult." Eleni sighed, "I only worry about your health. These muscle spasms are not a good sign."
"They are a sign my muscles still work! That is a very good sign at my age!" Gregori countered, turning his attention back to Bridget, "But, if beautiful young doctor wishes to help, I do have this pain in my butt...."
At this point, Bridget started laughing; she couldn't help herself - the rapid-fire conversation between father and daughter was easily reaching her sense of humor.
"That would be me." Eleni shook her head, "Eleni Monteros, pain in the butt."
"Happily married woman, has a husband of her own and a family." Gregori sighed, "Runs my company and still finds time to meddle and nag. How do you do it, daughter?"
"Mama taught me well, Papa." Eleni laughed, "Okay, Doctor, he's your problem now. Come by the office when you're done here, Papa, I have some ideas I want to discuss with you."
"Bah!" Gregori sneered, "You don't need me to do anything, you just want to keep an eye on me."
"Because every time I take my eyes off of you you're off with your little teenage mini-me getting in trouble." Eleni laughed, then kissed her father goodbye, "But you'll at least bring me lunch."
"Of course." Gregori smiled, following Bridget, "The successful grown woman still needs Papa to make sure she gets a good meal, so I can't be that useless! Now, let us go somewhere more private!"
Bridget shook her head, still chuckling as she led the way to a biobed reserved for the appointment. What a lively family! She liked them already.
"Alright now, Mister Monteros," she patted the biobed, indicating he take a seat. "Why don't you tell me why your daughter insisted that you see me today." Couched in such a way, she took the responsibility for the complaint and placed it squarely on the daughter's shoulders - which should ease the patient's mind in the process, making him feel more like the issue could be discussed in a disconnected way. It was his daughter's problem, not his own. A bit of a psychological trick, of course. But if often worked.
"My daughter needs to be on something for her nerves." Gregori laughed, even though the action caused him some pain, "I've just had a few back spasms is all. Nothing uncommon for man my age."
"Back spasms, huh?" She placed two fingers along his wrist, "Where does it hurt - upper, middle, or lower back?" His heartbeat was slightly elevated, but that could be due to the walk from the turbolift to the main entrance, and the banter with his daughter.
"Or maybe it's your beauty, my dear." Gregori laughed, almost as though he could read her mind. He couldn't, but when she felt his pulse she obviously thought his heartbeat was higher than normal, "But, for my back, it is lower back which spasms and has some pain."
"Oh, we are quite the charmer, are we?" She grinned and winked at him, playing up to his flirtatiousness, and knowing it was completely innocent. "Alright, young man, lie back for me and we'll let this newfangled bed do it's thing. I'll have it do a skeletal scan as well as a focused musculature on your lower back."
"Anything for you, my dear." Gregori smiled, laying back on the bed and stretching his arms, "If anything interesting happens, feel free to wake me." Even though he hated the whole going to the doctor thing, Gregori tried to make everything fun, especially with this woman who looked so like his beloved wife, Marianna.
Bridget chuckled as she pressed a few buttons on the panel. A beam of light appeared over Gregori's profile and moved at a steady pace down his body, pausing about his waist, and then continuing down to his feet. It was over in just a moment. "Hmmm," she said, mysteriously. "Okay handsome, you can sit back up again." She transferred the test results to a large padd, that she could show him as they discussed the diagnosis.
"Ahh, yes, the diagnosis." Gregori laughed, "I guess you think it is time for Gregori to change the oil, no?"
"On a race car like you? Mister Monteros, one should always change the oil on a regular basis."
Gregori laughed heartily, he definitely enjoyed her far more than he did any other doctor he'd been dragged to by on overprotective daughter, "All right, so what do we know?"
She handed him the padd, which showed an x-ray of his lower back. "You see those vertebrae right there?" She pointed, indicating two adjacent bones on his spine. "The disc between them, which is a gel-like pad that should be doing a good job of cushioning them, isn't doing so great a job right now. The bones have been wearing the disc away, and generally the cause of that is stressing the spine by doing heavy lifting or being on your feet a lot. We call it Spinal Degeneration, but that name sounds worse than it truly is."
"So, basically I'm getting old?" Gregori asked with a laugh, "And to happen at my age no less! So, what sort of therapy am I to expect?"
"You're not old, my dear. Just in need of that oil change, remember?" She gave him a grin before turning her attention to the diagnosis padd. A few keys later, and the screen split into two drawings of the lumbar region.
"Okay, there are a couple of treatment options, and both of them will have the end result of your back feeling better immediately, with long-term benefits of restoring the proper function of your back. I'll explain them, and then I want you to go home and give them some thought. You don't have to make a decision here and now, but I'd like to have it by Friday. Yes?"
When she had his affirmation, she continued. "Before you leave today, I'm going to give you a localized hypspray of analgesic directly into the disc space. That will give you immediate relief from the pain and last up to 72 hours - but, don't let it fool you into thinking you can just go about your merry way and do whatever you want. Until your back has some physical repairs to that disc, you're vulnerable to all kinds of risk to permanent injury to your spine. So you are going to have to take it easy."
She shifted the display to an adjacent screen, which showed a machine that resembled an insect, somewhat like a deer tick. "Okay, here is treatment number one. You could have an injection of job-specific nanites that would carry their own supply of annulus fibrosus - that's what the outer area of the disc is comprised of. These nanites would rebuild the worn areas of your spinal disc, and when their job was done, they would automatically shut down, enter the blood stream, and be passed harmlessly through your urine when you void. They are incredibly small, and you will neither feel them nor see them exit your body. The process would take about 7 days, in which you would need to be on a limited mobility schedule. You would have to stay in bed for at least 8 hours each night, and have four half-hour periods of seated rest during the day. After the nanosurgery is completed, you would need to see our physical therapist for about six weeks, to retrain your back muscles so they aren't still trying to compensate for the impaired disc."
She switched back to another screen that showed the lumbar drawing. "In the second option, there would be an endoscopic surgical procedure in which your worn disc would be manually replaced with a prosthetic one. The surgery would put you into the medical facility for approximately four days, and then you would need to be on the same limited mobility and physical therapy schedule as with the first option. The only drawback to this procedure is that the success rate is only eighty percent, whereas with the nanosurgery the success rate is about ninety-six percent. There is a slight risk of rejection for either procedure, and so you would be monitored closely either way."
She paused as she put the diagnosis padd aside. "Do you have any questions about either procedure?"
"No, no." Gregori shook his head, "I have looked at both options long enough to know I prefer the first. Greatly in fact. More benefit for less struggle, less time lost from my other pursuits, it's perfect for me. The only question is when can we do it? The sooner the better."
"Sure. Just see Nurse Thompson at the front desk and she'll schedule it for you. But before you go," she opened a drawer and took out a hypospray. "I'll give you the pain reliever. I'll see you for the nano injection, and then we'll follow up to make sure everything is going according to plan."
She lifted his shirt and applied the hypospray to his lower back, hearing a satisfying hiss as the medication ejected through his skin. "Alright, you're done for now, Mister Monteros. I'll be here if you or your family have any questions." She was thinking of his daughter, whom she guessed would have lots of questions. If indeed he even told her about it. Hmmmm.... if she had to hazard a guess, she would bet that he wouldn't even let his daughter know.
"I'm sure my daughter will have many." Gregori smiled as he straightened his shirt, "But feel free to sedate her if need be, my dear."
Bridget laughed. "Well, tell her she's free to come buy or contact me." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "And of course, you're welcome to do so anytime."
"You might not want to say that to a Greek." Gregori winked and laughed as he left.
Ensign Bridget Stapleton
Doctor (General Practice) - DS5
&
Gregori Monteros
DS5's Favorite Greek