Lt JG Sheila Bailey & Ensign Romyana Casparian- Giving A New Friend A Medical Exam

[+ German Galven]

((OOC - I've combined both of the players posts. This was all tag style and not a JP. Incredible job you two!))

((Sickbay, StarBase 118 Ops))

Bailey had worked on her engineering project for most of the day before her body needed sleep. The next day it seemed she had a few tasks to do before she could relax again; not for long. She had a few medical exams to conduct and a meeting with First Officer Nijil to set up. 

Sheila had rolled into sickbay in her wheelchair rather early ready to start her day. The woman seemed to arrive just as her first patient did. 

Without hesitation she entered sickbay and was immediately welcomed by Dr. Bailey, who was expecting her.

Bailey: Ms. Casparian. Good to see you. 

Casparian: Hello Lieutenant Bailey, good to see you again as well. I hope I did not keep you waiting?

Bailey: Not at all I got here only a few minutes ago. Why don’t you follow me and hop up on a biobed? 

Casparian: Certainly. ::walks towards the biobed:: 

With a small hop, she sat herself on the biobed and let her legs casually rock back and forth a bit. Going to medical facilities was not her favorite pastime, but it didn’t make her particularly nervous either. Her inquisitive eyes looked around the sickbay almost with childlike curiosity. 

Bailey could tell that the woman was maybe a bit nervous, most people were no matter how routine the appointment was. 

Bailey: ::gathered her tools as she talked:: How are you feeling?

Casparian: At the moment, I feel fine. ::chuckles:: Well, except for the bruise on my shin from the chair I bumped into this morning, ::reaches down and rubs the sore spot:: but that’s nothing.

She was used to having bruises, sometimes the smallest bump or pinch would cause her to bruise up, and other times, with similar bumps or pinches, nothing happened. It had been like this for as long as she could remember and other than it being not very attractive when showing bare legs or arms, it did not really bother her.

Bailey nodded at that. Bruises were normal and nothing to worry about unless they happened without warning or a good wack to a limb. The doctor was sure it was nothing but her mind always went to the worst first as a precaution.

Bailey: Do you mind if I take a look at it?

Casparian: Not at all. ::smiles and keeps her leg still:: Go right ahead.

Bailey: Standard checks. I’m sure it’s nothing. 

Bailey waved her medical tricorder in a gesture to indicate that she was going to use it and if it was okay. Even if she never directly asked she always wanted to make sure the patient was comfortable with her using it. 

Romyana had no issues with tricorders, so she returned a smiley nod. Medical tricorders were a specialized variant of the one she used every day at work herself. They were simply scanning devices. 

Casparian: I know that I bruise up quickly, but they disappear easily too. ::shrugs:: Always been like this.

Bailey: Tell me...how have you been sleeping? Any recent health changes I should know about? 

Casparian: I sleep like a rose, the quarters on the Starbase are very comfortable, I must say! ::turns her eyes up to think:: Anything recent. No. 

Bailey: Indeed they are. ::The young doctor couldn’t argue with that:: What about your genealogy or speciesology? 

Sheila had of course taken a look at the patient file but had only really glanced over it. When she saw the note about the genealogy her face developed a small frown. She thought it was then best to ask during the appointment. 

Casparian: ::nods:: My Grandmother is Vulcan, so I’m… ::hesitates:: mixed. 

Romyana assumed that the Lieutenant had received her medical files and was therefore familiar with her medical history. Especially the peculiarities that came with her having mixed Human and Vulcan heritage that made her physiology slightly different than normal and the problems this had caused in the past. Long, long ago. 

That made more sense based on the rest of the file notes now.

Bailey: Thanks for the clarification. Now when you were four you were admitted to the hospital?

Casparian: Yes, I was admitted into hospital when I was four, because I had suddenly developed some serious complications after a simple infection. That was when the diagnosis was made. ::looks at the tips of her shoes:: It took a year to heal. I don’t remember much of that time. The way it was explained to me was that because my liver is more like a Vulcan one it is built to process copper-based blood cells, but with the rest of me being mostly Human, I have iron-based blood cells and my liver has difficulty coping with that. ::frowns:: An unhappy mix of genes, I suppose. ::upbeat:: I would rather have had pointy ears!

She gave a small laugh. This just confirmed slightly for Sheila that Casparian was in fact given a diagnosis of Chronic Cirrhosis of the liver. Now just for some basic questions so Sheila could understand how the illness affected her new friend. 

Bailey: Chronic Cirrhosis of the liver?

Casparian: Yes, and because I was still so young, after treatment, the liver could adapt and it stabilized. It has been for all those years now. 

Bailey: Good, good. I have some basic questions to ask you about it if you don’t mind? I want to understand your experience with it in order to tailor your care.

Casparian: Naturally, feel free to ask me anything. I’ll do my best to answer.  

This didn’t come as a surprise to the ensign, she always had some sort of check-ins with physicians to monitor her condition and she hadn’t expected it to be any different this time.

Bailey: A number of symptoms can occur as well as indicate the severity of the scarring. Tell me how do you typically feel on average?

Casparian: I feel fine. I’m not particularly tired, not nauseous, no pain. I try to eat healthy and I don’t drink alcohol or synthahol for that matter - just to be safe.

Bailey: That’s great to hear. Nothing sounds too severe then.

Casparian: Indeed, I don't really notice anything of it in my daily life, except for the easy bruising, but that comes and goes. ::shrugs::

Bailey: You also don’t have any skin or eye discoloration from what I can see so no jaundice. ::slight pause:: If you don’t mind I would like you to lay down flat on the biobed. I would like to do a simple test to check on your liver.

Sheila gave Casparian some time to adjust herself on the bed. This also gave Sheila s minute or two to adjust herself as well so that she could perform the test.

Casparian: Um, okay. ::calmly lies back on the biobed and waits for Bailey to be ready too.::

Doctor Bailey sure was being thorough. The chief medical officer on the station where Romyana had done her cadet cruise had simply looked at the file, nodded, asked if she was fine and told her to come back if anything changed. Admittedly, she preferred Bailey’s approach - it felt more reassuring.

Bailey: I’m going to give a few hard taps to you midsection on the side where your liver is. It shouldn’t hurt plus it should be fairly quick. Just tell me when you're ready. 

Casparian: Okidoki. I’m ready when you are. ::smiles comfortably:: 

Bailey: No pain? 

Bailey had given a few precise taps to Casparian’s abdomen. In doing so she couldn’t feel an enlargement of the liver, no unusual sounds. Everything seemed fine. Sheila had known it would be but as a doctor this was a reassuring piece of information. 

Casparian: No, didn’t hurt a bit. ::places her own hands on her abdomen, just below her rib cage, clasping her fingers:: What’s the verdict, Doc? Will I live? ::laughs::

Bailey: ::Small laugh:: Of course you will. 

Romyana had been calm and quiet during the test so the doctor could concentrate on palpitating her midsection, which felt pretty uncomfortable but certainly not painful. To Bailey this meant that she was in a fit mental state as well. Quite good. 

Now it was done, the ensign figured she could be a bit more lighthearted and joke - after all, it was nice to have a laugh at work sometimes, also for medical officers. 

Casparian: I assume you will want me to come into sickbay for regular checks? How often were you thinking? ::props herself up on her elbows:: I’m good with anything you propose.

Bailey: I think we can start with just a regular yearly check. If we need to have more we can

Casparian: Allright. ::sits up straight and speaks in a more serious tone:: What about you? Are you okay? I mean, now that I see you at work, I realize how difficult it really is for you to move around in these gravity conditions.

Sheila leaned back in her wheelchair at that. For a moment she could feel every rough contact point her exoskeleton made with her body. Her body felt numb with the slight sudden shock of someone actually carrying for her in her work environment.

Bailey: I’m doing as well as I can. I won’t lie and say I have an easy time. However I want to thank you for helping me. 

For half a second Sheila wanted to tell Casparian about her uncle. How she wasn’t 100% in a good place. But the need left as quickly as it came. No, she was going to tell Nijil first. But she could smile knowing she had such a great friend with her. 

For a fleeting moment it seemed as if Sheila was going to say something else, though Romyana could have been mistaken and replied amicably, while bringing her legs back to dangle over the edge of the biobed and pushing herself off it with a tiny hop.

Casparian: Oh, you mean the other day when Rustyy and I tinkered around to improve your forearm crutches and leg braces? That’s alright, it was really no effort. I think they turned out pretty good.

Bailey: You are helping make things better. 

Casparian: ::speaks with a serious and genuine tone:: Thank you Sheila. I appreciate the compliment. Of course, the same goes for you.

Romyana watched as the Aleysian woman settled herself back in her wheelchair. It was impressive that she'd decided to join Starfleet knowing that she’d have to work and live for the most part in much more difficult conditions than many other species. The young Ensign doubted if she would have been brave enough to do the same if she were in Sheila’s position.

With that Sheila returned back to a professional manner. Their appointment time was almost up. 

Bailey: With that I think you're all set to go. On your way out your welcome to schedule your next appointment with one of the nurses. ::At that she paused. Deep breath.:: as a friend before you go mind if I offer a hug?

Casparian: Okay, I'll do that. ::glances back at the door listening to Sheila’s question:: That is awfully nice of you! Of course you can.

With that the two women gave a short embrace. Romyana was not used to receiving affection like this, her parents were not the cuddly kind, it was something she missed growing up.

After, Bailey smiled giving a small two finger wave, her middle and pointer finger waving. The appointment went well, no reason for more appointments at this moment in time. Patient seemed to be in both fine physical and mental health based on her exam results as well as reactions to said test. It was a smile knowing she had a great friend. One she cared for as well as one that cared for her. 

Casparian: I’m sure we’ll catch up again later. ::heads out of sickbay:: Ciao! 

The appointment went well, the Doctor seemed not only very knowledgeable but also very caring towards her patients, which Romyana appreciated a lot. And Sheila had said she considered her a friend, that was a very nice compliment to get and she shared the sentiment for the Elaysian woman. Life on this Starbase was looking better by the day. 

------

Lieutenant JG Sheila Bailey

Medical Officer

Starbase 118 Ops

M239512BG0

"Ta-er al-Safar" - the Canary; No woman should ever suffer at the hands of men - (Quotes) Sara Lance; Legends Of Tomorrow

 

    Ensign Romyana Casparian

    Engineering Officer

    Starbase 118 Ops

    O239703RC0

* * * Live your dreams, don't dream your life * * *

[Haukea-Willow]

Your too amazing and kind. It was a pleasure to work with you on this set of sims @Romyana Casparian. 

[Romyana Casparian]

Ooo, Yay!

Many, many thanks to @Sheila Bailey for the great cooperation for this sim.
And Kudo's to @German Galven for combining them into this post.

~ Rebecca