I had to go to the ER last night because one of my surgical incisions ripped open, and the instructions I was given are literally time travel and whatever the fuck “upright gauze moist” is.
So, recent diagnoses and what’s being done about them:
1.) Chiari Type 1 (the whole brain-trying-to-escape-skull thing that’s compressing my spinal cord). On a new med for that, to see if it’ll reduce the pressure in my skull without the need for surgery. It makes my extremities tingle, makes me sleepy, and gives me dry mouth, BUT I also haven’t had a migraine since I started taking it, just a few more-or-less tolerable “normal” headaches.
2.) Some kind of auto-immune thing. Trying to figure out what, specifically, and waiting on a rheumatologist appointment and probably 600 more blood draws for that. According to my primary doctor, my ANA is “the highest [he’s] ever seen.” So that’s, uh. Special. I might have lupus, despite the famous Dr. House wisdom that “it’s never lupus.”
4.) Also deficient in D3 (how? I take multivitamins and go outside regularly) so I get to take softgels three times a day now.
5.) Gotta find a lawyer for disability stuff, since they didn’t fucking wait until after the neurologist appointment to make a decision on my application. :P
6.) Gotta ask my endocrinologist if getting T is even possible at this point, and if it’s not, what to do. It’s really looking like T is my best option for getting relief from my Hell Periods™ since I’m not a good candidate for basically anything else. Apparently increased estrogen can actually make some autoimmune things worse, lololol.
Incidentally, here’s the current tally of things caused by/related to the Chiari Malformation so far:
- scoliosis + herniated discs in lower spine
- syrinx in upper spine
- chronic radiating nerve pain
- chronic severe migraines
- hand tremors
- maybe the cyst in my brain
Gosh, wouldn’t it have been nice if literally any doctor ever had sent me for an MRI and found this shit sooner? c: c: c: But nah, my chronic pain is tooootally caused by just the scoliosis and having flat feet. $50 shoe inserts and 6 physical therapy appointments per year would have fixed me right up. Totally. Fuck you, California medical system.
Something that has bothered me since I joined this fandom is the unfortunate inaccuracy in many depictions of Crutchie having polio. To that end, I have attempted to debunk some common misconceptions about polio in general, and how polio would have affected Crutchie, in this post. (Apologies for how long this is, medical history is one of my niche interests).
To start, let’s talk a little bit about what exactly polio is, and what it does to the body.
Polio, or poliomyelitis (although it was often called infantile paralysis historically) is a disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can cause paralysis, among other complications.
The majority of people who get infected with poliovirus will not have any visible symptoms (about 72 in 100 people with polio have no symptoms). Of the people who do have symptoms, many only have generic flu-like symptoms such as fever, nausea, and head and stomach pain, without paralysis. Only a low percentage of people will develop serious complications, among them the most familiar being paralysis. This means that Crutchie could have been exposed to the poliovirus and have caught it from people who had no idea that they even had the disease.
In terms of symptoms, Crutchie’s polio would have started out with the same symptoms as the flu (fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, sore throat, etc.) He could have also experienced back pain, back stiffness, neck pain, neck stiffness, muscle weakness, and pain or stiffness in the arms and legs. These symptoms could last for up to a week before paralysis would happen.
Symptoms of paralytic polio include a loss of reflexes, severe muscle aches and spasms, muscle weakness, loose and floppy limbs, deformed limbs, and sudden temporary or permanent paralysis. Paralysis can occur anywhere in the body, with varying levels of severity. Polio can also affect the throat and lungs, impairing breathing and making swallowing extremely difficult. However, this likely did not happen in Crutchie’s case, because in an age without the iron lung (invented in 1927) had his breathing been severely impaired by the virus he likely would have died.
Once a person with polio’s fever breaks they are usually no longer contagious through the air, although their stool can remain infected for 3 to 6 weeks after contracting the virus. After this, paralysis can go away on its own, although physical therapy is helpful as well.
Crutchie probably contracted polio well before the strike, given that his leg muscles have atrophied to the point that they have in the show. An outbreak of polio occurred in the United States around 1893, and then again in 1894, which could have been when he caught it, or he could have caught it before then (again, polio is highly contagious but most people don’t show symptoms). Personally, I headcanon that he caught it before 1893 because polio mainly affects children under the age of 5 or 6, but he could have caught it later than that as well.
One thing that I need to note here that I see in fanfiction stories all the time is that paralysis caused by polio is usually not gradual. That is, it usually occurs suddenly, almost overnight, and not slowly over a longer period.
If you headcanon that Crutchie caught polio before becoming a newsie and moving into the lodging house, he was likely treated at home. Hospitals around the turn of the century were often overcrowded and not the most sanitary of places (although that was rapidly changing all over the country). If you headcanon that Crutchie caught polio while living in the lodging house, however, he would’ve been taken to the Hudson Street Hospital as soon as it was discovered that he had polio, and the entire lodging house would have been fumigated (disinfected) to prevent contagion (this happened in 1897 when a newsboy named John Kelly was diagnosed with diphtheria and sent to the hospital, but it later turned out that he only had tonsilitis).
In terms of what kinds of treatments Crutchie would have had access to, the answer is, unfortunately, not much. The primary rehabilitation treatments for polio (known as the Sister Kenny treatments) would not begin to be developed until 1911 when Australian nurse Elizabeth Kenny saw her first case of polio, and they would not catch on in the United States until the 1940s and 50s. The main treatment for polio at the turn of the century were leg and arm braces, intended to “correct” the paralysis, which Crutchie would have had limited access to as a poor, working-class person (and which had limited success without physical therapy anyway). However, Crutchie could have been given exercises to do to strengthen and rehabilitate his muscles by a doctor, such as the stretch we see him and Jack doing during Carrying the Banner, meaning that his paralysis could get better over time. Paralysis caused by polio is also rarely permanent, so Crutchie likely was paralyzed more right after he first caught polio and then gradually regained the use of his limbs over time.
Now, for a word about post-polio syndrome.
Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is the return of certain symptoms of polio years after a person has first had the disease. It can occur anywhere from 15 to 40 years after someone has had polio. About 25 to 50 percent of people who have had polio will develop PPS, so it’s certainly possible that Crutchie could have developed it. In rare cases, it can be fatal, but it is usually not, especially with physical therapy and other management techniques. Symptoms of PPS include muscle and joint weakness, muscle pain, becoming tired more easily, muscle atrophy, trouble breathing or swallowing, sleep apnea, and low tolerance of cold temperatures. It is also important to note that since it is unlikely that Crutchie’s lungs were affected by polio, there is no reason that he should get sick more easily than other people because of his polio (he could still just have a naturally low immune system, however).
I hope this was informative (and not too boring). Please feel free to send me any questions you may still have about this or any other topic!
big bear’s been dealing with the same lack of libido too, tho, but his doc doesn’t wanna change his med yet he said it was literally painful to cum the other day because he just couldn’t stay hard. but i also know pain during an orgasm can be indicative of prostate issues??? ugh i’m so worried about him. i just want him to be healthy and not in pain so he can enjoy his fuckin life!!!!
i’m not. a philosopher. but my moral instinct is to prioritize medical equipment and care for the patients who are less likely to survive, like we normally do in emergencies, and i’m kinda interested to know what that ethical divide is about.
Pretty sure the difference is:
Normal crisis: Two people are sick. Person A would benefit from medical equipment, but has a good chance of surviving without it. Person B will definitely die without it, and has a good chance of surviving with it. Give priority to Person B, and they will probably both live.
Category 55 emergency doomsday crisis: Two people are sick…afterwe exclude all the ones who have a good chance of surviving without treatment. Person A will definitely die without medical equipment, but might survive if they get it. Person B will definitely die without it…and have a good chance of dying even if they get it. Give priority to Person B, and they will probably both die.
My understanding from “watching a bunch of medical soap operas” is that organ transplants are always in the second category – recipients can be taken off the transplant list if their overall health risks are believed to be too severe. Ventilators are in similar short supply right now, it’s just that, unlike with organs, it can be temporary because we have the power to manufacture a lot more of them.
Both the devices which I ordinarily use to self-administer my nightly regimen of cannabinoid anti-inflammatories are presently Fucked, and have been so since the day before Dad was hospitalized, leaving me full of lesions, swollen joints, and brainfog, and thereby rendering my hands too shaky to do the necessary cleaning/refilling/part replacements. NEVER put off weed vape maintenance.
I need to go Practice Law but I am still So Tired and Slightly Poisoned and I think it’s really unfair that I inherited the Mom-type stamina debuffs instead of Dad-type stamina buffs. How is he doing this. I need to do more drugs
TRIGGER WARNING: MEDICAL, ILLNESS (Ask to tag if this needs further tagging)
By the time this is up I should have already seen a doc about this haha.
I try to not air my dirty laundry with this comic but I’m not sure if this stuff is gonna affect my content creation. Basically, I have had digestive issues since a really bad stomach bug as a kid. I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to gross you out. But I’ve switched to gluten free, greatly reduced oil intake and increased the amount of veggies in my diet. However, as you can tell by this being the third or fourth comic about being exhausted and whatnot, it hasn’t fully gone away and still really impacts my life. Ram and I usually have to strategically plan going out because of this worsening problem. Right now, I have a slight idea of what might be going on, but based on the treatment I receive I’m not sure how available I’m gonna be.
I feel like really bad that delays keep popping up but…
Reading Charlie’s response, the hotel guard gave a small hum in agreement to Whitten, slowly standing up from his seat and waited a moment to regain some balance before grabbing his jacket to place back on.
“I’m alright, just need some water and a snack to replenish myself.” It was just a little blood, not enough to exhaust him completely.
“That’s still a habit I’m trying to control, since I’m prone to overworking myself… Set up silent alarms on my phone to keep track of my breaks and when my shift ends.”
He usually carried some water, passing it to Don, not having a snack on him at the moment. He’d be happy to hear that, adding, “I am glad that you’re taking that seriously, especially in your line of work. I must take my leave and get the medicine sent here as soon as possible, otherwise unless there’s any other concerns you have.” He’d be ready to go, since his items were packed up.
The ‘human’ sinner took the water, giving the doctor a brief nod in thanks before taking several sips of the water, taking a deep breath once the water was in his system.
“Alright, let me escort you out the hotel, there’s no other concerns to address on my end, but I would ask our allies if there’s something they need addressed.” Placing the cap on the water bottle, he walked over to the door to exit Charlie’s office, sending a heads up text to the inner circle about this.
“We’ll keep a note of that… Yes, maybe too many sweets.” Don texted that info to Charlie, just to avoid causing unwanted commotion in the inner circle’s group chat.
“I don’t want to push her training too much, she still has work to do here at the hotel… We all want her to not push herself and take breaks.”
Charlie would text back after seeing that “We need to talk about that sometime, I didn’t think she was overweight.” Otherwise Dr. Whitten would be ready to go along with finishing any remarks left for the conversation. He’d agree about the training not pushing her too much, “It’s good to take the breaks, especially so one would get too tired out.” He stood, wondering if Don was fine after pulling the samples from him.
Reading Charlie’s response, the hotel guard gave a small hum in agreement to Whitten, slowly standing up from his seat and waited a moment to regain some balance before grabbing his jacket to place back on.
“I’m alright, just need some water and a snack to replenish myself.” It was just a little blood, not enough to exhaust him completely.
“That’s still a habit I’m trying to control, since I’m prone to overworking myself… Set up silent alarms on my phone to keep track of my breaks and when my shift ends.”
“Then we’ll check the log book, see who was the newest sinner to check into the hotel.” Don used his free hand to text the inner circle of his allies about the new info Whitten was explaining to him, asking to check the log book for anyone that recently checked in.
“Yes, we’ve been noticing that… Her first outing was with Angel Dust and Miss Cherri along with me for the trip… That outing is how we met new allies, some that were allies to both Angel Dust and Miss Cherri in the past.”
Dr. Whitten would finish getting his samples, listening to Don’s statements once more as he put the proper bandaging on the spot the needle was. “I think that if she’s with friends she’ll do better, learn who to be so kind toward. I wouldn’t want her to quit being kind, just more careful.” He’d start packing up, writing down the dosage for when Zephos’ medicine would arrive.
“Of course, that’s the goal there, Doctor.” Once the samples were taken, Don slowly stood up, rolling down his shirt sleeve and putting his jacket back on, giving Whitten a nod in thanks.
“She’s also being trained in combat and self defense, so if push comes to shove, she’ll be able to defend herself… We’re just looking for the right time to resume those lessons since we’re all busy with the hotel.”
i’m getting the ball rolling with top surgery this month (seeing my doctor about my options) and i am so scared but also so determined and hopeful and i told my mum today who was really great about it! it’s gonna be a Journey™️ and i’m glad i have a supportive boyfriend and excellent friends and ahhhh. flat chest here i come? maybe? i hope ❤️
