[VIDEO | Glass City]

Needless to say, if you woke up this morning and found yourself wanting toilet paper, dryer lint, or lightbulbs for breakfast, it's probably a curse. Given the usual situation in the City, that's a much likelier explanation than a widespread outbreak of Pica.

[Cameron is sitting at a desk, looking a bit on edge, but speaking calmly.]

Unfortunately, there aren't many options for treating a curse, and-- with half or more of our staff in the desert, here, and the hospital there out of commission-- the resources we have for counsel and restraint are limited. So think of this as a public service announcement.

Just because the curse makes you want something, doesn't mean it can't make you sick. Aside from the potential for accidental poisoning or bacterial infection, sharp-edged items will damage your mouth, throat, and stomach. Hair, fabric, paper, and other soft materials can cause gastrointestinal obstruction-- cats aren't the only creatures that get hairballs, but removing a trichobezoar usually requires surgery.

[The sharp-eyed may notice there's a piece of paper with a raggedly torn edge in front of her, but Cameron's not looking at it.]

If you can't control your cravings, get someone to help you. If you can't, we'll try to find you assistance.

It's not clear yet whether the curse affects the digestive tract as well as the appetite. If you've eaten something you shouldn't have-- something poisonous, sharp, or indigestible and too large to pass-- come by the hospital. By tomorrow-- assuming the curse doesn't persist-- we should have an idea of whether you'll require further treatment, and it's always better to be safe than sorry.

[She switches off the device, but for one reason or another the audio lingers a second longer-- just long enough to capture a quiet tearing sound.]


[ooc; assuming some NPCs are affected by the curse, but if anyone would like to say they saw Cam today / action thread a hospital visit here, feel free~ There are of course no curses on the Sand side, but she doesn't know that. Also backdated to earlier today ><]

[Community Post]

[TEXT]

Has anyone ever seen a naturally occurring medical condition present as a result of a curse?

I've seen infections spread by curse-induced vectors, but that's not entirely the same thing.




[ooc; fgfdg please forgive me + pretend this was earlier? Cameron is power-switched with Claire, and at the time of posting she thinks she has CIPA for the day. By the time she replies to comments she maaaay have noticed that's not quite the case :3]

[VIDEO;]

[The camera is trained on a table. On the table is a carton of eggs, a pile of newspapers, some plastic cups, some bubble wrap, several rolls of several kinds of tape; scissors, packing peanuts (the biodegradable sort, of course,) a few cans and plastic canisters, cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls, paper towels, some twine, some fishing line, a few distressingly-shaped surgical implements, clamps, cotton balls, and a number of other assorted items. And a half-full bottle of Elmer's glue, because half-full bottles of Elmer's glue always turn up when you get this kind of junk together. Something inaudible is muttered and the picture sways a little before moving in-- not zooming, because this is not that kind of nice camerawork, but physically moving closer-- to the carton of eggs. After another moment it pulls back and wobbles up, to show Allison Cameron standing with her hands on her hips, looking firm, measured, and totally in control.]

This exercise was designed for the staff of City General, but if anyone else wants to try their hand you're welcome to join us. [She smiles coolly.] We have plenty of supplies.

[She leans over slightly and picks up the box of eggs.]

Your task today is to design a container that will hold and protect one ordinary egg, keeping it from breaking when the container is dropped. You'll have three hours to design and build your boxes. Once everyone has finished, they'll be dropped from successively greater heights-- first five feet, then ten, and subsequently from the windows of the hospital, on different floors. The egg that survives the longest-- from the highest drop, that is-- is the winner.

Supplies are in the third floor lounge. I encourage you to work in pairs.

[She smiles, a tight and authoritative little curve of her lips. Whoever she has roped into filming this deserves an award for putting up with the (mostly) curse-induced craziness.]

There will be a prize for the winner. Good luck.



[ooc; sob please pretend this was earlier, inspiration didn't hit me til now ;_; feel free to either WTF at her or play along. If people actually want to COMPETE, I will... idk flip a coin or roll a die or something, she will indeed give the winner a small prize.]

CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis) is a rare, inherited condition where the patient is incapable of feeling physical pain or differences in temperature. While this might sound like a stroke of luck to anyone who's ever suffered chronic pain, or even anyone who's had a really bad toothache, it's an extremely dangerous condition that can potentially shorten the lifespan of the affected individual significantly. As numerous others have discussed, the experience of pain, while unpleasant, serves a purpose: it lets us know something is wrong, and often gives us a clue to what the problem might be. Take away that sensitivity, and the individual might never know they're sick or injured to begin with.

Because it's caused by a genetic mutation, CIPA is a lifelong condition and as such presents immediately. Due to their inability to sweat, more than half of all children born with CIPA die of overheating before the age of three. Those surviving are in danger of sustaining injuries, sometimes serious ones, in ways that someone who can feel pain would not; babies are given to chewing on their lips, tongues and extremities or scratching their eyes. Infections and bone fractures are not uncommon, and often go undiagnosed in their early stages because the patient is unaware of them. As such, it is important for the parents of CIPA patients (and for the patients themselves, once they become old enough to understand their condition) to routinely check for damage to their bodies and to avoid situations where overheating or injuries could occur.


[ooc; info from wikipedia & House 3x14 XD Please attribute any errors to my mistake & not Cameron's, and feel free to ping me ooc if you desire; but for IC purposes she ought to be correct. however I am not a doctor and can't swear this is perfectly accurate. <3

edit; sjslgfdsg when did it get this late /passes out |D]

Given the nature of today's curse, if you injure yourself at all, I'd strongly advise you to go to the hospital. Even a minor scrape or bruise can be deadly if the blood doesn't clot, and in some cases serious damage can be done by an injury that isn't even apparent-- internal bruising and bleeding are more difficult to detect, and therefore all the more serious.

[Hospital / Clinic / Assorted Medical Personnel Filter]

It seems to be the clotting factor that's affected, and introducing more into the deficient system doesn't seem to do anything. So far the best bet seems to be to physically staunch the bleeding as best we can, and order transfusions for those who've lost more fluids...

Unless anyone has found better options?

[Accidental Video;]

[The view is wavering and poorly focused, the camera on her PDA just barely poking out from a pocket as Cameron walks down a clinic hallway. The lights are dimmed, the exam rooms on either side dark.]

Chase? [She's not bothering to hide the frustration in her tone. She's only here because he isn't answering his phone, even though he paged her. Even though she suspects it's likely some misguided game, the slim chance that it's an actual emergency is enough to lure her down to otherwise closed clinic.]


Here. [The answering voice, and the hope in it, is weak but audible. On the floor of one of the exam rooms, Chase has managed to elevate his leg with the help of a chair. The amount of blood soaking through his pants and pooling on the floor suggests this is a recent development.] C-Cameron? In here.


What is-- [The question dies with a gasp as she marches in upon the scene, shocked into a moment's pause before training, habit, takes over. The view shakes as she rushes to grab something off a countertop-- a bundle of gauze, something clean to apply pressure-- and kneels next to him, heedless of the mess.] What happened?


[He's been applying pressure himself, tie pulled off to make a crude tourniquet. A last resort move, but it's obvious he wouldn't have gotten far in this state. Shaky and sweating, pale as a ghost, he lets himself fall back as she takes over.]

Came off my bike when I was s-six. Severed... popliteal. [He twitches, swallowing hard to force his jaw into unclenching.] Would have called House. Didn't... think I had... time.


It just... opened up? [She doesn't look up at him, fingers shifting over his leg, trying to get a sense of the damage, pressing the gauze on top of his soaked trouser leg, unwilling to risk pulling or cutting it away, lest it make the damage worse. She presses as hard as she can, trying to keep the artery against the bone, above where she judges the break to be.]


It was Eden. For God's sake, Cameron. [He doesn't have much of a voice left, and still less colour in his face, words hissed through teeth that won't ungrit.] ...Help.


[Cameron doesn't reply, bending to peek between her fingers to see how much blood has seeped through. Too much. One hand still curled firmly around his leg to keep pressure, she reaches up to press her fingers against his wrist, feeling for his pulse.]

I'm calling the ER. [The camera view jostles as she shifts back, obscured by the shadow of her hand as Cameron reaches for the pocket it's sticking out of.] I can't staunch the bleeding, and you're hypovolemic. You need a transfusion, and I can't move you mys--

[The transmission cuts off midsentence as Cameron turns off the device, never noticing it was recording.]




[ooc; speech color = Chase, Cameron. all network replies will come after Chase is out of her hands and in more stable condition. ♥ ♥ ♥]

Although the cold spell seems to have dealt with the insect problem, I'd like to remind anyone who's feeling feverish to come in for an exam-- just because the bugs are gone doesn't mean their effects are. A number of the illnesses we'd expect to see have incubation periods of two weeks or more, so infection is still possible, if less likely.

On a related note, if any friends of Billy Kaplan could give me a little of their time, I'd really appreciate it. Particularly anyone originating from the same world.




[ooc; ffff if i am stepping on anyone's diagnostic or sickly toes tell me to gtfo. /fails at medicine... ;_; idek. May be sporadic on comments, am painting my room~]