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rachelmanija Oct. 21st, 2004 12:43 pm)
rachelmanija Oct. 21st, 2004 12:43 pm)Some of you were very helpful a while back when I wanted to inflict a character with the possibility but not certainty, of a horrible genetic disease. The sword hanging over his head is (thank you) Huntington's Disease.
Okay. I want to torment him further. What can I inflict on him that could make him think he's showing symptoms, but turn out to be something else entirely which is actually benign or easily cured? Maybe something like a sports injury (he's a martial artist) with a delayed onset, so that (say) when he finds that his right hand has become clumsy or weak, he doesn't immediately connect it to the hit he took a few days before?
Ideally, but not necessarily, it would be something that, when he finally consults a doctor, the doctor can lecture him along the lines of "You should have come in sooner-- this can cause permanent damage if you just ignore it."
Would a pinched nerve work for this?
Okay. I want to torment him further. What can I inflict on him that could make him think he's showing symptoms, but turn out to be something else entirely which is actually benign or easily cured? Maybe something like a sports injury (he's a martial artist) with a delayed onset, so that (say) when he finds that his right hand has become clumsy or weak, he doesn't immediately connect it to the hit he took a few days before?
Ideally, but not necessarily, it would be something that, when he finally consults a doctor, the doctor can lecture him along the lines of "You should have come in sooner-- this can cause permanent damage if you just ignore it."
Would a pinched nerve work for this?
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Trying to think of things...carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, neuritis of some sort...
I'm off work for a few days, or I'd ask one of the docs. I can think of a radiologist who'd be intrigued enough by this topic to give it a lot of thought.
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Maybe you could have the hero(ine) sleep on her arm wrong so when she wakes up, it's numb and weak, and this could make her have a panic attack or something . . . the other night, I apparently fell asleep propped up on my elbow, and my shoulder was just wacked-out, and also I couldn't make a fist for an hour. That was disturbing. Shouldn't watch TV from the bed.
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Nick O'Donohoe wrote an extremely obscure but fucking brilliant novel called Too Too Solid Flesh, which I think only I, Pamela Dean, and
Nick O'Donohoe wrote an extremely obscure but <i>fucking brilliant</i> novel called <i>Too Too Solid Flesh</i>, which I think only I, Pamela Dean, and <ljuser="coffee_and_ink"> have ever read, but which I highly recommend special ordering. It's about the last human actor in a nightmarish future in which androids modeled after the characters they play are performing <i>Hamlet</i>, and a shockingly convincing android Hamlet is a major character. It uses a lot of the themes of the play, too.
If I was you, I wouldn't both reading the sequels to <i>Crossroads</i>.
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Mind you, your character would have to have not been eating any nuts, olive oil, or dark leafy green vegetables for a really, really long time.
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Guillain-Barre Syndrome: http://health.yahoo.com/health/ency/adam/000684 I don't know if it's possible to have a light case of this or not, but there's a G-B Syndrome Foundation mentione don the Treatment page, so it' worth looking there.
Random article on numbness and weakness, with potential spne-related causes: http://health.yahoo.com/centers/mens/75.html
Carpal tunnel: http://health.yahoo.com/health/centers/arthritis_pain/2976.html
I've got an LJ friend in med school right now - I'll kick the question her way and see if she's got any suggestions. (well, if she's got time between rounds and exams and whatnot. :)
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You can give her more details than I have here, but what would really freak him out would be if he started dropping things. Like a paint brush. Or a glass of water. This is also going to cause him to lose at tournament # 2, after which he bites the bullet and sees a doctor. He has to be OK for tournament # 3, which is a couple months later, and he can't have been totally out of training for months before it either.
Ideally, the recovery time should be about one month, which can give him lots of free time in which he has no excuses not to socialize with other human beings, and also time to rethink some of his attitudes about life and stuff.
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---L. stop that.
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---L.
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How old is the character? That could make quite a difference in the choice of *ahem* available diseases. :)
I imagine that the character is probable somewhat young, so there are only a couple disorders that come to mind. (The differential diagnosis for HD is about 30 long, but they are all invariably incurable.)
1. Wilson's disease. Basically, your body accumulates copper.
From random medical website:
"Wilson's disease is an inherited disorder in which excessive amounts of copper accumulate in the body. Although the accumulation of copper begins at birth, symptoms of the disorder appear later in life, between the ages of 6 and 40. The primary consequence for approximately 40 percent of patients with Wilson's is liver disease. In other patients the first symptoms are either neurological or psychiatric or both, and include tremor, rigidity, drooling, difficulty with speech, abrupt personality change, grossly inappropriate behavior and unexplicable deterioration of school work, neurosis or psychosis.
Without proper treatment [penicillamine-it binds the copper], Wilson's disease is generally fatal, usually by the age of 30. If treatment is begun early enough, symptomatic recovery is usually complete, and a life of normal length and quality can be expected.
I thought this might be interesting, because it has a variety of interesting clinical signs, like Kaiser-Fleischer rings. Its a ring of brownish green pigment in the cornea, which is really just the copper settling in your eyes. Unfortunately, you can usually only see them in people with blue eyes. Otherwise, the ophthamologist can see them on exam.
Here's a couple pictures.
http://bjo.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/86/1/114
2. Now, if the character is quite young...Sydenham Chorea. Has the benefit of otherwise being known as "St. Vitus Dance" (kind of a romantic name for a disease...)
Again, from random website, because I'm too lazy:
"a childhood movement disorder characterized by rapid, irregular, aimless, involuntary movements of the muscles of the limbs, face, and trunk. The disorder, which is considered a manifestation of rheumatic fever (streptococcal infection), typically has an onset between the ages of 5 and 15. Girls are affected more often than boys. The symptoms may appear gradually or suddenly, and may include muscle weakness, hypotonia (decreased muscle tone), and clumsiness. The symptoms vary in severity--from mild cases in which there is restlessness, facial grimacing, and a slight degree of incoordination of movements, to severe cases involving involuntary movements that incapacitate the child. The disorder may strike up to 6 months after the fever or infection has cleared. The chorea is believed to result from an autoimmune mechanism that occurs when the streptococcal infection causes the body to make antibodies to specific brain regions.
This one has the benefit of being completely cured, as long as the patient is given prophylactic antibiotics. Average case may last 3-6 weeks with good prognosis and complete recovery.
Unfortunately, most movement disorders have a pretty dismal prognosis, so its kind of hard to find one that fits the bill for your plot. Let me know if these help.
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Depending on how old your character is, Wilson's disease is your best bet. You will die if this is not treated (except you must be treated for the rest of your life).
Here's a good article: http://www.emedicine.com/NEURO/topic570.htm
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