Posted by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Bonner (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in side - sim: A Desperate Consultation (Tag Walker)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dr. Solomon Kane (Chief Science Officer/Research & Development) in side - sim: A Desperate Consultation

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Bonner (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in side - sim: A Desperate Consultation
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Kane stood up and said “Won’t be me.” and then he looked at the Chief of Staff. “Hey Walker, I’ll have the lab on standby for testing. Let me know if you need anything special and I’ll get ya the results as fast as we can.” Kane then just walked out the door.

Kane, CSO/R&D

Bonner stood from her chair. “I’ll get an initial treatment team put together within the hour.” She left the conference room, looked up and down the corridor and then turned left. “Dr. Kane, do you have a moment?”

Bonner, AMO

Kane stopped and turned and crossed his arms on his chest. “You bet. Whats up? he asked.

Kane, CSO / R&D

Bonner caught up and fell into step beside him. “I would like you to consult on a patient. There is no one else that has your medical, science, and engineering expertise. And you will not dismiss the idea out of hand.” She also knew if he said it couldn’t be done, then it couldn’t be. But if it was probable he would do it.

Bonner, AMO

Kane scowled. Well, he scowled more. “What kinda patient? And does the Chief of Staff know you’re asking?”

Kane, CSO / R&D

His scowl didn’t phase her one bit. “A maternity patient. No he doesn’t, but he wouldn’t object. He expects us to exhaust all available resources. We are a hospital ship with science and engineering departments staffed and equipped for the ship’s mission.” She knew Walkee would find her remiss if she didn’t seek out options. “I will tell him when I know there is something to tell him.”

Bonner, AMO

Kane shrugged. He didn’t really care if the Chief of Staff knew or not; but since he and Kane both seemed to take umbrage at Almikaz, Kane figured he’d at least give a small pretense of playing nice.

“Ok, is this an emergency or chronic issue? And I’m guessing this is gonna be something weird or you wouldn’t be coming to me.”

Kane, CSO / R&D

“Emergency. Two weeks ago I did a prenatal open heart procedure on the fetus. The baby is Trill and Denobulan. The mother’s body simply can’t handle the demand the fetus is putting on her physiological systems. Normally we would attempt a surrogate, but no one is compatible.” The lift arrived and she stepped in calling for the deck. “Come down to my office, I’ll show you the file. The weird thing I want,” The doors to the lift closed, “is to know if you can bud an artificial womb.”

Bonner, AMO

Kane looked at the deck counter as the lift started moving. “Huh.” was all he said and the rest of the trip he was quiet.

When they reached her office, he sat down and grabbed one of the many PaDDs and held it out to her. “Pull up the file, gorgeous. Let’s see what you’ve got going on.” and he sat down.

Kane, CSO / R&D

A quick tap and a swipe and the file appeared on the PaDD. The mother was Denobulan and this was her first pregnancy. Previously her health had been excellent except for a history of respiratory infections as a young child. Four years ago she fell from a cat walk and suffered abdominal trauma. Her records stated a full recovery, but Alexis had made a note that the previous doctors probably had not examined her reproductive system and injuries had been missed. She speculated it was part of the problem.

The early pregnancy progressed as expected with no issues until the 4th month when the anatomy scans were completed and it showed that there was a small hole in the heart. Nothing was done at the time because often such problems self corrected before birth. As the weeks progressed the mother presented with extreme fatigue, light headedness and vertigo. Her blood pressure was tested and came back as severe hypotension and vitamin defencies. She was treated but returned with severe contractions two days later.

At that time another anatomy scan was co ducted showing the heart was worse and an amniocentesis was conducted. The fetus was suffering from the same vitamin deficiencies and look flow through the placenta was sluggish. Correcting for that helped the baby but the mother got worse. Surgery was performed on the heart successfully. Alexis took a DNA sample at that time but could find nothing g that would indicate an obvious problem. The child was perfectly healthy in that respect.

So it went back and forth. The mother’s systems could either support her or the child, not both.

Bonner, AMO

Kane studied the file for a long time in silence. He looked at the lab results, cardiac monitoring trends, blood oxygen levels, mineral densities, fetal heartbeat monitoring… everything. He then looked at it all again, but this time he was standing up and pacing the room. His face had a look like he was fuming angry at someone, which Alexis would know was not the case… he was made at the circumstances. Finally he sat back down and said “Ok… the way I see it we have two or three ways to go. One, we supplement the uterus with a modified life support system that will ease the draw on the mother and keep the fetus healthy. Two, we do the artificial womb… but i don’t know if we have the time. Three is we do a modified hysterectomy and replace the majority of the uterus with synthetic. That last one would be really hard, and the risk is astronomical… to mom and baby. Two is risky as well, just in the time frame. I mean, I could probably have one ready and tested in a couple of weeks… but looking at these test results I dont think we have that long. I could be wrong. But if can implant a supplemental support system to the mother’s existing uterus, then we could monitor in real time and make adjustments as needed. It would be invasive, but it would probably work. Either way we go, it will be risky and it hasn’t been done before that I know of. So the real world challenges are unknown. What do you think?”

Kane, CSO / R&D

Alexis waited as he read and then paced and then finally sat and laid out his thoughts. “If we had known before she got pregnant or early in the first trimester I would say the synthetic uterus would have been the best option. Now, I don’t think either would survive another surgery. I was optimistic after the surgery, as their vitals stabilized for awhile. I am highly concerned about the delivery.” They didn’t have a couple of weeks, Alexis knew and so did Kane. Alexis would get them what time they could, but if the mother’s body gave out there was only so much Alexis could do. The parents knew it too. “How long would it take you to develop a supplemental support system?”

Bonner, AMO

“No idea, but I’ll get right on it. Send me a tissue sample from the mother and the genetic mapping for her and the fetus. And I’ll need to be there for the procedure. You might wanna have Walker and you come down to the labs in the next day or so so we can plan it out. I should have at least the rough specs done by then.” He stood up and gave Bonner a kiss. “We’ll do whatever we can, ok? You just keep ‘em stable. I’ll be in the R&D lab if you need me.” and he turned and walked out the door.

Kane, CSO / R&D

Alexis pulled up the the genetic mappings he requested. “Already at your console. I’ll get a tissue sample and have it brought down immediately.” A quick kiss in return and she nodded. “That’s the plan. We’ll be down in a couple of days. Sooner if you’re ready.” The door opened and then closed behind him and she stared at the medical records for a very long moment. Then she got up, and went into the maternity ward for the tissue sample. She sent the sample immediately down to R&D and then took the trip up to primary sickbay and knocked on Walkers office door.

Bonner, AMO

“Come,” Brad answered, surprise on his face when the door slid open to reveal Alexis.

“Dr. Bonner, I wasn’t expecting to see you until after the Ambassador’s party arrives.”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff