Breath...

[liralen]

... so the one surprising thing from the allergy appointment was finding that I'm probably using less than 70% of my lung capacity. That there's a low level asthma that's occupying, basically, half a lung. Even with all the stuff I've been doing. Ah well...

The good news is that with medication and/or the shot therapy I should regain it all...

Comments

[archangelbeth]

If it helps, my spouse is allergic to just about all molds, all deciduous trees, and rabbits... He's been helped a lot by Claritin-D (including the generic version), so yes, medication can help!

Crossing fingers for you!

[incandescens]

I'm sorry to hear that you are that badly hit by it, but glad to hear that something can be done about it!

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Yay!

It helps. I use generic Claritin, too, but it hasn't been quite enough for the last year, which is why the shots, but there's hope. *grin*

Thank you!

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

Yeah... I feel a bit closer to Jyuushiro now. *laughter*

[incandescens]

I wrote at least one of my fics involving him when in the middle of a very dense cold, so I know what you mean!

Incidentally, I was reading up on tuberculosis the other day. As I understand it, part of the problem is that even when the active infection has been dealt with, the subject is left with areas of scarring and necrotic tissue in the lungs. Presumably that's Ukitake's current situation; no longer actively infectious, but with lungs that are severely damaged?

[liralen.livejournal.com]

That would be very useful.

I'd far prefer that than an active infection.

So then, there isn't a lung treatment that can heal up the scarred areas... given that most of the shinigami have scars... *grin* That would make sense.

[incandescens]

That would seem to fit, to me. Orihime's abilities might perhaps have been able to do something closer to the time, but I can't see her managing to restore him now.

And even then, he has some days that are worse than others.

(I like to suspect that the day Kaien got killed was being a day when he was feeling bad anyhow, but that he deliberately went out on the mission despite knowing he was probably due an attack, thus resulting in the somewhat coincidental timing of that coughing fit.)

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... that makes sense.

*sigh* Put the first two chapters up and on the clinic... now I'm just hunkering into a bunker and waiting... *grin*

[incandescens]

(hugs)

[liralen.livejournal.com]

*hugs* It's going quite well, now. *sigh of relief*

Thank you, so much, for the work you put into them, too...

It's interesting to try and think through the timing of Jyuushiro's attacks. Are there any online resources you were using for your research?

[incandescens]

I see! And any nice comments are very well deserved by you. (It was a pleasure to get to read it!)

I'm hitting up wikipedia, I'm afraid. I think Jyuushirou's tuberculosis is probably pulmonary rather than elsewhere. Pulmonary TB _is_ contagious when active, which is why I believe his TB must be in a treated state (and therefore no longer contagious), and it's the long-term damage to his lungs which is his real problem nowadays.

To quote a relevant bit:

In many patients the infection waxes and wanes. Tissue destruction and necrosis are balanced by healing and fibrosis. Affected tissue is replaced by scarring and cavities filled with cheese-like white necrotic material. During active disease, some of these cavities are joined to the air passages bronchi and this material can be coughed up. It contains living bacteria and can therefore pass on infection. Treatment with appropriate antibiotics kills bacteria and allows healing to take place. Upon cure, affected areas are eventually replaced by scar tissue.

Since there is no _way_ Ukitake would be allowed to run round coughing up infected material, I'm assuming the infection's been dealt with, but his lungs are never going to entirely heal.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Feynman's wife died of TB... back when it couldn't be treated and she was coughing up infectious material. One of the reasons his family objected so much to his marrying her. She could have infected him...

... which was why I was always mildly bemused at the thought of Jyuushiro and Shunsui shacking up together as he was risking his friend's life, in a way. It would have also explained why Jyuushiro had to be so friendly with everyone to overcome that fear so he could have a normal social life.

Still... it would be much easier to have him not be infectious anymore, just dealing with the longterm damage.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Oh! Would you please do me a favor? Would you please check out the new layout to my lj and tell me if the layout and font are easy enough to read? I think it's easier, but it would help me to get another opinion.

thanks!!

[incandescens]

I don't see how you can really have the storyline of him interacting with society much at all, if he is currently infectious. I mean, I know the suffering-samurai-with-tuberculosis is something of an iconic figure (that Shinsengumi one, for instance), but for Ukitake to have lived amid society for the last two thousand years . . . no, he can't be infectious.

Of course, some of the anti-tuberculin drugs are pretty nasty in themselves. Probably didn't help his general health much, even if they (plus kidou) did manage to cure the infection.

Hm. I could argue that a lot of Fourth's healing is basically _accelerating_ the healing process. I wonder if the disease was basically forced into accelerated growth and then out of his system, while simultaneously giving him support to keep him alive? But leaving his lungs heavily scarred in the process?

Possibly high-reiatsu people respond better to healing. It'd explain why Hisana couldn't be cured of her unspecified-but-fatal illness, while other people have survived pretty near lethal wounds.

[incandescens]

I find it nice and clear to read. I have to scroll down slightly more than before, but that's because I have a rather small monitor (which I really must replace one of these days) rather than for any other reason.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Yeah... okay...

Early Jyuushiro -- no antibiotics. For thousands of years... and he's still hemorrhaging from the lungs.

Does a cure plus great healing acceleration mean that the bleeding would stop?

Or can they just not get the bacteria out (everyone still has the common cold in Soul Society) without destroying his lungs completely?

I'm wondering if they figured out a binding kido that keeps the bacteria ONLY in his lungs and can't get out in order for him to go to school so he can learn how to build his reiatsu as well as kill a few Hollows. They help accelerate his healing as a short term fix until someone thinks of the massive force into accelerated growth AFTER Jyuushiro's reiatsu gets powerful enough for him to survive?

I like your approach. I'm not sure he's up to that "cure" yet. But, yeah, I think the damage might then be extensive enough to last a while...

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes, the font is bigger. The old layout had too big a page and too small a font to make it really easy to read for me. *laughter*

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm... waxes and wanes... I wonder if that means it goes in cycles? Until it's cured. That's something to think about...

[incandescens]

I think that would still be in the active-infection stage, though. So that would probably be pre-Academy.

[incandescens]

Well, the problem with scarring/fibrosis in delicate areas is that it can tear, if I understand correctly. So it could be the case that he's operating on reduced lung capacity (due to scarring) most of the time, and that if he really exerts himself, he runs the risk of some of it tearing open and haemorrhaging, etc.

I'm not sure about the binding-kidou-as-short-term-fix. I can see the logic, but I'm not quite sure how it feels to me.

(There is, of course, the fact that KT has written all this as Omnipotent Author without needing to justify it all, and we are never going to be able to provide a really effective explanation, but why let this depress us?)