Down to the wire [CLOSED TO CHASE, AMBER, CAMERON, FOREMAN]

[c18_h21_no3]

They had less than 67 hours to find the diagnosis and hope that Rob woke up from the coma

Comments

[chasemd]

Chase looked at Foreman tiredly. "Well done, Foreman. Next time just test for the shit, okay? Especially if it's just bloods. Still, we all got thrown on the wrong path thinking it was one illness."

He took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "Keep thinking outside the box, but I don't think it's going to hurt to focus the environmental factor of the desert environment he was in for months before he went AWOL from service. He died seven or so weeks after the date he ended up on the island, and he started getting sick just over two weeks ago... now. I think it's linked, but I think whatever we have been dosing him with has prolonged the death. Something he wouldn't have probably presented to an infirmary in Iraq to be given. I also think that if he was symptomatic of this during fighting, he wouldn't haven taken any notice like he did here. Dust, dirt, fumes, chemicals. He could have been coughing his guts up and had any number of excuses to cover it. Nausea could have been written off to dehydration. Fever, to

[cutthroatbitch]

Amber was staring at Chase, almost in shock. "What do you mean he's dead?" she asked, a small frown forming on her forehead. "He's not dead."

[ihavefun]

Cameron realised Amber had become Rob's friend, on some level. She was shocked to hear what Chase had to say, too, so she could only imagine what it was like for Amber to try and absorb. "If he died seven weeks after the date he got here on the island, he wouldn't have known he died. How would he know?" She turned to Chase with a frown. "How do you know? This could just send us on another wild goose chase, which we don't have time for. How certain are you that he died there, or are you just clutching at straws and speculating?"

[neurologydoc]

Foreman pressed his lips together and sighed as he rolled his eyes a little. "The dude's a frontline soldier. It's not such a freak thing to speculate," he pointed out. "And even if it is, what other leads to we have? None. A dirty great abscess in his brain that could be caused by anything. To even shove the speculated death into the background, the environmental factor of the war still remains prominent like Chase said. We haven't explored that yet because we got sidetracked by the other patients who aren't soldiers who have been stuck in the desert for months on end. I think the abscess should be the launch pad. What about Glioblastoma multiforme? Seizure, nausea, vomiting, and abscess. It's also one of those diseases that can be asymptomatic until the abscess reaches any prominent size. Explains the time lapse. Also doesn't offer a very positive prognosis, but the guy could still be mincemeat in three days no matter what we do."