Medical Update

Posted on 05 Aug 2017 @ 4:43pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell

639 words; about a 3 minute read

INITIATE STARFLEET MEDICAL LOG

NEUROLOGY DEPARTMENT
DATE: April 7, 2391
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: Dr. Joseph Taylor
SUBJECT: Greg Mitchell
RANK: Chief Warrant Officer Third Class
ASSIGNMENT: Previous: USS GALILEO, Current: UNKNOWN
REASON FOR ADMISSION: Unknown damage to brain caused by invasive probe.

CONTENT:

After a month under watch, I have reluctantly cleared Chief Greg Mitchell for rehabilitation out of his local hospital back in his home town. I believe I have done everything I can to help him here, and that he should be able to recover granted that he take it easy for the next few days. I must insist that he not do anything to drastic, however, as the brain damage could become more permanent.

When he arrived at my department almost a month ago, I was shocked to find that he was in a somewhat normal state. While I do not know the full details of the others, due to law, I am aware more of his crew mates have arrived at medical due to similar neurological issues, along with varying symptoms. However, as we are a large department, I was not the surgeon who attended to them. Chief Mitchell was coherent, and on the outside one would assume he was perfectly normal.

It was on the inside that issues could be found. Chief Mitchell's neurological vitals were very strange. Some data was off the charts high, while others were low and concerning. The patient states that he has been in a coma for the last few months, and for that I am surprised he recovered at all. I can tell he is having major psychological issues that are weighing on his mind, though whether this is completely from the probe is unknown.

I believe the extent of his injuries to his brain are caused by the probe that he states was inserted into him. But why this caused a coma in him as opposed to the rest of the crew is beyond me. If I were to theorize, it may be because of some unknown psychological trauma in the past that, combined with the torture and the invasive probe, caused a loss of consciousness as a defense mechanism. The damage to the brain also caused loss of certain memories.

I performed a minor surgery on his brain in order help heal certain bruised areas, re activate dormant neurons, and clear out what remains of the probe injury. On the patients insistence, and my concurrence that being around family is beneficial to the healing process, I have agreed to allow Chief Mitchell to go back to his home town pending his upcoming shore leave. The condition for this is that he must check in with me on a regular basis, preferably weekly, and I suggested that he sign a release with his physician there to be able to share information between me and him/her on the Chief's progress.

This is a very concerning case. I am glad he was transferred here from the city hospital so that I may look at him. If this causes an attitude shift of any kind, it may be enough for me to sideline him from active duty until further notice. The patient's sarcastic attitude makes it hard for me to tell whether or not he has had a change in personality in the past. If worse comes to worse, I will contact his department CO in order to compare notes on the issue to help make my conclusion.

What happened out there? I most likely will never know. But what I do know is that it is a miracle these patients are still alive. God willing they never go through that again.

Dr. Joseph Taylor, MD
Starfleet Medical, Neurology Department,
Starfleet Headquarters, San Francisco, California

PATIENT STATUS: Discharged
Caveat: Required weekly updates with surgeon until recovery is deemed complete.

END OF LOG

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