"So, does anyone have any more questions" Aubree asked looking around the group of operators standing in the training room that was attached to the gastrointestinal ward, this was an area where Aubree could take family groups to teach them how to manage all the different things like accessing ports, changing tubes, setting up feeds, managing ostomies, whatever the patient needed and the family was curious about
"I think you've given us more than enough help and information Aubree, thank you" Eric said impressed with the session that had just been provided, she hadn't just covered the basic medical care, she had provided a chance for them to do practical training on the various mannequins, had handouts demonstrating the various techniques used to do things, and lists of ways to help keep someone dealing with chronic medical issues entertained in and out of hospital, practical ways that people can help and practical gifts that could be purchased that would always be welcome, instead of items that would be wasted or useless like bunches of flowers and where to purchase those items
"It's what I'm here to do, Jess is in room 9" Aubree said as she proceeded to start packing up the training mannequins
"I'm going to head back to Virginia Beach, session was most informative" Captain Lindell said gathering up his belongings and extra copies of the handouts he had gathered for distribution to interested members of DEVGRU command
"You're not going to see Jess before you leave sir" Eric asked concerned
"I visited her earlier this afternoon, before this session" Lindell said
"Sir, did you manage to reorganise the duty roster" Jason asked their unit CO
"Bravo has 3 weeks off, best I can do" Lindell said apologetically, he wanted to give Bravo longer, but that wasn't possible at the moment
"Better than nothing I guess" Sonny said annoyed slightly that they only had a few weeks
"3 weeks will see her through the induction therapy, depending on how her body responds she could be back in remission before those 3 weeks are up" Aubree said hearing the tone in Sonny's voice, despite how bad the diagnosis sounded, they had caught things early thanks to how quickly Jess and Luca responded to the signs that things weren't right, and the doctors had promptly responded to the concerns and hadn't brushed them of even
"Would be nice if she was" Clay said optimistically, Sonny was his partner in crime, but the future of Bravo would fall on Clay's shoulders in a few years with Jess becoming his 2IC, Clay wanted that to still be the case as something clicked between the pair of them
"Anyway, I've got a long drive" Lindell said ready to go
"Have a good night sir" Eric said politely as the CO left the room
"Never would have picked Lindell as someone to attend this type of thing" Jason said surprised that Lindell had actually taken time to leave Virginia Beach to attend this session
"You do realise that he owes Tinkerbell his life" Critter announced to the group
"Huh, what do you mean" Trent asked surprised at Critter's announcement as he looked straight at Metal for confirmation
"First I heard of this one" Metal said looking just as interested at Critter's comments
"It was during a NATO assignment, I don't know exact details as I wasn't there, only what they were talking about back at camp, she pulled some magic out of her butt and it saved Lindell's life" Critter said
"You were at the NATO camp with her" Brock asked surprised
"You really think that after the absolute hell she'd just gone through, Dede and I were going to let her go to another assignment without us being there to watch her back" Critter said smiling
"Samuels actually let you go" Eric asked
"He wasn't fond of any of us, Jess had not long come back after he'd raped her, and Dede and I both knew that he was the one responsible, so a chance to get rid all 3 of us for the 4 months, he couldn't sign the paperwork quick enough" Critter said as they all walked down the hall to Jess's room
"Bet he couldn't, hey Jess, Laura, surprised to see you hear, hey Zah" Jason said as the team walked into Jess's room, they'd expected to see Luca there at least, and probably Jay instead of Laura and Zalie
"Yes and hello to you to Cerbs, you taking up your heat pack duties again" Brock said as he heard the malinois let out a small quiet bark before popping his head out from under the blanket and resting it on Jess's side, Jess had her back facing the door so Cerbs body was hidden from their view
"He sure is, you're a good heat pack aren't you" Jess said giving him a good scratch around the ears
"Dialysis always makes mummy cold, and leukapharesis" Zah said to her uncle's, she was curled up in a armchair with Laura, the boys quickly noticed the dialysis machine sitting next to Jess's bed and was currently running
"That's because mummy's body basically goes into shock from blood loss as the machine takes the blood out of her body to clean it before putting it back into her body" Trent said explaining to Zalie why her mum got cold
"At least one thing hasn't changed, you still prefer laying on the side" Critter said
"Kinda can't lay on my back at the moment thanks to the nephrostomy tubes" Jess said with a small chuckle, she moved the blanket she was using so her back was exposed partially and managed to pull her top up just enough so they could all see the tubes
"Uncle Sonny, look at my new horse, his name is Hugo, he's a purebred Percheron, his dad was from a French line that produces smaller horses occasionally, so Hugo is only 15.4 hands tall and weighs 1370 pounds" Zah said excited to have someone else to show pictures to
"Only, that's still a lot of horse for a little girl like you" Sonny said jokingly
"I'm not little anymore, Aunty Laura said that Percherons in the US need to be between 16.2 and 17.3" Zah said protesting at being called little still and quoting her favourite aunt, the rest of the group shouldn't have been surprised by Laura's knowledge of the different heights, this horse was definitely small for his breed
"That's the genuine accepted height over here, French Percherons however can be as small as 15.1, he was basically a runt who wouldn't have made show standards from what Brad and I have worked out, so he was sold to the Amish, when he started to develop too many health issues, he was taken to a auction where he was purchased by a rescue in Tennessee, we adopted him on the weekend didn't we Zah" Laura said explaining the horse's situation
"We sure did" Zalie said with a grin on her face, she'd been wanting a horse that she could ride occasionally when she went to Brad's stables with her aunt and they went on trail rides, there was an old pony Brad would let Zalie burrow, but her height meant she was borderline being to big for it, and there was nothing else there suitable for a beginner child rider and Laura was naturally very particular about the type of horse she'd put Zalie on, she wanted a easy keeper who was bomb proof and steady footed, Hugo had fitted the bill perfectly in her eyes, and he had been struggling adapting to life in the shelter, feeling depressed and alone, it was something Laura had noticed to be quite common with old ex-amish horses, and even just horses that had come from happy, loving homes where they were seen as part of the family for most if not all of their lives, to suddenly be ripped away from everything that you know to be familiar and dumped at an auction because you're not able to work, it was a traumatic experience for them and they'd often shut down and grieve the loss of what's familiar to them and that's what happened to Hugo and the rescue didn't have the spare staff or volunteers to help him get through it, Zalie had walked right up to Hugo the moment she saw him and started feeding him cookies, chopped apple and carrots while petting him which Hugo loved, he followed Zalie around the arena without a lead rope, allowed Cerbs to be under his feet and jump up on his back, stood to be groomed by the little girl, and even lowered his head for Zalie to put the halter and lead rope on by herself and a blanket and loaded right up on Laura's trailer without any issues, as if he knew he was going somewhere he knew he would be well loved. Brad's twins had taken a liking to the new horse as well, and between the three kids they had started working together to provide Hugo with all the treats and love he needed
"Nothing serious with the health problems I hope" Brock asked looking at his girlfriend, he doubted that the health problems wouldn't be anything Laura couldn't handle, she had a clear advantage over most adopters being a vet
"Mostly his age catching up on him, a bit of mild arthritis and a bowed tendon, but for a 17 year old who's been a work horse his whole life that's not too bad, he's also got a condition calledanhidrosis" Laura said assuring her boyfriend that the problems were minor
"You giving him beer to correct it" Sonny asked curiously
"How did you know that uncle Sonny" Zalie asked surprised that he knew what Laura was using to treat the anhidrosis, Hugo was not able to sweat properly, the ingredients in the beer helps horses sweat and was often a cheaper alternative than vet medication, and the horses usually preferred it to having to take medication
"It's a old trick my daddy use to use" Sonny said smiling at Zalie
"Wait, you can give horses beer" Metal asked surprised
"They don't get drunk of it if that's what you're worried about, and it doesn't hurt them, it's made from what they eat anyway, isn't it aunty Laura" Zalie said happily quoting her aunt again, Hugo loved getting his beer to drink
"That's right, Hugo gets a beer in his grain bucket at the end of each day, a nice strong dark stout loaded with vitamins, it's what you call kicking back and enjoying his retirement, he's still good for a bit of light riding occasionally, which is all you want to do isn't it Zah" Laura said confirming what her niece had said, Hugo was 3/4 pasture pet and 1/4 trail horse, Hugo was technically capable of having a rider weighing 274 pounds on his back, Zalie was only 36 pounds, Hugo barely noticed her
"Swimming takes up a lot of time, and riding would only take up a lot more with all the lessons and practice, I'd have no time for school if I tried to do both, and I'd get really, really tired and have no time for homework" Zalie said putting extra emphasis on the part about being really, really tired and having no time for homework to sound extra dramatic before laying her head back against her aunty's chest causing all her uncle's to laugh at the display
"So you're going to start swim club like your mummy did" Critter asked giving her a little tickle in the process
"Rule is she needs to stick at it for 12 months, if she wants to try something different after the 12 months is up then she can, but swimming is really good for your asthma as well as everything else at the moment" Jess said letting out a yawn, the bout of mono had really knocked everything out of her
"And I'm really fast, my coach said I'm in the top 10% of the state for the 10 and 11 year olds, and I'm only 9, and some of my events I'm in the top 5%, he timed me" Zalie said proudly informing her uncle's
"She hasn't competed yet, first competition is in 3 weeks isn't it Zah" Laura said, after how sickly the little girl had been up to 9 months ago, the fact she was now actively involved in a competitive sport was nothing short of a miracle to her, and the fact she was a little speed demon in the water was just icing on top
"Aha, I want you out of hospital for it mummy" Zah said standing up and walking over to her mother's bed
"It depends on what the doctors say my little super Zah, but if I can be there, I will be, you know that, even if I'm still puking my guts everywhere" Jess said reaching her hand out to touch her daughter's face, even though it was a tight squeeze Jess shuffled around a little bit too create enough space for Zalie to climb up and have a cuddle with her
"It sucks that you've got cancer again mummy" Zalie said softly, as she climbed up on the bed, Cerbs stood up and moved so Zalie could get in a position where she was comfortable before settling himself back down between the two of them, making sure his head was in easy reach of his little charge as he could tell she was worried about something
"I know it does Zah, I know, now are you going to go and help aunty Laura when she goes back to help at the rescue Hugo come from" Jess asked acknowledging her daughter's concerns before changing the subject, this was happening straight after the swimming competition so Zalie would be able to take a break, and Luca, Jay and Alie had all told the little girl that if she wanted to go but was worried about missing a week of training that someone would be able to go and pick her up after a few days
"It's just for a week Brock, they're down a couple of trainers and have a backlog of horses to get assessed and started under saddle, their forman who's been doing the assessments is 6 foot 3 and 230 pounds, he's to big to ride half the horses he's assessing, so Brad, Rylan and I are going to head out for a week, try and get as many done as we can" Laura said as Brock looked at her confused, maximum rider weight a horse should carry is 20% of it's weight, so anything under 1150 pounds currently couldn't be assessed with a rider on its back, considering that Laura was only 140 pounds herself, she could jump on a horse weighing as little as 700 pounds and ride it comfortably, a huge difference between the sizes
"You really think you can get the backlog cleared in a week, if you're starting under saddle, that takes time" Sonny asked curiously
"Brad's got a special technique, he can take a horse that's barely halter broke to taking a advanced and confident rider in usually 3 hours, comes down to experience, that's all, doesn't work that fast with all horses, but most" Laura said, Brad Kirkman had 32 years experience starting horses and had worked in Japan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, England and Spain starting horses for various people, his technique was indicative of his talent in horsemanship, and he came from a long line of outback horsemen, it was in his blood to work with horses and was helping his dad at the tender age of 2 train the horses and his boys were already starting to follow in their dads footsteps, Brad often commented he found it easier to teach kids how to work with horses than the adults, the older the person, the more chance that they've learnt bad habits in their training technique which affects the horse they're working on
"He uses another horse to help when he does it, what does he call them aunty Laura" Zalie asked looking at her aunt
"Bombproof, means nothing fazes them, horses pick up on the emotions from who's around them, and a lot of these horses have been abused, beaten, whipped, shoved into trucks by humans and sent to auctions so they're weary of human's, so by allowing these horses to see another horse being ridden by a human who's not scared, and that they're not hurting the horse"
"They're more receptive to what you're doing" Eric said realising that trust was the basis of the training technique, same as it was in all cases when dealing with victims who have been abused, once they trust you it makes a huge difference
"It's still a scary process, but it's not as scary for them if they know they're safe and not around people who'll hurt them" Laura said, she stood up from the chair to allow Brock to sit down, once he was seated Laura positioned herself on Brock's lap
"Tahlia okay with you taking off for a week" Brock asked
"She's fine, there's no pregnancies there at the moment, there's no auction rescue scheduled and currently everyone is healthy, she knows the owners of this rescue and the situation they're in, and horses can't be put up for adoption till they're assessed anyway" Laura said, rescues only had limited spaces, that was a fact of life, each horse that was adopted out, meant one more horse that could be saved from potentially going to slaughter, so Tahlia had been more than willing to send this organisation help so they could start adopting out horses, even if it meant loosing her vet for a week
"And how many are you planning to bring home with you" Critter asked Laura, a week working with horse continuously, Laura would be bound to find at least one amongst the group
"There's a couple there that the forman thinks I'd like, he used to work with Brad in California, so I've met him a few times" Laura admitted sheepishly, Bailey was still quite young, and it was no secret that reining was hard on the horses, not like some sports could be on their horses like the big lick, and you were hard pressed to find competition horses from any discipline who didn't suffer from some issues due to years of competition and training, that's why ideally she liked to have a few horses trained and ready to go so she could rotate through and rest them when needed, so far Bailey had been the only horse she'd found that she liked, she took all the precautions to minimise his risk of injury, but it also meant she wasn't competing as much as she liked
"Like that warmblood mare with the bad hooves" Zalie piped up
"You do like your warmblood mares" Jess said, Laura had had a couple in the past
"Aren't they known for being fairly moody" Sonny asked
"Warmbloods, they can be temperamental and overloaded on the personality, they need the right training and handling, that's all, and I get all my mare's fixed anyway, so there's less chance of behavioral problems developing due to being in heat, they don't need to be rested because they can't tolerate the saddle and having a rider on their back, so they're a lot happier to work" Laura said, there were a lot of people ready to write an entire breed of animal of due to misconceptions like that, warmbloods were naturally bigger than some of the other eventing breeds, the warmblood mare at the rescue measured 16.1 hands, Bailey in comparison was 15 hands high, Brad's current champion mare was 14.7 hands, and warmbloods are particularly powerful, they like to have a job and work hard, and any horse will play up if it's in pain, but people would often complain if it was a mare that it was simply sour, not understanding that a horse in heat experiences pain and cramps just like females do when they have their periods, and the last thing a female wants to do in that condition is have a saddle chucked on them and be carrying a rider around, so why would they expect a horse to tolerate it being done to them, Laura also referred to it keeping her mare's safe by desexing them, they're less likely to draw attention from stallions and some geldings at competition if they're fixed, and mares can suffer serious injuries sometimes when a stallion tries to mate with them, and ultimately horses from the slaughter pipeline rarely came with pedigrees to make them valuable to breed from, there would always be a endless supply of horses to choose from, so why risk her own girls. She had nothing against breeders who were responsible, Brad used AI as the foundation for his program as there was less chance of a risk to his broodmares, and he could purchase frozen seaman from other countries that their bloodlines weren't in the US, he wasn't dealing with strange stallions coming in and out all the time, and less chance of inbreeding, though the technique wasn't as effective as having a stallion cover a mare, Brad believed that the benefits often outweighed that problem, and he could produce multiple foals from the one mare each year by using surrogate mares to carry the foals
"It really get uncomfortable for them, and they're not just being massive b's" Sonny asked skepticly
"Sonny, you're not a girl" Laura said
"Jury is still out on that one due to all his phobias" Metal chimmed in earning a huge laugh from Clay
"So until you've actually had to deal with going through all the monthly torment that us women do, you'll never understand how uncomfortable it can be for some mares to continue to work when they're on heat" Laura said to him firmly
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"Well Jess, do you want the good news or the bad" Doctor Leighton said as she walked into Jess's room 8 days later with Aubree, Laura and Zalie were visiting again why Luca was asleep in the hotel room that her uncle Kahleed had donated to be used why Jess was having treatment
"Is there a difference between the two" Jess asked curiously
"You're bored and sick of waiting" Aubree asked
"I want to be out of here for my daughter's first swimming competition, I've missed so many firsts in her life already" Jess said frustrated at the thought that she might still be in the hospital
"When is it" Doctor Leighton asked looking at Zalie and Laura
"9th and 10th of October, 12 days away" Laura said letting the doctor know the dates
"I'll see what I can do, is it in Virginia Beach" Doctor Leighton asked pulling out her notepad and pen to write the information down
"Aha, we have home pool advantage, I really want mummy to be there" Zalie told the doctor
"I'll see what I can do Zalie, mummy's first round of treatment will be finished, it's just going to depend on how her kidneys are doing, but I'll tell the other doctors that mummy has a very important thing on those days, and we need to try and not be running any treatment or tests for those days if possible" Doctor Leighton said assuring Zalie that she'd try her hardest
"Sounds good if it means mummy can come" Zalie said happily
"I'll try my best Zah to have her out of here, but no promises okay" Doctor Leighton said looking at the little girl
"Okay" Zalie said content with the news that Doctor Leighton was going to at least try
"Well, sounds like you've got a date to keep Jess, so we better get to work, now new toys for you to play with" Aubree said moving in next to Jess's bed to show her what she'd brought
"Looks interesting" Jess said examining the equipment, she recognised the container holding the urinalysis test strips but the other item that looked like a hand held device she had never seen before
"I know what that is, I've got a similar one at the rescue" Laura said instantly recognising the device
"It's used for animals" Jess asked looking at Aubree and Doctor Leighton concerned
"There is animal ones available, however I assure you this is one for humans to use Jess, we're going to use it to test your blood instead of sending it to the lab via a medical facility, your urine to, this is all part of the keeping you independent from the infirmary" Aubree said explaining the situation
"Your test results are finally all back Jess, so now we need to check that your body is healthy enough to start the induction therapy, if you're all good, we can start tonight" Doctor Leighton said smiling
"Yay mummy" Zalie said happily knowing that the quicker Jess got started with her chemotherapy, the quicker she could get out of here
"Okay, so what do I do" Jess asked hoping that it didn't require to much in the way of brain power
"You need a fresh blood and urine sample" Aubree said handing Jess over the syringe and specimen collection device she'd need to collect her samples for testing
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"This looks intense" Jason said as the rest of Bravo team followed him into Jess's room they'd been habitating in and out of since they'd gotten back from their last mission, there arms were loaded with parcels for her that had been dropped off at their team room pretty consistently since they'd gotten back
"Shh, mummy's learning how to check her bloods and pee to make sure she's well enough to start chemotherapy tonight" Zalie said scolding the others for talking
"Okay Jess, fill the cartridge with the blood till it reaches the line, nice and gentle, now put the cap back on the syringe and close the cover on the cartridge" Aubree said explaining the process, Trent immediately moved himself in closer to get a better look at how it was done after he emptied the parcels out of his arms
"Wouldn't the lab do that" Clay asked following Trent's example and moving in closer to get a good look after putting the parcels down
"Normally, but if Jess wants her A1 classification back, she's going to need to prove that she's capable of doing this type of stuff on her own and not reliant on infirmaries or medical centres" Doctor Leighton said listening to the conversation while watching what Jess was doing very closely
"So now press enter, then enter again, scan the code that was on the packet that contained the cartridge, now we want number 2 because that's what test we want, and now put the cartridge in and press start, now let's check your urinalysis, each box matches up with a colour, so I need you to write down the numbers on this sheet, once you've matched up everything, we can discard the test sample" Aubree said clearly explaining what to do
"Why's it beeping" Jess asked concerned she'd done something wrong
"Blood results are done that's all, scan this and press enter, you'll get a printout of the blood results, go back to the urinalysis results" Aubree said reassuring her that everything was fine
"A person receiving chemotherapy has to have frequent tests on their blood and urine to check how their body is responding to the treatment, and considering that this is Jess's second round of acute renal failure, the situation does require careful monitoring, but as I said, if Jess can do these tests herself, and not be reliant on medical facilities to run them for her" Doctor Leighton said explaining more precisely as to why they were having Jess learn to do it herself
"Evaluation board can't hold it as a reason to deny returning her A1 classification" Ray said seeing the logic behind their thinking
"They shouldn't have taken it anyway" Sonny muttered under his breath
"Sonny, they had no choice, they have to keep the rules fare for everyone, at least they're giving Jess a chance to earn it back" Brock said reminding Sonny that there were rules that even the MEB had to follow
"Now we can put your blood results in, then once you are done, you obviously can dispose of your samples and pack the testing equipment away, you can keep the readout if you want, the readings are stored on the device, and there's a sheet here listing all the tests we've just checked, and where the readings need to be if you were to have chemotherapy that week, so I want you to go through now, check where your readings are sitting and circle the answer, then tick whether you're in the right range to have chemotherapy" Aubree explained pointing out what needed to happen next
"I'll be back in half an hour Aubree for the official decision" Doctor Leighton said excusing herself from the room, the machine had been surprisingly simple to use and quick with its results, Aubree had previously used a similar device when she worked on the front line nursing soldiers who'd come straight from the battlefield, she'd assumed it would require more extensive medical knowledge to operate but it didn't
"Won't take us that long to get these results worked out, right Jess" Aubree said encouragingly, she'd drawn up the sheet herself as a way to help develop a paper trail for the MEB, and their was no way for their to be any misunderstanding about where Jess needed her readings to be, they could easily review her bloods to ensure she hadn't tried to forge any, urinalysis was harder to check obviously, but Jess was not the type of person to consider doing something like that, and a form like this meant it could be quickly confirmed by anyone who had concerns if Jess was good to go or not
"If you say so" Jess said as she yawned suddenly due to fatigue
"Think someone is still tired, and it ain't Zah" Brock said laughingly
"Lucky being tired doesn't factor into this decision" Jess said with a small smile as she continued to fill in the piece of paper Aubree had indicated
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"You should have something to eat cuddle bug" Luca said holding up the menu to see if she felt hungry
"Not if I'm going to be bringing it back up in a few hours time, it never tastes as good the second time around" Jess said with a small smile on her face, the chemotherapy would be starting tonight and she wasn't looking forward to the pending nausea and vomiting
"Bet it doesn't" Eric said, helping Brock pack up the contents of the packages that had been opened, Jess now had a nice little collection of lightweight blankets, waterproof bed protectors, pillowcases, infusion tops, portable mini fans, ice headbands and some other stuff, Jess was now fully covered with backups in case she vomited, had a colostomy or feeding tube leak, had a blood nose why she was in bed having treatment, she wouldn't be stuck having to use ones that might be irritating to her skin, the fans and headbands will help Jess deal with fevers that might develop from chemotherapy medication
"Just don't want you developing cachexia again, it's the last thing your body needs right now" Luca said, after seeing Jess drop 65 pounds in 6 weeks last time she underwent induction chemotherapy combined with surgery, Luca was extremely wary about it happening again
"I know, but we've got the extra lines now to run the TPN and fluids, we had to make the choice last time of one or the other, and I'd had part of my stomach removed and bowel surgery" Jess said trying to comfort her husband, this wasn't the same as last time
"1 bag of TPN primed and ready to go, you having a banana bag as well" Jason asked, he'd set it up with Clay assisting, Ray and Sonny were doing the PEG feed with Trent supervising both groups
"Just normal fluids I think they wanted, what did Camden bring in, was there a vial with it" Jess asked, they would have sent the b vitamin vial in if she was having a banana bag
"It's normal saline, there is this thing like we put in the TPN" Sonny said holding the vial up
"They want her to do a banana bag then" Luca said
"They're not doing LR Luca" Trent asked surprised
"Probably do it later, depend how bad the nausea is hey cuddle bug" Luca said looking at Jess who was getting the pouch that carried her bowel irrigation equipment out of her larger bag to take into the bathroom to get ready for bed
"Probably, doctor Leighton, was just going to do my bowel routine" Jess said surprised to see the doctor walk in pushing a medication trolley that had IV bags and prepared injections on it
"You can go right ahead, I need to get this set up first, and go and get the IV pole we need" Doctor Leighton said assuring Jess that she had time to get ready
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X