Jesica comes through the door from the Living Cavern. The noise level drops as the door is closed behind her.
B'ael comes through the door from the Living Cavern. The noise level drops as the door is closed behind him.
Jerissa smiles and waves, "Evening!" she calls out, already perched on her customary table at the front of the small teaching area.
Jesica comes bouncing in, a couple of scrolls in hand, though how she's managing to get around things while reading is a wonder.
B'ael slips in and takes a seat.
Jesica grins at Jerissa and takes a seat and rolls up the scroll, "Eveing Jerissa."
Jerissa grins, "Alright. Tonight we're going to talk about constructing syringes."
Jerissa rumages around on the table behind her and then stands, placing a couple of things on the table in front of Jesica and B'ael. "First off" she says, picking up a long glass tube, drawn slightly at one end, "is the main part of the syringe, you each have one in front of you."
B'ael grins and nods.
B'ael takes the glass tube, "Nice workmanship by the smiths..." he says quietly as he looks over the tube.
Jesica ahhhs and looks at the Syringe piece with interest since she's never seen one.
Jerissa smirks, "Just don't drop them! They're expensive and the headwoman will have my hide if we break them in a lesson."
You say "Now, the fact that they are made out of glass is ideal, since it means we can use and reuse them, sterilising between each use. B'ael, what do we use to sterilise with?"
B'ael keeps his eyes on the tube as he answers, "Boil em in hot water then store em in redwort."
B'ael says "In a sealed container." as he looks up, "If I remember my healer lessons correctly."
Jerissa grins, "Glad to see I won't have to tell Master Judith you've forgotten all your lessons!" She grins, "These long spines" she remarks picking one nearly a foot long, "Are needlethorns. We keep the long ones for dragon use. Pick them up, you both have a couple in front of you, but be careful not to stab yourselves."
B'ael eyes the length of the thorn, "Glad I didn't have to use these when I was a healer on my patients... they would of run screaming from the room..."
Jesica carefully picks up the needlethorns in front of her, "Yeesh, looks like it's hurt."
Jerissa laughs, "This is where some people get the wrong idea about healers. However, think about the size of a human and you'd use a needlethorn about so long" she says, holding fingers apart about 3 inches, "now consider the size of a dragon. We usually have to get past skin and some muscle to reach the veins."
B'ael nods as he listens. He picks up the thorn before him.
You say "So, attach the needlethorn to the end of your syringes. Note how they don't fit."
Jesica ahhhs and nods as she sets the thorn she's holding down and then looks back at Jerissa, "I see."
Jerissa squints over to look at the pair of you both, "Done that?" she asks
B'ael nods at Jerissa as he slides the thorn in and out of the tube.
Jesica hmmms a little and blinks as she watches B'ael carefully and then slips the neddlethorn in and then frowns, 'So if they don't fit, how do you gert the Syringe to work?"
Jerissa grins, "So, we have to have something to keep the needlethorn in place. Especially if you consider these things grow and so everyone could be entirely different. To do this we use" and she picks up a small pot from the table, "With this Jesica. It's a type of soft wax. Go ahead and open the pots on your tables."
Jesica opens her pot and looks in it, "Where do we get this stuff from and is it hard to make?"
Jerissa grins, "We don't make it exactly, it's a natural type of soft wax. I believe it comes from trees, though I've never asked."
B'ael snags a bit of the wax, and uses it to connect tube to thorn, or thorn to tube... He turns to watch Jerissa...
Jerissa grins, "The wax is treated somehow to make it more gelatinous, and sometimes if not used for awhile it gets hardened. So pick it up between your fingers and soften it, then mould it around the entrance of the syringe so that it holds the needlethorn in place and keeps it sealed."
B'ael smiles as he listens to Jerissa and watches Jesica.
Jesica ahhhhs and nods as she works the wax around the needlethorn until it has a good seal on it, "Okay, I see."
Jerissa grins. "Your syringes are now ready to use. So, we're going to go back to the begining and start all over, but this time you're both going to do it on your own. Oh, and" she pots to the boiling pot of water and a tub of redwort, "You get to do the sterilising too. And because you'll be handling the syringes with oil on, you get to not only disinfect your hands, but oil them up too. However, since I don't trust you with my syringes and oily hands just yet, you get these" she adds, handing you both one of the wooden objects, sculpted into the shape of a syringe, "to use instead. They'll be useless after this time, but in better shape that a smashed syringe on the floor. Everybody happy?"
Jesica chuckles and nods, "Okay, so ho long do we boil them for?"
Jerissa grins, "Oh about an hour normally, but we'll forgo that for now. A few minutes will be adequate for the practise run."
Jesica ahhhs and nods and then thinks, "Do we disinfect or sterilise first?
Jerissa smiles and replies, "Well, boil them first for the hour, then wash them in redwort, then rinse them in boiling water once more."
You say "Not the same water though, and all the time your hands must be clean."
Jerissa grins, "Well, once you've done the syringe, you can go, but you need to do those first!" she remarks, sitting down but still watching.
Jesica ahhhs and nods as she drops the wooden mock up into the water and then scrubs and washes her hands then rinces them and disinfects them with the redwort. From there she uses a sterile set of tongs to get the by now boiled wooden mockup out of the water. 'Okay, so do we have fresh boiling water for the last part or is it okay to use the stuff in the first pot?"
Jerissa grins, "There's some fresh water in that second pot" she says potting to another on the other hearth.
B'ael follows Jesica over, dropping the fake syringe tube into the water carefully and moving over to carefully wash his hands and cover them with the redwort. He waits for Jesica to finish.
Jesica nods and pulls the wooden mockup out of the redwort rinse and then puts it into the second pot of water, "This last step is to get any excess redwort off so it won't dilute the medicines?"
Jerissa nods, "And redwort interferes with the actions of numbweed too, and it stings!"
B'ael finds a second pair of disinfected tongs, snags the mock-up out of the boiling water and drops it into the redwort. He waits once more as he listens.
B'ael takes the mock-up out of the redwort and sets it into the second pot.
Jesica ahhhs and nods and gets the wooden mock up out and then hmmms, "The oil keeps the working parts of the syringe working smoothly?" She says as she moves over to get the wax and needlethorns.
Jerissa grins, and shakes her head, "No, the oil part keeps your hands from getting numb from the numbweed!"
B'ael snags one of the thorns and repeats the rpocess, sterilizing it in the water, redwort and water once more. He takes both out, and as they cool covers his hands with the oil. With a bit of the wax he adds them together.
Jerissa smiles, "Needlethorns need to be sterilised in redwort and rinsed in water, but don't boil them or they'll become soggy!"
B'ael didn't do that, honest :) he would know better ICly.
B'ael nods at Jerissa, "Have to be carefull not to leave it in the water too long..."
Jerissa giggles, "Can you imagine trying to inject with a needle that's all soggy?!"
Jesica ahhhs, 'Well it was a good guess." she says with a chuckle and then she dips the needlethorn she's going to use in the redwort and then rinces it in the water, "Now for the wax." she says, after oiling her hands and moving over to work it around the now sterilised instrument. "How's that Jerissa?" she asks, holding up the complete syringe now.
B'ael grins at Jerissa, "I rmeember being showed what a boiled numbweed looked like back at the hall..."
numbweed->needlethorn
Jerissa grins, taking the syringe, "Not bad at all. You'll need to practise so you can do it one handed, and also with the glass. But you have the basic idea at least."
Jesica chuckles and nods, "Practice makes perfect."
Jerissa grins and nods, "Do you both feel comfortable about practising? A good idea is to stand over a protected area when you try with the glass syringe. Make sure there's a little padding in case you dropped it and you" she nods to B'ael, "need to practise to remind yourself. OK?"
B'ael nods at Jerissa, "Aye... We used folded towels back at the hall, worked over them... never broke one thankfully... I'm sure Master Judith would of had my neck if I did."
Jesica nods and chuckles, "I'm fairly quickhanded, but I think we could probably work over some of the extra pillows, long as we remember tae put fresh cases on them when we're done."
B'ael grins at Jesica, "We found the towels were easier, since we didn't mind getting em wait before the pots as well...
Jerissa nods, "Good. Anyways, you need this Jesica" she adds, handing over a new looking patch with a blue border "I think you can move up a level now. Congratulations."
Jesica blinks and chuckles, "Wow, thanks Jerissa!"
Jerissa grins, "Welcome. You've worked hard enough for it, but" she looks outside, "I got to scoot. I've got sweeps in a few!"
B'ael grins at Jerissa, "I'll help her along Jerissa."
Jesica nods, Have a safe set of sweeps Jerissa."
Jerissa smiles, "Don't break any syringes!" she cautions and runs out.
The door to the south muffles all sounds from the generally busy living caverns beyond.
Farnham looks up and smiles. "Good evening."
Jerissa waves as she runs past, "Got sweeps in five minutes"
she calls out in explanation.