#paralytic

[loreleiloon]

Imagine a doctor whumper who gives whumpee just enough of a paralytic painkiller so they can stare at the mirror in the ceiling and watch everything whumper does to their helpless body as whumper operates on them.

[artandthebible]

Christ Healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

Artist: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1617–1682)

Date: 1667-1670

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: The National Gallery, London, England, United Kingdom

Painting Description

This painting shows one of the seven acts of charity described in the Gospel of Matthew and was part of a series that Murillo painted for the church of the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville. The Caridad was a charitable brotherhood dedicated to helping the poor and sick of the city; Murillo himself was a member.

The pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem was periodically visited by an angel, and whoever first touched its water after this would be cured of illness. Christ went to the pool and heard a sick man complain that someone always stepped into the water before him.

Here, Christ invites the man to stand, curing him; their mirrored hand gestures capture the powerful connection between them. The man’s raised arms create an upward motion, as if he is being lifted from the ground by an invisible force – a visual evocation of the miracle taking place.

Biblical Narrative

The name of the pool, “Bethesda,” is Aramaic. It means “House of Mercy.” John tells us that “a great number of disabled people used to lie [there] - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:3). The covered colonnades would have provided shade for the disabled who gathered there, but there was another reason for the popularity of the Pool of Bethesda. Legend had it that an angel would come down into the pool and “stir up the water.” The first person into the pool after the stirring of the water “was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted” (John 5:4). The Bible does not teach that this actually happened - John 5:4 is not included in most modern translations because it is unlikely to be original to the text - rather, the superstitious belief probably arose because of the pool’s association with the nearby temple.

On the day that Jesus visited the Pool of Bethesda, there was a man there who “had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5). Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. The man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (verse 7). Obviously, the man believed the urban legend about the stirring of the water. He blamed the fact that he was never healed on his tardiness in getting into the water.

[lostdeviantartcollages]

to sylvia plath

[weirdstrangeandawful]

TW: medical (sugery), paralytics

Since this inexplicably comes up every time I talk about analgesics and sedatives, let's talk about neuromuscular blocking agents (more commonly known as paralytics and muscle relaxants).

These are normally used to facilitate intubation for surgery or when putting a patient on a ventilator. They are also used to reduce movement during surgery.

There are two main types: non-depolarising NMBAs and depolarising NMBAs. The majority of NMBAs are non-depolarising and essentially function by blocking anything from activating the receptors needed to control the muscles. Depolarising agents, among them the oft referenced succinylcholine, function by (oversimplification warning) essentially balancing the electrical charges needed for the receptor to control the muscles.

When it come to adverse effects, this can vary greatly depending on the specific drug but the most common and greatest risk is paralysis of the diaphragm which stops breathing.

There are reversal agents for the non-depolarising NMBAs commonly used in surgeries but I don't personally know of any that work on depolarising NBMAs like succinylcholine.

[feelingfaceless]

[adrasteiax]

The claw Of the magnolia, Drunk on its own scents, Asks nothing of life.

Sylvia Plath, from Paralytic in “The Collected Poems Of Sylvia Plath”

[waxenheart]

The claw / Of the magnolia, / Drunk on its own scents, / Asks nothing of life.

Sylvia Plath, Paralytic

[radioteopoli]

TGIF - Thank God I’m Forgiven on this Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time!

Gospel MK 2:1-12

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, "Child, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, "Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" –he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."