Live in the Moment - Lashton

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-one

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Luke whimpered at what the doctor said, placing his free hand on his chest to protect his heart. He looked over at Ashton who squeezed his other hand in support.

Clint smiled sadly, but supportively at the young blonde. "As I said, Luke, this is just a terrible outcome from something positive. You have been eating otherwise this would not have happened, and just because of the severity of your starvation."

"So if I hadn't eaten this would not have happened?" the blonde grumbled stubbornly, knowing he had a rational reason to not eat.

Clint chuckled at Luke's response. "Either way you would have ended up with some form of heart failure if you let us treat sooner this may not be as severe, but luckily we've caught you just in time!"

"So," Ashton interrupted, knowing Luke would probably continue the argument. "What caused it, like what did we do wrong?" He wanted to know how he could help the blonde and keep him as healthy as possible.

Clint took a drink of his coffee that had gone cold before he even got around to drinking it, and opening up his notes for reference. "Heart arrhythmia is one of many possible consequences of individuals suffering like Luke who begin to eat again after starvation, and it's categorised as refeeding syndrome."

Clint paused in case either of the men wanted to ask questions or provide input, Ashton remained calm and listened intently whilst Luke took a deep breath and laid back down in a comfortable position, still exhausted.

"Refeeding syndrome, in general, is defined as potentially fatal, and it was in your case shift in the fluids and electrolytes in undernourished individuals after food is reintroduced.

Because of the way you were starving yourself, Luke, your body changed the way it metabolises nutrients, and in particular, hormones that help with consumption secretion was reduced significantly. And instead of your body burning the carbohydrates you are not consuming, it began to consume the fat you had on your body, completely changing the process

Thus as you have begun to introduce food into your diet, and even the smallest amount can trigger this, the shift has to change back to burning carbs instead of fat again.

Insulin also increases yet what is needed to convert this is low which causes issues too.

Now you may notice that you've been more tired, or confused than normal which would seem to add as you've been eating, you'd think would not be the case."

Both men nodded in agreement, Luke suddenly feeling a sense of nausea overcoming him, and whimpered clutching his stomach.

"You okay?" Ashton asked, pushing a loose strand of hair out of his face. He could see the blonde was shaking, and there were beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Just feel sick," Luke mumbled.

"There's a sick pan, up there," Clive, motioned to the small unit. Ashton grabbed it and held it by the blonde, not minding if he was involved with sick. "Do you want to continue, if you need to rest just say so?" the doctor asked.

Luke shook his head. "It's fine. You're better off talking to Ashton anyway," he dismissed.

Clint nodded and continued. "In general that is the syndrome summarised. What is more important for you is the treatment. We want it to be as efficient as possible so we don't run into any critical problems.

As I said earlier, we are going to keep you under medical supervision so that the nutrients you get are controlled. I would also like you to meet with a dietician, and possibly some other consultants to ensure you do what is best for you.

Likewise, we will need to continue to look deeper into your problem to see which is the best way to slow down the process for you. We will also re-introduce fluids you have not been getting slowly to ensure it does not affect your heart"

"And you think he'll have to be here for around two weeks?" Ashton asked, rubbing the blonde's stomach soothingly as he squirmed in discomfort.

"At least, yes. The process itself should take no more than ten days, but we will need to monitor Luke to ensure there are no other conditions that develop and try to prevent it from happening again."

"Can Theo visit?" the blonde asked quietly, thinking about difficult this would be for the small boy who had never been separated from his father longer than a night.

"Of course!" Clint confirmed. "There are selective visiting hours, but I don't see the harm in him being here. How is he doing?" the doctor asked, curious about the young boy who he had first met being malnourished.

"He wants to eat everything he sees!" Luke complained.

"That's because you deprived him. He's just curious, he will grow out of it eventually." Clint then turned to Ashton. "Just monitor what he eats, don't be afraid to be firm. Luke wasn't wrong about making sure he eats healthily, you just went about it in the wrong way."

Ashton nodded in confirmation, knowing that was what the blonde wanted too.

"I'll leave you two be now. There we a nurse hourly to check up on you, and I will arrange for you to be further examined tomorrow. I hope you get the rest you need."

The pair watched him go and Luke sighed. "I've really fucked up my body."

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