Deryni Healing and Chronic Conditions

[Elkhound]

I'm going to be riding in West Virginia's Multiple Sclerosis ride come August http://tinyurl.com/WVMSRideBAW; in connection with that, I've been reading up on MS.  I'm not sure that a Healer could have done much for MS.  Healers seem to be able to enhance what the body could do for itself.  Excellent for healing wounds, curing infections, and perhaps sometimes even counteracting poisons--but MS?  I don't think so.

A thought just occurred to me--what if there were some chronic, degeneritive conditions that a Healer's intervention might make WORSE?  The patient's body taking the Healer's energy to actually accelerate the progress of the disease?  Or even rebound on the Healer?  Like auto-immune conditions, where the patient's own immune system is attacking the rest of the body.

[tenworld]

The trick of turning off Deryniness would be a negative if it couldnt be reversed

[Elkhound]

The trick of turning off Deryniness would be a negative if it couldnt be reversed

Except we know that it can, and not only by the blocker.  Rhys could restore Evanie when Tieg accidentally bocked her.

[the Bee]

Come to think of it, can anyone recall an incident in the books of the Healing of a disease, as opposed to the Healing of an injury?

[Evie]

I think one of the books (Deryni Magic, maybe?) expressly stated that the Healer's gift only works with injuries, not with diseases, since they have to be able to visualize what is happening to heal it, and they wouldn't be able to see bacteria or viruses.  They might be able to heal a tumor (I'm guessing) if it's completely encapsulated, but probably not if it has metastasized, since they wouldn't be able to visual each individual cancer cell to be able to heal it.

[derynifanatic64]

Without knowing exactly how/where Alroy broke his back makes it hard to know how he could be healed.  Maybe there was a physician who found a method to treat back injuries.  His paralysis may have been only temporary.  Alroy must have suffered more than one injury.  There may have been internal bleeding somewhere else.  Even if the back/neck injury would not kill him (people have survived such injuires for years), he may have asked for the coup.  Maybe he decided that it would be better to be put down rather than live the rest of his life as an invalid.

[the Bee]

I think one of the books (Deryni Magic, maybe?) expressly stated that the Healer's gift only works with injuries, not with diseases, since they have to be able to visualize what is happening to heal it, and they wouldn't be able to see bacteria or viruses.  They might be able to heal a tumor (I'm guessing) if it's completely encapsulated, but probably not if it has metastasized, since they wouldn't be able to visual each individual cancer cell to be able to heal it.

IIRC a Deryni Healer named Simon (Simeon?) Healed/excised a young man's tumor in one of KK's short stories in The Deryni Archives (the book).  Can anyone recall the title of the story?

[derynifanatic64]

It was called "Vocation" and took place in the year 977.  The noble was Gilrae d'Eirial who later became Archbishop of Rhemuth.  He had always wanted to be a priest, but he was the elder son of his family.  After he was cured, he gave up his title to his younger half-brother.  Simon had been a student at St. Neot's in 917 and Camber saw him with one of his teachers in a short visit before the monastery was destroyed.

[Marko]

In my reading of the Camber era books, none of the Healers could cure diseases, just manage them.  They could heal injuries, but apparently could not do much to correct Javan's club foot.  They might have been afraid that they would have made the problem worse if they broke the bones in the foot in order to have them grow back properly.  Of course they would have had to gotten Cinhil's permission to do it.

[tenworld]

I think the proper analogy might be found in some popular fanstasy references:

Elrond could make the waters rise up faster and come harder but he couldnt create a patronus out of nothing to fight the nine riders.

A healer can accelerate healing which is mainly blood bringing nutrients and cells working faster, but without intimate understanding of viral DNA he can't stop an infection or a cancer cell from functioning.

Now who wants to write the story of a modern Oncologist whose family name is McThuryn?