OK nurses.  Brains into gear.

A friend of mine is writing a screen play and one of her characters (a 
nurse, in her thirties, female) needs to be diagnosed with an uncurable 
condition.  She has a matter of weeks to live.  In one scene she reveals to 
the audience a part of her body that indicates her illness, but in the movie 
she is still apparently healthy to everyone else around her.

This friend of mine (honestly it's not me) has considered colorectal cancer, 
but can't think of what could be revealed to the audience.  Would she have 
bruises perhaps from pain killing injections?

Thanks for any help folks.

Sal

"Sally & Gareth" wrote:
> OK nurses.  Brains into gear.
>
> A friend of mine is writing a screen play and one of her characters (a 
> nurse, in her thirties, female) needs to be diagnosed with an uncurable 
> condition.  She has a matter of weeks to live.  In one scene she reveals 
> to the audience a part of her body that indicates her illness, but in the 
> movie she is still apparently healthy to everyone else around her.
>
> This friend of mine (honestly it's not me) has considered colorectal 
> cancer, but can't think of what could be revealed to the audience.  Would 
> she have bruises perhaps from pain killing injections?
>
> Thanks for any help folks.
>
> Sal

Unlikely, as pain relief would be taken orally as long as she can swallow 
her medication. Could have bruising on the back of her hand or antecubital 
fossa from the last course of intravenous chemo, a blood transfusion (to 
correct anaemia) that has tissued, or bruising caused by an attempt to 
obtain a specimen of blood for testing (venepuncture).

"Sally & Gareth"  wrote in message 
news:43ea9141$0$15125$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> OK nurses.  Brains into gear.
>
> A friend of mine is writing a screen play and one of her characters (a 
> nurse, in her thirties, female) needs to be diagnosed with an uncurable 
> condition.  She has a matter of weeks to live.  In one scene she reveals 
> to the audience a part of her body that indicates her illness, but in the 
> movie she is still apparently healthy to everyone else around her.
>
> This friend of mine (honestly it's not me) has considered colorectal 
> cancer, but can't think of what could be revealed to the audience.  Would 
> she have bruises perhaps from pain killing injections?
>
> Thanks for any help folks.
>
> Sal
>
she could show a hickman line coming out of her chest which could be used 
for chemo etc.

Thanks for your help guys - that's fantastic - Sal x

"Sally & Gareth" wrote...
> This friend of mine (honestly it's not me) has considered colorectal
cancer,
> but can't think of what could be revealed to the audience.  Would she have
> bruises perhaps from pain killing injections?

There'd be nothing visible that directly (and specifically) illustrated
colorectal cancer, except perhaps a scar from palliative surgery and her
stoma appliance.

But she'd have had to cover for a couple of weeks as an inpatient, and
several courses of chemo before talking of being 'incurable', and she'd also
have had months of weight loss.

If you need the audience to be surprised, then this won't work - a more
likely reaction would be "We knew it was serious, but didn't realise it was
quite that serious" - but no surprise involved.And that would probably apply
to most cancers.


--
Andrew Heenan
http://www.realnurse.net/