John had both pericardial and plural effusions. He was in a bad way at the time but they did not intervene until they were really bad. He was in the hospital at the time for treatment for aplastic anemia. They did have him on a diuretic though to help offload the fluid. Most resolve on their own as the patient's health improves.

When they did drain them, they checked the fluid for bacterial and viral infections but found none.