b37d45 in little_details

Injuries to cause slow recovery and difficulty moving

Feb 08, 2012 13:43

Hiya,

I'm writing a fanfic of Lewis and I have a plot line where the younger character, Sgt Hathaway, is kidnapped.

I'm not going to go into details of what actually happens to him in the story, its mostly going to be a fic about Lewis and Innocent (The boys' boss) worrying about him and visiting him in hospital and his subsequent recovery.

I need ( ... )

tags: ~medicine: injuries to order

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Comments (53)

wackogirl

Since you want him in a wheel chair, I'd go for a broken leg over a broken ankle if you want to go with an injured limb. Often with a broken ankle you can use a walking boot (http://www.medsupports.com/swedeo-aeris-walking-boot-black.aspx) instead of needing a regular hard cast, which as the name implies allows you to walk without needing crutches, albeit awkwardly. I was even able to get away with walking on a basic air cast brace (http://www.aircast.com/index.asp/fuseaction/products.detail/cat/1/id/6) at times when I broke mine (for showering, or during hospital clinicals as I was in nursing school at the time and they wouldn't let me wear the boot to the hospital).

wackogirl

Forgot to add - how long he'd be hospitalized, if at all, would depend on what era and country the story is set in. In the US, nowadays hospitalization is reserved for more acute injuries and they basically try to get you out as soon as possible, and services like x-rays can be gotten outside of hospitals now. A few decades ago, you had to be admitted to the hospital just to get an x-ray done, and people were kept much longer for more mild things. An older nurse I spoke to once told me that when she started working in the 70s, they'd keep someone in for two weeks for gallbladder surgery. Now for the same surgery they'd send you home after two days, with maybe a visiting nurse for a week or so. Basically, if you're stable and your care can be taken care of by a lay person with some teaching with maybe a professional visiting for a half hour per day, you're going home or to a rehab center ( ... )

b37d45

Thank you very much for your quick reply. :)

The series is set in Oxford, England nowadays (ie, 2012) so I'm guessing he wouldn't be there for very long. The story starts with him in the ICU as he isn't conscious yet. He has been pretty seriously beaten up, so I figure they'd keep him a little while to make sure he didn't have a concussion and such.

I'm also guessing that if he did have broken hand/fingers then they wouldn't be giving him crutches as they would be difficult to manage. But then, so would a wheelchair as well if he can't effectively use one hand.

I think I'm gonna have to think even harder about this.

Thank you again for your prompt reply and your really helpful information :)

jayb111

Not sure how well he'd manage with a wheelchair at home, though. In a house there'd be stairs, and the doorways and passagways would be too narrow. And unless he has an unusually large bathroom and kitchen, there probably wouldn't be room to manoeuvre a wheelchair there.

But I agree they wouldn't keep him taking up a bed in hospital once he no longer needs actual medical care. A nurse/carer coming in a couple of times a day to help with bathing etc, or a convalescent home, sounds more likely. What kind of benefits could he get through the Police Federation? Do they have any homes he could go to?

b37d45

"What kind of benefits could he get through the Police Federation? Do they have any homes he could go to?"

^These are other good questions :)

I'm assuming there is a convalescent home, I'm pretty sure that I read a book by a police constable and he got sent to one for two weeks. And there was Superintendents there so I guess a CID sergeant could be admitted.

Thank you for your reply, now that I think about it, the only time we see his flat, he does seem to have a very wheelchair unfriendly flat.

Thanks again for your help :)

(anonymous)

How about a dislocated knee? I have hypermobility syndrome and it happens to me all the time (at least once every few weeks in one knee) so I can describe what it feels like pretty well ( ... )

(anonymous)

Also, I forgot to say, I think it usually takes longer to recover and may cause more damage for most people than it would for me because my joints are a bit more flexible than they should be.

b37d45

Ooooh, I hadn't thought of this. Thanks for the idea :D

Well, as it is, He has been found by a member of the public somewhere after escaping/being abandoned by his kidnappers and then admitted to ICU where Lewis is informed. So I'd imagine it hasn't been popped back into place, his kidnappers probably wouldn't bother and he couldn't do it him self.

Can I ask you about your injury? What exactly do you mean by "walk normally" Could you put any weight on it at all? Were you using crutches or a wheelchair? Did you have to stay in hospital while it healed?

Sorry for all the questions, I want to make this story as accurate as I can.

Thank you again for your reply and for sharing your experiences.

And don't worry about being Anon :) Your information has been invaluable :)

(anonymous)

Don't worry, I love to help ( ... )

rfachir

Modern medicine can do so much outside of the hospital it would be very hard to keep him in a long time for an injury. The only healthy person I knew who was in the hospital for weeks was a 40 year old weightlifter who was showing off for his wife - he squatted for a PB and the tendons in both knees failed - popped right off the bone. As he was falling apart the weights twisted his back and he fell and ripped up his shoulder. He was in the rehab hospital for a month - couldn't move a muscle for weeks. Backs are tricky - give him a back injury and be vague and take as long as you need. Pain could make him an addict, and he could pop into another hospital to beat the addiction. You could extend this as long as you need to.

b37d45

This is what I was thinking. Hospitals are more for acute and serious injuries now it seems.

A back injury is a good idea, but hoe likely is it to be able to give him one that will not permenantly damage him / That he will fully recover from?

He isn't the sort of character to become an addict but I will keep it in mind. :)

Thank you so much for your help :)

nineveh_uk

Morphine and opioids used for pain medication in hospital don't really caused addiction. They can cause physical dependence, which is entirely normal and withdrawal has to be properly managed when they are no longer needed for pain relief, but that's just a physical response. Addiction is a behavioural issue, which is different.

b37d45

Thanks for clearing that up. So I guess that they'd lower his dose while he was in the hospital? Or they give him prescriptions afterwards of a lower does each time.

Thanks for your information. :)

paksenarrion2

If you want to give him injuries that will make it difficult for him to be on his own and need him to stay with Lewis, your best bet is to go with multiple broken bones. As wackogirl mentions, an ankle can end up being casted with a walking cast so that would rule out crutches/a wheelchair ( ... )

b37d45

So I guess the ankle is out then?

But how easy would it be to use a wheelchair if you have broken fingers? I'd imagine with a femur break, the leg would have to be fully extended in the cast, so that would make it hard to find a place that has space for a wheelchair.

A day or so is ok really.

The cracked ribs seem like a good plan, although due to the amnount of problems there would be with finding a cheap property that is wheelchair compatible, I think I'm possibly going to go down the convalescent home route. Or maybe give him a dislocated knee.

Thank you very much for your help :)

paksenarrion2

Depends on how badly and how many fingers are broken. If just a couple of fingers on one hand, using a wheelchair would be relatively easy as you can use the palm of your hand to push the wheel ( ... )

b37d45

That could be a result. Because I'd imagine having two broken fingers would make other things tricky as well.

Ah, I didn't realise that. I definitely do not want him to be permanently damaged. Mainly because there is definitely going to be at least one more season of Lewis and I don't want my story to become AU. Also he'd have to still be able to be a CID sergeant after his recovery.

That sounds good. Thank you so much for your information it has been very helpful.

One more question? (Sorry for being a pain, I'll try not to ask anymore)
Do you know whether the ribs would heal first. As in, would his ribs heal before the leg, therefore he'd be able to use crutches after a while?

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