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Author Topic: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!  (Read 408 times)

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Offline El

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To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« on: March 08, 2007, 04:06:28 PM »
...and I KNOW there are some...

I'm reading a rather badly written story, and one of the main plotlines is a guy who gets in an accident.  I'm not sure if ANY of the medical issues are realistic.  Hyphenated are the parts I question

Guy gets in car accident, then...
-Guy develops fever as a result (in addition to all kinds of injuries that I DO believe)
-Guy is asleep, not in a coma, but can hear and feel things
-Guy needs leg surgery, but surgery must be held off until fever is down
-Guy's fever goes down a bit over a couple of days
-Guy is sent into surgery, and dies when his fever goes back up again

Is any of this likely?  If so, what of it is likely and what is not?  This is for a fiction writing workshop, which is kind of like intensity, but meaner and you have to pay to go to it.

BTW- I did try to find this info online, but I didn't have any luck.

PPS- karma to anyone who can answer.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2007, 06:45:36 AM by PMS Elle »
it is well known that PMS Elle is evil.
I think you'd fit in a 12" or at least a 16" firework mortar
You win this thread because that's most unsettling to even think about.

ozymandias

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2007, 06:21:58 PM »
Ok, I'm here to give it a shot.  I also asked my wife who survived massive injuries in a head on collision car accident years before I met her.

First the points that you gave

1.)  If the accident was severe enough and he sustained severe head trauma, it is plausible that the hypothalamus could also have been injured.   Not only does it regulate body temperature , but a whole host of neurosecretions are done there regulating certain metabolic reactions.  Look up hypothalamaus for the specific details.

2.)People who have had and survived severe head trauma's have reported many different things.  My wife's injuries were such that she doesn't remember what she did, but for several days she was alert, but, behaving in certain ways that she became "a legend" in the intensive care unit".  Lecturing the nurses on the meds they were giving her (she is a pharmacist FYI) and other personality changes, until she "came to".   So it is plausible for someone to be in a coma, come out of it and remember what people said while they were in the coma.  As for being "asleep" it is an accepted medical practice to induce a "coma" to keep the person still and give treatments and procedures time to work.  So the just being asleep part, kinda doesn't ring true for me.  But, it is fiction, so go with what works.

3.)  Holding off surgery,...if the person is unstable, you only want to do what is necessary to stabilize a person's vital signs.  Which is what they did in my wife's case.  She nearly lost her leg to the fact that the bones were shattered, but, they held off the surgeries until she was stronger.  As it was she needed multiple surgeries on that leg to save it.

4.)  The fever going down, very plausible.  As IV fluids and medications kick in.

5.)Sent into surgery and dies.....very plausible, if the trauma/injuries are extensive enough, especially with trauma to the hypothalamus, it's conceivable that things just start to cascade out of control, to the point of no return, almost like a domino effect.  But, it wouldn't be just related to the fever, the fever would be a part of, but, not the sole reason for death.  My wife did mention that she developed, what the surgeons called "Bone Fever", that caused some delay in her care.  She herself is unclear what it meant.

The thing to remember, is that fever is one of the bodies defense mechanisms against infection.

I remember once, a stroke patient that I took care of had a massive amount of damage done to the area near the brain stem and that also wreaked havoc with the patients body temperature with out of control fevers.

Offline Peter

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2007, 06:58:09 PM »
I run low-grade fevers a lot of the time with the CFS.  Whenever I get stressed or tired, I get hot and flushed, particularly around my forehead/temples/eyes.
Quote
14:10 - Moarskrillex42: She said something about knowing why I wanted to move to Glasgow when she came in. She plopped down on my bed and told me to go ahead and open it for her.

14:11 - Peter5930: So, she thought I was your lover and that I was sending you a box full of sex toys, and that you wanted to move to Glasgow to be with me?

Offline El

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2007, 08:07:12 PM »
Thank you very much, Ozy.  I'll assume she had an idea of what she was talking about, then, but not completely accurate, which is a fair happy medium.  + for helping me out!
it is well known that PMS Elle is evil.
I think you'd fit in a 12" or at least a 16" firework mortar
You win this thread because that's most unsettling to even think about.

Scrapheap

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2007, 12:27:07 AM »
Thank you very much, Ozy.  I'll assume she had an idea of what she was talking about, then, but not completely accurate, which is a fair happy medium.  + for helping me out!

Hey!! I knew that too can you plus me too.  :eyebrows: :eyebrows: :eyebrows: :eyebrows: :eyebrows: :smarty:

Litigious

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2007, 05:26:31 AM »
I run low-grade fevers a lot of the time with the CFS.  Whenever I get stressed or tired, I get hot and flushed, particularly around my forehead/temples/eyes.

Ditto. I wonder if that can be an AS feature? The fever only rises to about 38C/100F, so it's very "marginal".

Offline Callaway

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2007, 05:39:30 AM »
My guess is it is an autoimmunity issue.  People with arthritis can get fevers too, even though they don't actually have an infection, just inflammation.

Offline McGiver

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2007, 05:44:05 AM »
i plussed everyone on this page.

now if you can return the favor and plus kevv, i would be grateful.
Misunderstood.

Litigious

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2007, 05:54:51 AM »
My guess is it is an autoimmunity issue.  People with arthritis can get fevers too, even though they don't actually have an infection, just inflammation.

Several years ago, I got severe fever by only walking 100 meters (about 300 feet). They never found out what it was, though they made 25-30 tests on me. My immune system is in excellent condition, though I'm not in pretty good physical shape at the moment.

Offline McGiver

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2007, 05:56:22 AM »
My guess is it is an autoimmunity issue.  People with arthritis can get fevers too, even though they don't actually have an infection, just inflammation.

Several years ago, I got severe fever by only walking 100 meters (about 300 feet). They never found out what it was, though they made 25-30 tests on me. My immune system is in excellent condition, though I'm not in pretty good physical shape at the moment.
drinking too much piss?
Misunderstood.

Litigious

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Re: To the people here in the medical profession- Info wanted!
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2007, 05:58:33 AM »
My guess is it is an autoimmunity issue.  People with arthritis can get fevers too, even though they don't actually have an infection, just inflammation.

Several years ago, I got severe fever by only walking 100 meters (about 300 feet). They never found out what it was, though they made 25-30 tests on me. My immune system is in excellent condition, though I'm not in pretty good physical shape at the moment.
drinking too much piss?

No, piss drinking is good for the immune system to a certain extent, and I've only drunk about ½ litre from that girl I recently met and maybe 1 litre from my old girlfriend.  8)