Good whatever time of day it is where you are!
Is there a US-based doctor or nurse in the house?!
If anyone is unfortunate enough to have person experience and is willing to share anything they're comfortable with, I'd also really appreciate it. Please don't feel obliged though, as I really don't want to upset anyone.
The trilogy has gone off for proofreading (a brutal friend who has her own business), although I have warned her I might want to tweak part of a flashback in Book 3. There's a few flashbacks from Mr Good Guy in Book 3 as the net closes on Mr Bad Guy.
Bear with me as I set the scene.
Mr Good Guy ended up in hospital in Book 1 after a Very Nasty Car not-so-Accident. I'm confident on the medical details, having run them past a doctor (he's a consultant anaesthetist) friend of the family. Part of a conversation (slightly paraphrased):
Him: How long do you want him in hospital for?
Me: A month.
Him: These injuries would keep him in about two and a half weeks.
Me: Has to be a month. I don't want to make the injuries worse, as too much melodrama is a big no-no.
Him: Give him hospital acquired pneumonia. With the types of injuries he sustained and his subsequent treatment he'd be a prime candidate. That'll keep him in an extra couple of weeks on IV antibiotics for a week and then oral antibiotics for another week (he then went on the give me lots of useful info about treatment, etc.).
So... I've got the details of what, how, etc. He ends up in a High Dependency Unit (Step Down Unit as I believe they're called in the US) for five days and on non-invasive ventilation for three of those days. I needed a setback, shall we say, to affect his physical and psychological recovery from the not-so-accident.
In Book 1 the pneumonia is only mentioned in passing. The Book 3 flashback centres on him developing symptoms and being admitted to the SDU. The rest is covered in a paragraph. The reason I'm asking on here is because things might be done (slightly) differently in the US and my doctor contact is 100% Limey. I realise every case is different, but a plausible timeline would be marvellous.
Current scenario is that when patient wakes at breakfast time (so say ~8am) he's running a slight fever, feels iffy, bit of a cough and declines anything to eat or drink. Nurse is concerned, gets doctor. Doctor is concerned. (Patient was feeling off colour for most of the day before but deliberately didn't mention it as he's desperate to go home asap). Mrs Good Guy is phoned and arrives an hour or so later after dropping off their daughter with a friend.
In no particular order I'm after how long(ish) it would take to:
* Run tests to establish that he's likely got pneumonia - listening to chest, X-rays, blood tests, anything else?
* Put him on extra oxygen, IV antibiotics, any other new medication.
* How he might be presenting to the medical team**.
* His symptoms to get bad enough to move him from the Medical-Surgical Unit to the SDU.
* Anything else relevant.
** I've used websites like:
http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and...ookup/pneumonia/symptoms-causes-and-risk.html
for the facts, although we all know it's those authentic little details that can make or break a scene.
Like I said before, I know all cases are different, but a realistic timeline of how the illness progresses to the point of bring transferred (and at what point tests are done and treatment(s) started) would be really helpful. I don't need nitty gritty details - because he'd be out of it for much of the time he wouldn't remember nitty gritty details, even if I wanted him to.
I think/hope that makes vague sense?
Many thanks in anticipation,
LPH.
Is there a US-based doctor or nurse in the house?!
If anyone is unfortunate enough to have person experience and is willing to share anything they're comfortable with, I'd also really appreciate it. Please don't feel obliged though, as I really don't want to upset anyone.
The trilogy has gone off for proofreading (a brutal friend who has her own business), although I have warned her I might want to tweak part of a flashback in Book 3. There's a few flashbacks from Mr Good Guy in Book 3 as the net closes on Mr Bad Guy.
Bear with me as I set the scene.
Mr Good Guy ended up in hospital in Book 1 after a Very Nasty Car not-so-Accident. I'm confident on the medical details, having run them past a doctor (he's a consultant anaesthetist) friend of the family. Part of a conversation (slightly paraphrased):
Him: How long do you want him in hospital for?
Me: A month.
Him: These injuries would keep him in about two and a half weeks.
Me: Has to be a month. I don't want to make the injuries worse, as too much melodrama is a big no-no.
Him: Give him hospital acquired pneumonia. With the types of injuries he sustained and his subsequent treatment he'd be a prime candidate. That'll keep him in an extra couple of weeks on IV antibiotics for a week and then oral antibiotics for another week (he then went on the give me lots of useful info about treatment, etc.).
So... I've got the details of what, how, etc. He ends up in a High Dependency Unit (Step Down Unit as I believe they're called in the US) for five days and on non-invasive ventilation for three of those days. I needed a setback, shall we say, to affect his physical and psychological recovery from the not-so-accident.
In Book 1 the pneumonia is only mentioned in passing. The Book 3 flashback centres on him developing symptoms and being admitted to the SDU. The rest is covered in a paragraph. The reason I'm asking on here is because things might be done (slightly) differently in the US and my doctor contact is 100% Limey. I realise every case is different, but a plausible timeline would be marvellous.
Current scenario is that when patient wakes at breakfast time (so say ~8am) he's running a slight fever, feels iffy, bit of a cough and declines anything to eat or drink. Nurse is concerned, gets doctor. Doctor is concerned. (Patient was feeling off colour for most of the day before but deliberately didn't mention it as he's desperate to go home asap). Mrs Good Guy is phoned and arrives an hour or so later after dropping off their daughter with a friend.
In no particular order I'm after how long(ish) it would take to:
* Run tests to establish that he's likely got pneumonia - listening to chest, X-rays, blood tests, anything else?
* Put him on extra oxygen, IV antibiotics, any other new medication.
* How he might be presenting to the medical team**.
* His symptoms to get bad enough to move him from the Medical-Surgical Unit to the SDU.
* Anything else relevant.
** I've used websites like:
http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and...ookup/pneumonia/symptoms-causes-and-risk.html
for the facts, although we all know it's those authentic little details that can make or break a scene.
Like I said before, I know all cases are different, but a realistic timeline of how the illness progresses to the point of bring transferred (and at what point tests are done and treatment(s) started) would be really helpful. I don't need nitty gritty details - because he'd be out of it for much of the time he wouldn't remember nitty gritty details, even if I wanted him to.
I think/hope that makes vague sense?
Many thanks in anticipation,
LPH.