Research Questions for writing

[Deleted]

Hi, I was wondering if we should have a thread for budding writers to quickly write a question that our research is having troubles finding out the answers. I know a couple of you have already asked a few questions and I thought I might be good to have a thread to use regularly and then we will have built up a bit of a resource.

I would like to start with a small question, is it possible to push an electric wheelchair or would that knacker the motor? My MC is drunk in a nightclub, is suffering autonomic dysreflexia symptoms (I am trying to learn how to spell those words Spurs ) and my female MC has to get him out of there. Can she just push him or would she need to use the controls?

I hope I don't start off another porn alert ( ) but I am stuck with the technicality.

[spurs2000]

Well, as you may have guessed I will be happy to answer your questions when and where I can!

In my experience It certainly is possible to push an electric wheelchair/power chair. You would flip each motor out of drive by twisting a couple of months and then technically you would be able to move it, however, no push handles and just the sheer weight of both chair and user make it a fair effort to proceed in any other direction than straight and whoever is undertaking the task would need to be fairly fit to say the least to go any distance.

I hope this helps. There will be variations between what type of power chair used, some are much bigger and heavier than others.

[spurs2000]

"Knobs" not "months", DragonDictate how wonderful it is sometimes! LOL lucky I checked after posting!

[Deleted]

Thank you Spurs. I didn't think it fair to fire another question at you.

[Emma]

Wouldn't using the controls be easier though?

[Deleted]

And would make an interesting scene Emma and Luretia especially if I make her steering as bad as mine.

[spurs2000]

Emma's way would be a more sensible way to do it. Most chairs have a sensitivity control, generally turning this down until skilled or on a long straight and it would be easy for someone else to drive. Really the only time that you push a power chair is if the batteries are flat, or the controller breaks. There are many different versions of power chairs, some can be added to and remove from manual wheelchairs as assistance for uphill areas etc.

[Deleted]

Damn, I wrote it like a joystick, but you are saying it is like a laptop mouse thingie pad, or like James Bond's remote controlled car in Golden Eye.

[spurs2000]

With a joystick is fine!

[janewheeler]

I have another question, if it's not too personal: what's it like to sleep with a partner who is paralyzed? And I do mean SLEEP. Or for guys who wouldn't mind answering for themselves, what's it like for you, sleeping either alone or with someone? This mostly refers to paras.

Does the DA partner mostly stay in one place, or need to reposition sometimes? (Any different from being with an AB partner?)

Any kind of specifications for the bed (frame or mattress) that make a difference?

Any differences between what the AB and DA partner need, bed or sleep or comfort-wise?

Anything else you'd be willing to share? (PMs welcome.)

Thanks!

[Deleted]

I have a question. I have a budding idea in my mind for a story and I was wondering if anyone could offer suggestions. I feel it may be a bit gory to ask but..... I need my main m/c to have a disability through a violent accident that caused one of his legs to be withered. I want there to be a decision that he has to make as to whether it would be best to get an amputation and become more mobile vs the thought of giving up on the idea that there would be a miraculous cure in his horizon. I don't want to give too much away but his profession was very active and it frustrates him that he is not longer able to provide any useful input as he sees it.

So how would his leg end up in this state? Would it be infection? Is there an injury that would cause it?

Also would he use a brace on his bad leg to get around and or cane? As it would have wasted muscle. Also would he use a w/c sometimes also.

Thank you in advance.

[RyooT]

Here are some thoughts. For an amputation to provide more mobility first of all depends on the combination of prior injury and level of amputation. For a injury that resulted in a complete loss of function below the knee, including knee flexion and extension, an above knee amputation may indeed provide better mobility provided the thigh muscles that articulate the hip are all working. The same would apply to a lower leg amputation if the previous injury involved the ankle/foot, but left knee function intact.
The injuries that would cause that kind of paralysis have to be to the nerves in the extremity. A back injury would likely have a broader effect, a pelvic injury involving some of the nerves would have a more limited effect because of the way the nerves branch and are fed from multiple spinal nerve roots. Your best bet is probably a severe injury to the knee with involvement of the sciatic nerve (which runs down the back of the thigh) before it splits into the tibial and peroneal nerves (just above the knee joint).

[RyooT]

I just thought of something else you might find interesting.
Paul de Gelder is the Australian Navy diver who was attacked by a bull shark in the Sydney harbour a couple of years ago. The shark tore off his right hamstring while the rest of his leg was actually mostly intact. I wold imagine that caused an injury to the sciatic nerve too and even tough functionally complete his lower leg would have likely been paralysed. So they opted to amputate his right leg just above the knee and used his calf muscle to reconstruct his hamstring instead.

[Deleted]

Thank you RyooT, very interesting I shall take a look at diver you mentioned as that seems on the right lines.

[Ximena]

I'm actually doing the prep work for an M/M novel in which one of the characters was in a serious car accident as a teen so I have been doing a lot of research in this area. I can sit down and talk to you about it some time, if you'd like, Tab. Over skype or gchat. Would be so much easier to get the back-and-forth and I can sit with my anatomy book open to look at innervations and such, although I've gotten a pretty good refresher as part of my prep work for the book.

One thing to consider is the knee joint is complicated, with many nerves, arteries, tendons, ligaments, etc., involved, and not all these are possible to repair/replace. Plus, over time, what may not have been as serious of an injury when he was younger may have gotten worse with age (worsening of mesnicus/ligament/nerve damage, arthritis, etc.).

It's 12:30AM here and I'm half awake as I type this, but it could be something where the situation has gotten worse - maybe due to pain and/or instability to where it might be more feasible to do the amputation... I'd have to think about it more clearly, but yeah it's definitely a feasible situation.