Waking from a coma - Writers Forum

Haruka · 11-13-2005, 11:17 PM

I have an idea of a story were a girl wakes up from a coma but I don't really know much about that?

What happends after you wake up after 2 months? a year? 2 years? 5 years?

Can the person talk? How many weeks or months does he/she need before walking again? with and without phisiotherapy?(sp?)

Could he/she fall back into a coma?

A bit of extra info: The girl fell into a coma after a car crash in which her mother died and her brother got stuck in a wheelchair (he too was in a coma but woke up).

Hodge · 11-13-2005, 11:22 PM

They can generally talk upon waking, but they need extensive physical therapy to regain use of their muscles if they've been out for a while. The longer they're out the worse the degeneration is.

As far as what it seems like, it's usually just nothingness. No awareness during a coma. The person remembers one last thing and then all of a sudden he/she is in a hospital bed and feels weak and confused.

mammamaia · 11-14-2005, 09:19 AM

What happends after you wake up after 2 months? a year? 2 years? 5 years?

...that depends on what condition you're in when you 'wake up'... the time span will impact how much limb atrophy there is, as will the quality of care you're given while in the coma...

Can the person talk?

...it depends on what the damage was in the first place... and, is there lasting brain damage?... is it centered in the speech-producing part of the brain?...

How many weeks or months does he/she need before walking again? with and without phisiotherapy?(sp?)

...again, it depends on the condition of the patient and the quality of the care/rehabilitation...

Could he/she fall back into a coma?

...same thing... depends on what caused it in the first place and what shape the patient's in when awakened...

only you can decide what shape she's in, since you have to come up with what injuries she sustained that caused the coma... and what other injuries she may have had that will impact on her state when she awakes and what has to be done before she's fully recovered... if she can be...

so, there are too many variables for anyone here to answer your questions definitively... not even a doctor specializing in such cases could, till you provide all the missing info... your best bet is to do some research into coma related stuff in a google search, after you decide what it is you want to happen... then you can back it up with the right technical info...

casperthesheet · 11-14-2005, 02:21 PM

I used to live with a guy that was in a coma for eight months because of a horrible car crash (5 years later pieces of glass were still coming out from under his skin) but besides having less muscle mass he was alright. He told me that the whole time he had one long dream and could hear people taking.

My best friends sister was hit by a bus. She was in a coma for five months and when she came out was mildly retarded.

So many things have to be put into consideration when determining the effects of a coma.

If you come out of the coma alright you will still have to deal with the social consequences. What happened to your friends? Did you partner move on? Have any large leaps in technology happen? What would you do if you found out that your father wanted to pull the plug on your life support when the doctor's said that you may never come out? These are just some suggestions.

Haruka · 11-14-2005, 06:57 PM

Thanks to everyone for their info ^^ I've been investigating myself about coma and what happends to the patients and I think I have all the info I need.

Thanks a bunch! ^^