Need Some Doctoral Help for DaD Again · 9:23pm Oct 22nd, 2021
Heya, Folks!
I've got six characters from four people, but I'm still accepting OC submissions! That's not what this blog is for, though.
If you remember from a few months ago, I was looking for a little doctoral help for DaD's prequel. Well, I need a little more. It is a little bit spoiler-y, so I'm gonna put a page break and ask that only those answering the call keep reading. TL;DR— It's about positioning healing burns.
Anyway, the last few times I've gone to continue the prequel I've basically read through the whole of what I've written so far (~11k words) before I've attempted to keep going. Well, I was doing the same last night when I came to a realization that I hadn't before: the way I've written the prequel so far has essentially just been Cotton sitting in bed with bandages with just a little extra at first (like a towel roll under her jaw to keep her neck straight and some wedges to keep her from rolling over). But I realized that would never realistically be the case.
I found a document that appears to be pretty legit in terms of positioning body parts while burns are healing, but obviously it's for humans, not ponies. It also doesn't help in terms of what to do with Cotton's wing, and I couldn't find anything for birds that would help.
One of the things that I was really hoping to avoid was restraining Cotton so she wouldn't flail. I originally explained this with sedatives upon first arrival, but that's not a long term solution, so I think restraint is going to have to come into play. However, if you take a look at Cotton's picture again:
...you'll see that one of the places Cotton is burned is her knee, and one of the things that document noted is not to hyperextend any burns at joints, so wouldn't restraint be problematic? The way I figure it, as soon as a three-year-old is fully conscious, they're going to immediately try to get into a position that's comfortable, and in Cotton's case, I don't think that's possible, so I'm trying to figure out a way to bandage her properly while finding a position that's... acceptable to her.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I really need to finish and publish the prequel before I can finish and publish the next chapter of DaD, so the sooner I can get this figured out, the better.
Thanks in advance!
—LD
OK... So, me again.
Foreword, I was lucky enough that in my nursing career I never got to deal with such heavy burns (I was in the vascular surgery ward), but I will try to help.
1) when they say 'hyperextension' they mean to fully and completely extend a limb, and normally that rarely happends. Limbs will naturally extend to a relaxed position and ponies would be no different
2) waking up from such an ordeal is never a clean 'wake up and stretch' but a slow, and in this case painful process. In my experience, people waking up after a surgery are sluggish and weak. All in all, the poor filly would probably be in too much pain when waking up (even with painkillers) to even think, let alone move.
3) Keeping a filly immobilised would not be an issue. Patients like these will usually be in too much pain to even think about moving, and sometimes they have to be prodded to move in the first place as they are afraid to open wounds anew. And they have to move later on get the skin to heal properly.
4) you said no skin grafts if I remember, but even so unless requested in this case I don't think it would be necessary. With magic playing a big part in this society as well as alchemy I would say, as a nurse: potions to help the skin with healing, painkillers and iv glucose/saline bags to keep the body hydrated, creams and ointments to further help with cleaning, and lastly a soft gauze and a cover over it (yes including the wings) to keep the wound safe from bacteria.
Others can correct me if I messed something up (I probably did), but that should cover everything.
Hope it helps.
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I can second this from some personal experience from an unfortunately botched surgery rather than an accident. On waking I was in so much pain combined with the slowly fading anesthesia and pain killers, I was not in any hurry to move at all (granted all my issues were internal not external).
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Thank you, both of you— that definitely helps. It does kinda screw over some of what I currently have written... but some of that may be able to be pushed to later in the story. I want to be as realistic as possible (as far as magical ponies go), so still, thanks a lot.
I do have a question, though— what would you suggest for keeping Cotton's wing extended? I can't imagine a bandaged wing would fold easily, nor would the wing be bandaged folded. Or am I wrong about the latter?
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I would venture that a race such as ponies, especially ones with wings, would have a brace of sorts that would keep the wings fully extended. But, if I recall correctly it was shown in the show a couple of times that keeping the wings folded was a conscious effort so you should keep that in mind as well.
On another note, a properly bandaged limb will not move easily. However in this case I would say that keeping the wing sligly bent would be a better solution, so a wad of gauze could be put in between joints to keep the wing from fully contracting, and well positioned bandage would keep the wing from fully extending.
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The only time I remember that happening is the first EqG when Twilight first got her wings and was having an issue keeping them folded in bed. Other than that, have there really been other instances? I don't tend to rewatch episodes so I'm sure I've forgotten stuff. If that's really the case then you're probably right, just having the wing bandaged would keep it open on its own.
5599429
In one of Eq-girls episode Rainbow and Twilight end up in equestria with Sunset. Rainbows' wings are held open because she doesn't have the muscle knowledge to fold them, and the wings were relaxed. I think there were a few other instances, but I cannot recall.
5599430
Ah, gotcha. I haven't watched those episodes so I wasn't aware. Good to know I don't need to do anything overly complicated to keep Cotton's wing open. Thanks!
By the way, completely unrelated note, I love your short bio. XD
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