Sorry, I think that's a song lyric.
Anyway, if you break/fracture your back, what would happen? As in, would they rush you to the ER for surgery right then? What would the process by? I need it for a scene I'm writing right now and I'm stuck for the story until someone can tell me what to do. Not to put any pressure on y'all. lol
I would ask the actual person that this happened to, what they did, but he would yell and scream and at the very worst not even answer. So that idea's nixed.
Oh, right, the details. Uh, fractured it in Football practice, no clue what happened because I never got to ask, so I'm making it up that he gets tackled and somehow it breaks. No, he(the boy in my story, or the one in real life) isn't paralyzed, he's virtually fine today, he just can't play football. He walks fine, he talks fine, everything is fine.
So, would he even need surgery? Oh, and no I'm not sure what area/part of his spine he broke, again, never got to ask. I'm thinking it would be the lower area, like the Lumbar(or is that upper?) or something, but he's not paralyzed so I don't know how that would work out.
All the help y'all can give would be appreciated!
~Marisa~
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NaNo #: 1
Nervous level: 50k
50,634 / 50,000
nov. 20, 2007 - 18 59
Okay, round two in hopefully clearer sentences.
Castin breaks his back during football. I don't know how but I would assume it was from tackling.
I don't know what area of the spine but I would assume it would be his lower area like the Lumbar or something.
NO, he is not paralyzed. He's walking fine a few days/weeks later.
Would he need surgery even if it wasn't "that bad"?
I'm basing this off of a real life event, but I can't ask this person b/c by his "rules" I'm not allowed to speak to him. So, any help would be appreciated. :)
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50,025 / 50,000
nov. 20, 2007 - 18 56
I broke a vertebrae and never went to the ER. It healed weird and now it's bumpy and screwed up. I definitely have back problems (at age 24!) but of course I can't be sure that's why. It was very clearly broken. This may not be helpful but it will bump you again :)
50,634 / 50,000
nov. 20, 2007 - 19 02
Oh, thank you! That IS helpful actually, and I just remembered something as well.
He, the boy in my grade, still goes to physical therapy every week and it's been two years.
AND, I do remember also, that he had surgery one day(a few months after the accident) and came back the next day. I asked him how that was possible but he never got back to me on it.
I want to just ASK HIM what happened, but he would NOT be happy, and he wouldn't answer me anyway. He's more into literally JUMPING out of the way when he sees me coming in the hallway. lol
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50,634 / 50,000
déc. 1, 2007 - 16 12
You have GOT to be KIDDING me! For the past three years I've been trying to figure out what happened to the boy in my class. I just found out yesterday. It was a STRESS FRACTURE!!! I couldn't believe it, I think I almost cried. lol That's so not even cool enough to put in my book, poor kid, it must've hurt like hell too. :(
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0 / 50,000
déc. 2, 2007 - 13 08
Hey,
Something like this happened to someone I know well, so in case you still want any details...
In his case, it was a 25 foot fall down a rope, rather than a rugby tackle - he hit the ground and when they asked if he was okay, said his back hurt. The geniuses he was with decided that since he could move his feet, he couldn't be seriously hurt, and so hoisted him up and helped him into a car.
The usual procedure if someone has a back injury would be immobilisation on a back board (like a rigid stretcher which the paramedics strap you to before moving you) and transfer by ambulance to an ER. I guess if your character has been playing sports, people might assume it couldn't be that serious because he didn't fall from a height...
At the ER, they send the patient - still immobilised - for X-rays (LOTS of X-rays - they have to get the whole back, from various angles). Then the orthopaedic surgeons review the X-rays and decide (a) is it broken? (b) if so, what sort of fracture is it? and (c) what treatment would be best?
They don't always operate, because spinal surgery carries pretty significant risks, and sometimes they decide that a spinal brace would be a safer bet.
From the patient's point of view:
You get taken into the ER (hopefully on a nice stable backboard), and someone tells the ER docs what happened. Then they immobilse you (if you weren't already), establish venous access (put a cannula into your arm), take blood, and check your vitals (pulse, BP, resp rate, O2 sats, conscious level, ECG etc) and then send you for X-ray. (If you're female, you have to sign a chit saying you're not pregnant first.)
After your X-rays, you get taken back to ER, where you may be getting other treatment (morphine, IV fluids etc - because you're in a lot of pain, and probably in shock too), while the surgeons check out the X-rays. Then, if you're sufficiently aware of what's going on, they'll tell you the findings and either transfer you for surgery or onto an orthopaedic ward for medical treatment.
In my friend's case, it turned out to be a lumbar compression fracture - that's the lower back (the spine runs: cervical, thoracic, lumbar (and then sacral and coccygeal, but those are fused vertebrae and so rarely break)) - and cracked thoracic vertebrae. (He was insanely lucky to get away with that; all the doctors were amazed.)
He didn't have surgery, because his fractures were fairly stable, but he was put in a back brace, which looked like some sort of medieval torture device - a metal and plastic frame that ran from his collar bone to his hips, with straps round the sides, that held his back in place while the fractures healed. After the first couple of days, he could walk (a few steps across the room) but it was 2 months till he got the brace off and about 8 months till he was going around without crutches or a stick.
Like your friend, he can walk and stuff now, but not do sports or heavy lifting. He has pretty bad back pain and sciatica, and so is still on pain meds and physio.
Incidentally, one of the commonest ways to get a vertebral compression fracture is coming off a motorbike or falling off a horse, so if you need a different mechanism of injury for your character, that might be an idea.
Hope this is useful, if you decide to keep the storyline (I guess 'wedge compression fracture' might sound more dramatic than 'stress fracture'. Let me know if you need any more details...
50,634 / 50,000
déc. 2, 2007 - 17 53
Um, well, what I know/remember of the situation he had surgery in November, a week before I had mine. So, I guess they put him in a brace and then after he had the surgery he had a brace again. Actually, it has to be a football injury because I've already written all of the scene except for the part where anyone knows what the hell is going on. lol
But thank you so much for your help, that was SO helpful, it really was. :) It was probably was a lumbar fracture because it seems like the likeliest thing you could get away with not being very severely hurt depending on what it is.
They told me on Friday that his back had been sore for a few days and then he just put too much weight on it. To my chagrin he wouldn't give me any more details so whatever. lol
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