Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: Penetrating Chest Trauma

This is a question for a story I'm writing, but it's not for an L&C fic. The problem is that I don't have anywhere else to ask, and it's really bothering me not knowing because I hate guessing medical facts for my stories. I know we do have some doctors who frequent here, so I figured this would be worth a shot. I apologize if I shouldn't be posting this here. Please remove it, if so.

I'm in the process of writing a very long story involving a man who was shot in the chest just under or next to his left nipple. The bullet lodged itself next to his aorta, caused massive hemorrhaging in the lungs, and he suffered from a hemothorax before he was able to receive proper medical care. A cardio-thoracic surgeon ended up cracking his chest to fish out the bullet and make repairs.

My question is basically this. What kind of recovery time are we looking at, here, ballpark, for him to not be experiencing pain from his bullet wound? I've learned through my research that the broken sternum from the surgery will be bothering him for months, but I've been able to find very little information on specific GSW recovery times.

Thank you so much

I'm sorry that I don't have the answer to your question, but I had to just respond in another way.

In the immortal words of CC Aiken, "Holy freakin' cow!"



You certainly sound like a doctor (or other healthcare professional) to me. Whatever you find out, your story sounds interesting. Good luck.

BJ

Sorry--All I've seen is survival information on gunshots, not recovery times. Good question. The only suggestion I have is to follow the advice of Robert L. Forward, award wining physicist, patent holder and hard science fiction writer. "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Since the amount of damage will depend on the caliber of bullet, range, obstructions affecting bullet velocity, composition and design of the bullet I think you would be justified in making up something that sounds reasonable. Also, the world of LAC:TNAOS also has areas of medical science significantly more advanced than our own which further clouds recovery times. Hey, Lex survived and recovered from a fall off a hundred story building and only lost his hair?

Hope this helps.