Okay, so, one of the big, inciting incidents in my story is that, among other things, one day, everyone over the age of 13 suddenly has their health and youth fully restored. All diseases are cured, all damaged, broken, or even lost body parts are restored, all disabilities that aren't the result of your genetics are healed, everything. And one of the stories I wanted to tell with this concept was a woman who essentially finds herself flung forward in time by having this event heal her out of a coma. The idea is that this woman, Wendy, went into a coma after getting into a big fight with her daughter, only to wake up to discover that she missed out on the entirety of her daughter's life. Wendy's daughter fell in love, got married, had a child, and died in a tragic accident during this coma, and Wendy's husband has been raising her granddaughter by himself in her absence while hoping she'd one day wake up. This is a story I really want to tell, but the trouble is that these people aren't rich. They aren't poor, more middle class, but from what I've heard keeping a coma patient alive is really expensive, and the prospect of maintaining this for the 2-3 decades I need for this plotline to work sounds like it could be a bit of a ridiculous stretch, in a story where I want as much to be realistic as possible aside from the magical elements. Is there some way I could make this plotline work? Some way a non-rich person could keep his comatose wife alive for 20 to 30 years, or some other condition I could use that would have the same effect of this woman basically being flung forward in time, unable to experience the world until she was healed?
Robin Cook’s 1977 book Coma might spark some ideas for you. It’s been years since I read it, but I remeber it being a good book.
I don’t know that affordability is relevant, unless you also want them to wake up with some assets remaining. Unless and until the person is legally brain-dead, I don’t think it’s legal to just step back and let them die. The expenses in the US would be paid by Medicaid after the patient’s last assets are gone. I think.
Her assets specifically, or would her family be expected to pay until their assets were gone too, specifically her husband?
You could go about it several ways, all of which are interesting: 1) By keeping her alive, the family wracks up a massive debt that needs to be dealt with during the story 2) The doctor, or perhaps the medical company, owes this family a favor for some reason, and is keeping her alive at their own expense to repay some past generosity 3) The husband has been able to make the money, spending it all on keeping her alive, resulting in conflict that must be resolved during the story (maybe he's doing something terrible to make ends meet, and they have a ton of character development over it) There are all sorts of ways you can make this work, and all of them would make for an excellent sub-plot, and give you a chance to explore your character's struggles!
You could set the story in a society where health care is not charged to the sick person, and people's ability to access it isn't dependent on their personal income or assets. Like Scotland today, under the NHS. If there was no sign of being brain-dead, but a person was in a coma for years and years (this certainly happens) people in Scotland will be kept alive, no questions asked. If the technology exists to keep a person alive, then this sort of thing boils down to political will.
I like all of these. @Simon Price, you should especially consider the idea of the burden on the husband having driven him to some level of at least financial if not moral compromise. Story-altering, organic subplot is hard to come by. Alternatively, or possibly supplementaly, insurance could account for a lot. Maybe she just had great medical. I'd probably go with the combo though, a heavy, but not insurmountable financial burden that drives subplot coupled with realistic reasons they didn't lose the house, the car, etc. Also, and I'd probably ask a hospice worker or someone, but depending on the condition, I'm pretty sure it's possible to keep a patient healthy in a bed at home with a lot of work from a spouse or other caretaker without breaking the bank. Some conditions require respirators and medication and tons of constant intervention, while others involve nothing more than a feeding tube, waste management, sponge baths and prevention of bed sores. I think.
Another possibility is having a doctor of dubious intentions take over her care in the name of “reasearch” after the funds are depleted. For the potential consequences of this, do a bit of reading about the Dionne quintuplets, which is what made me think of it.
This seems relevant, if we're talking about the US. It appears that half of the married couple's assets would be taken for her care. Edited to add: Well, half if the assets are fairly modest. There are more details in the link. https://longtermcare.acl.gov/medicare-medicaid-more/medicaid/medicaid-eligibility/considerations-for-married-people.html
To clarify, yes, it is in America. Thanks for bringing that up and sorry for not clarifying. I chose it for two reasons, one because that’s where I live so it’s familiar, and two because for various reasons regarding the other supernatural elements, it’s important to the story that it’s set in a place with laws like America’s.
