Author Archives: arizela

About arizela

I'm a NICU nurse and lactation counselor, currently on hiatus to pursue a PhD in nursing which focuses on the development of health across the lifespan. I write books, articles, and blogs in between my duties as mom, wife, and student. I own a tool belt, and I'm not afraid to use it.

Cuts on the inner forearm

A question recently hit my in-box from an author who has a character being tortured for information. In the scenario, the author intended to have the protagonist “stabbed on the inside of his forearm and the knife gets dragged through … Continue reading

Posted in Torture 101, wounds | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Rib Injuries

Question: What are the differences, symptoms, severity, and complications of rib injuries, and how much do they hurt? Ah, ribs. Those grand old things that protect all your most vital organs. What lay-people generally think of as a ribcage aren’t … Continue reading

Posted in wounds | Tagged | 7 Comments

Official Cause of Death

A question recently hit my inbox about what the official cause of death would be listed as on a death certificate of a person who died of cancer. As I don’t deal much with that end (pun not intended) of … Continue reading

Posted in Medical Procedure | Tagged | Leave a comment

Hollywood Flub-Ups: The dying breath

The dying breath How many times have you seen that pivotal death sequence, where the character lives just long enough to gasp out his last words of wisdom to the protagonist. Often either giving the answer to the plot all … Continue reading

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Hollywood Flub-Ups: watering the unconscious

In this repeating column, I will explain how Hollywood (and various TV mini-series and shows) get it all too wrong. Our first culprit: Legend of the Seeker (and yes, I know it sucks. Bare with me here) The great wizard, … Continue reading

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