GENERAL TO SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE BACK
IN REFERENCE TO ABIGAIL "ABBY" DEKKER'S IMPLANT FOR HER BACK…
I have done a fair amount of research for myself and for my characters on this topic, but I am by no means an expert on backs or on paralyzing injuries. I know only what I have researched and what I have learned from those who do have working and everyday knowledge. I will try to portray this injury well both prior to the implant and afterwards—as threads demand—as accurately as possible. If I am inaccurate in something, please feel free to let me know and I will make the necessary corrections.
Now, to start, Abby's injury was at the lower part of her lumbar vertabrae, around the L4-L5 section, which largely prevented her from walking without the constant use of tools to aid her, until such time as she received the implant, after which she had to do a great deal of physical therapy to rebuild the muscles and regain her coordination and mobility—insomuch as she could.
This is what the implant looks like internally on her spine.
Most of the implant itself is not visible but part of it is above the skin. This is likely the access point where components would be replaced when it was necessary for general upkeep—short of things that would require major surgery like the sections along the bones themselves and at the spinal cord.
Due to both the way the implant is set and the fact that it was experimental at the time, there are issues with it, among them:
1) It created a limited range of movement with its design, at least where the lowest sections of her spine are concerned. You will not see her twist too much. You'll usually see her completely turn her body instead. She can also only bend forward or backward to a certain point.
2) The purpose of the design was both to reinforce the spine itself after the injury, as well as to convey the signals from the brain past the incomplete spinal cord injury, almost acting as a bridge—which is where the inner section of the device that I didn't draw would come into play.
3) That said, though it accomplished the main goal of allowing her to walk and resume other such functions that were difficult to impossible due to the injury, it did not solve everything. She can walk. She no longer needs a catheter or anything of that nature. Anything else on that list for the lower sections of the spine are functional again because the signals are conveyed. There are flaws with it, however, up to and including how quickly and how precisely the messages travel around the damaged nerves. As a result, she is clumsy and will trip over her own feet, sometimes over air, sometimes misjudged steps/mis-relayed messages. You will not likely see her running [ short of emergency ] or dancing or anything like that [ unless she has simply already resigned herself to the fact that she is going to fall ]. Feeling is also not 100% in her feet/lower legs, almost like someone with neuropathy. She is at least happy that she can [ mostly ] work the pedals on a piano again [ an organ, however, would be very unlikely due to the amount of precise footwork required to do so ] .
4) She does deal with pain/nerve pain. Some days are fairly minor, what would typically just be considered soreness or stiffness. Then, though they are fairly rare, there are days that the pain makes it difficult to impossible to get out of bed, and it leaves her actually holding her breath until whatever spike or spasm passes, until the next one. On those days, her business partner and friend [ I am considering the partner being an omnic ] handles all of the business at their shop—as well as venturing upstairs to check on her occasionally.
5) Random facts: while it is not very obtrusive, she tends not to lay on her back as it is uncomfortable, she often pivots in solid back chairs when possible so her back is not flat against it, and she tends to shy away from anyone touching anywhere below the natural waistline. Again, she is almost never seen NOT in layers to hide both the implant and the lights that show it is functioning properly.
