I'm so glad I'm not the only one who uses place-holder names for years. I get very odd and particular about whether a word feels right (it's why I haven't gone far with my con-langing), and I end up with /domain/ or /protagonist's-dad/ and stuff like that. There's a list of placeholders at the top of all my stories so I can do a find-and-replace when the right name FINALLY occurs.

Also, hooray for fictional medical emergencies. :)

Personally, one of my goals in fantasy is to work in entirely non-magical, inconvienient natural disasters. The flood does not just mean you cannot cross the river to reach the village; it means the village just went past you. On the river.