Danny wrote "WELL BOTH DIED FROM A PRESSURE SORE OR COMPLICATIONS FROM THEM AND SO DID CHRIS REEVES--( SUPERMAN ) THEY CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INFECTIONS. DAN H."
It has been a long time since I posted the reasons I firmly believe that Christopher Reeve *did not die from* a pressure sore or complications from it. I hope I wrote it down somewhere because I do not have time to explain it all again. Sure, decubitus ulcers or wounds (whether initially caused by yeast, moisture or pressure) *are* extremely dangerous and that is exactly why they need the proper care. That means keeping the pressure off entirely as well as good, appropriate protocol and treatment. The worst thing that can happen with them is for a bad bug to get into the wound and find its way into the bloodstream -- known as septicemia and definitely deadly. Sepsis is the worst-case scenario and so many of us quads have had numerous ones over x, or xx number of years. But dying *directly* from that and * that* *alone* (a pressure sore) is quite rare or very rare. Otherwise we would be dropping like flies. Dave K had been fighting *multiple* and *serious *medical problems for multiple years. I believe he had pneumonia (which is more likely to be a death sentence for us quads) *twice* in the last couple of years and many other problems as well. He was not exactly young anymore either so his body was very very very vulnerable. He died very shortly after a Central Line or PICC line was removed so, with that being a routine procedure, it is my belief that the tip of the catheter fell off and went into the bloodstream to his heart or lungs and that is what caused his demise or not enough air was taken out of it and therefore an air embolism was *the cause* of death. Pneumonia, a wound and other medical problems put him in the hospital but they were not the direct cause of death. Since the details with Mark Jackson's passing are so sketchy and with him being on the job less than a year ago when I spoke with him... I imagine there is much more to the story than we know beyond or surrounding his wound to be able to say that he died directly from septicemia but perhaps that is what happened--I don't know. On Tuesday on the other list... I posted that Oprah's topic that day was "Medical Mistakes" and specifically what hospital fu*k-up (lethal dosages of heparin by "ooops") that nearly killed Dennis Quaid's newborn twins and then having Oprah's ever-so-popular "Dr. Oz" talk about the many medical mistakes made every day and every year. I usually do not watch Oprah but I did and I am glad I did. I expected "Dr. Oz" to keep preaching that doctors and staff are human and mistakes happen (and he did say that) but he said and explained so much more! The number of people that die of medical mistakes every year in this country is equal to a jet crashing and killing around 200 people *every* *day*. I already knew this but I hope those who watched the show got a good wake-up call. Lori Michaelson Age - 44 C4/5 complete quad, 29 years post Tucson, AZ
