Christopher Reeve dies at 52.

What a bugger, it said at the end of the article that he was beginning to regain some sensation in his limbs too.

It really sucks that he was beginning to beat spinal cord injury and then was taken out by something as stupid as a wound infection.

Yeah the last time I heard he was doing a lot better

Yeah. That was the term the article used, too. I suppose my statement would have been more effective if I'd said "taken out by something as stupid as a bed sore."

At the same time, I don't know how wealthy the man was. I'd honestly guess not so much. It's not like he'd worked a lot as an actor in recent ... decades. And the medical bills must have been outrageous. Still, he probably did have SAG health insurance, at least, and the Superman residuals may have been staggering for all I know.

How much money or the quality of care does not enter into the picture in this case. Bed sores / pressure wounds are extremely easy to get and intensely hard to treat and clear.

It only takes a slight irritation of the skin to start a wound forming. Once it does, it is extremely sensitive, painful and very prone to infection. This was actually the cause of death - septic shock / systemic infection contributed to both the coma and to the heart failure.

No amount of money or medical care will really help much at that point. There are ways of preventing pressure wounds from forming, but most that I have seen are really short term methods that will help but not prevent them over the long term.

That is really sad. I have alot of respect for that man, to go thru what he did and not give up.

wfaulk:

Quote:
At the same time, I don't know how wealthy the man was.

Nor I. Just guessing. He seemed to have access to pretty advanced treatments like diaphragm stimulator/implant (but maybe some of those things aren't considered advanced anymore).


Paul G:

Quote:
There are ways of preventing pressure wounds from forming, but most that I have seen are really short term methods that will help but not prevent them over the long term.

Prevention is pretty much pure labor -- lots of moving/repositioning, massage, cleaning, vigilance -- and isn't any guarantee. I was just surprised at the news of his death, what with him being so aggressive in dealing with his situation and thinking if anyone was in a position to ward off this very common complication...