Actually, I’d say it IS terrible news.

Within an hour of posting the previous piece, which was full of optimism and cheerfulness, Colin now tells me that his bedsore blisters have turned into actual wounds. That he will now have to be wedged into even more contorted positions while sitting just about straight up. “Mom, I’ve been cheerful so far, despite everything I’ve been enduring: nerve pain, constant injections, paralysis, but this . . . ” his voice is breaking as he says it. “I just don’t know how I can endure this, too.”

He’s especially worried about whether or not he will be able to sleep, knowing how restorative sleep is, after a full week of actually sleeping, following, we now know, literally decades of snoring, sleep apnea . . .

The nurses tell him that this new development is very common.

I’m wondering once again: why is he supposed to be the one to tell them to turn him every two hours? This is supposedly the protocol there, even though he didn’t find out about it until his bedsores had already developed! 

And what about when he was heavily sedated, during those first weeks? Was he supposed to tell them to turn him every two hours then? Something is not adding up.

Quick research on the internet tells me that these kinds of wounds can develop infections, leading to sepsis . . . That they take weeks, even months to heal. And that, even if these wounds heal, since he will be either bedridden or in a wheelchair for literally years, he will have to be totally aware of this possibly life-threatening condition that can develop at any time.

I am devastated.

P.S. If anyone can recommend an intuitive healer in the Bloomington Indiana area who works with the emotional rises and falls of disabled or paralyzed people, please contact me. Jungian preferred. Thanks.