Hope, Faith and Bed Sores

One of the most difficult realities of this disease is that there is no hope. A diagnosis means death. No chance of remission or cure. Without hope, seriously, what is there? We can hope for something as mundane as good weather, or we can hope that tomorrow will be a better day. People count on hope to get them through some of the toughest of times. Hope is essential. No one ever wants to say it because it sounds so drastic, so dark...but Alzheimer's strips all hope away.
I called the hospice nurse on Monday and asked that she come to visit when Mike is in bed and she can actually see his bed sores. She agreed and came yesterday to confirm one of my fears. Three out of 4 of Mike's bed sores are now infected. This scares me because I can't help but think of Christopher Reeve. He was wealthy and had access to the best care and resources, yet he passed away from a bed sore that became infected. It doesn't make a difference who you are or what kind of care you get. No matter how much we took care of those sores, they still got infected.
My heart hurts for Mike. I can't imagine the discomfort he feels. The sore on his shoulder is the worst and there are some moments when he does moan and appears to be uncomfortable. He doesn't deserve this, no one does.
Once again, and always, I turn to my faith. I pray that the sores heal and that Mike experiences only the slightest of pain, which we hopefully can control.
This weekend, the Alzheimer's Association is once again heading to Washington DC to try to make a change. We can't go this year due to finals and birthdays, but I gave permission for them to tell our story as much as possible to anyone who NEEDED to hear it. The one thing we can HOPE for is support for research.....and eventually a cure.