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• Friday, February 9, 2007 07:06 PM

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  I have not read Ashley's medical records, I have not met with her family, or examined the patient, but I suspect this operation went forward because of one thing: it was life saving. If she truly has the disabilities described in the article then she is doomed to die at a young age. Why? That tiny little line in the story about bed sores. If one thinks the description of her medical procedures is horrible, imagine that a large dog has taken a bite out of her backside. That is what will happen to her if she reaches full development.

  A bed soar is easy to explain. Squeeze your fist and then open it quickly, the flesh turns from white to your natural tone, which is because the pressure from squeezing was greater than the blood pressure trying to push life giving blood to the tissue in you hand. When one lies in one position for a long time the pressure of the body on the most dependent portion is more than the blood flow to this area, this causes tissue to die. This is a bed sore; the problem is that dead tissue in a sore is like a buffet for bacteria that are ever present in our environment. Her family obviously loves and cares for her above and beyond the call of duty but if she was a full grown adult the odds are she will eventually succumb to sepsis, "blood infection," from a bed sore. Now, being small does not preclude her getting one or dieing from a secondary infection from one but the smaller she is the easier it is for care givers to turn her on a regular basis; and her lighter weight means less pressure on her backside. They start tiny but are incipient; they take hold and are deadly.

  Remember Christopher Reeves? Don't you think that he most likely had the best medical care in the world and a loving wife and family? Why did he die? From an infection that most likely started as just a little blemish on his backside.

  Adjusting her development was not just a convenience for the family; it may help her avoid death by infection.

  —Duke
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