Hardware Removal . . . Knee Surgery #6!

Cute Tyleigh has been THROUGH IT with her knees. After three ACL repairs, two cyclops lesion removals, cortisone shots and lots of physical therapy, we wondered if she was having the same issue with her hardware as Carsyn was. We talked to her orthopedic surgeon and decided to move forward with bilateral knee surgery on July 31 - which means she did both knees at the same time. This girl is tough as nails.

All the hardware that came out of both knees!

It was supposed to be a pretty minimal procedure . . . until it wasn't. 

Exactly one month later, when things should have been healed, Tyleigh called us from up in Logan and said that her knee was spitting out stitches and looked a little pussy. 

We got in contact with her doctor and physical therapist and they called in an antibiotic as a preventative measure. 

The next morning, Tyleigh facetimed us and her knee had swollen up like a cantaloupe and was leaking even more. We had her go to the Emergency Room. 

We knew there was infection, but we had NO idea how bad it actually was. She spent 5 hours in the ER - mostly by herself, with an IV full of antibiotics. They had to open her incision up and irrigate it. Then they put in a wound drain so it would heal from the inside out. The ER doc told her she would probably only have it for two days. 

4 weeks later, her leg was still infected. She was seeing her doctor in Provo weekly, which meant driving down from Logan once a week. He had to debride the wound and Tyleigh learned how to put the wound drain in by herself because it had to be changed every single day. Two full rounds of antibiotics later and the infection started to look better, but then she had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics and felt absolutely miserable for a full week!

6 weeks later (definitely not only two days), and the hole in her leg is finally closing, the rash is gone, and things are looking up! We are praying this will solve her knee issues once she finally heals and she can start living life to the fullest again!

 

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

What an experience this one was. 

Carsyn was struggling to regulate her moods and emotions, so we saw a psychiatrist.  She prescribed her a medicine called Lamotrigine.  Carsyn started taking it on September 18.  

On September 25, Carsyn started complaining about her throat hurting, and her lymph nodes were swollen, so we took her to Instacare. They diagnosed her with Strep and started her on some Keflex. 

On September 29, she was covered in this rash, which we knew was an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, so back to Instacare we went.  They started her on Amoxicillin and Prednisone.

Her skin was on fire - especially her eyes, so we tried everything to give her some relief - Benadryl, Oatmeal baths, ice masks, etc. 

We stopped all of the meds because the rash wasn't getting any better and she started to get violent stomach aches and diarrhea. We called the doctor and he put her on Azithromycin. She got worse and worse, so we stopped all the meds, but she still felt so crummy. 

On October 11, we took her back in to be seen again. The doctor gave her a Kenalog steroid shot in the butt at 10:30 that morning. By 2:30 in the afternoon, her lips started to go numb.  We kind of laughed at first and told her she could be Carsyn-Kardashian. 

By 10:30 that night, we weren't laughing anymore. Carsyn started to go anaphylactic. I took her to the Emergency Room at American Fork Hospital. They gave her an epi-pen and tons of Benadryl and Pecid.  We stayed for a few hours and they sent us home. 

The next morning, things were even worse.  The ER didn't do much for her, so we called our family doctor again.  She tested positive for Strep again and the doctor there suggested that we go to the ER instead. We decided Riverton Hospital might be more helpful. 

Carsyn's face was becoming unrecognizable and her skin was covered in burning rashes.

The Riverton ER was definitely a better place to take her, but even they didn't really know how to treat her.  They felt like she needed to be admitted and suggested we take her straight up to Primary Children's.

Primary Children's took one look at her and the doctor knew almost immediately what was going on . . .

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. 

It is a rare, serious skin reaction that can be life-threatening.  It is usually a reaction to medications. It causes fever, flu-like symptoms, painful rash, blisters, peeling skin, eye problems, painful sores (everywhere, but especially "down below"), swelling of the mouth, lips, throat, tongue and face. It affects the organs, thyroid, etc.  SO MISERABLE!

Primary Children's is the best.  They do so much to try to boost the morale and keep things positive.  There is definitely a special spirit there - angels all around. 

Carsyn was there October 13-October 15.  They really took amazing care of her.

When we were finally home, it still took a long time for her to get fully better. 

Her skin and lips peeled and shed for a couple of weeks.

We are so lucky that this didn't get worse and leave her in a burn unit or blind like some others have experienced, but it was definitely a miserable experience and has had some pretty crazy lasting consequences on her immune system and her reaction to meds!