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!
