Baby Isaiah developed a skin rash that was so bad, he was in agony for the first year of his life. His mum, Stephanie Smith thought her little boy would be better off dead than to experience the pain from his blistering skin.
The skin nightmare started when Isaiah was three months old and he got a cut on his cheek. He had flares of bright red rashes that the doctors diagnosed as eczema and they advised Stephanie to purchase over the counter topical steroid creams.
At first the creams worked, but a week later the rashes came back so they reapplied the creams. This went on for a couple of months. Isaiah’s skin became red raw when he came into contact with anyone wearing perfume or clothes with fabric softener.
When Isaiah’s hair started to fall out and he was sick and lethargic, Stephanie got her little boy to hospital. Doctors gave stronger topical steroid cream and injected liquid steroids into his scalp. After 5 days in hospital, Isaiah was smiling again but his skin had a bluish tint.
Within 48 hours, Isaiah’s skin had a turn for the worse with blood red lesions and the wounds started to ooze. The poor little bubba wouldn’t stop screaming from the pain.
The only comfort Stephanie could give to her baby boy was running luke warm baths where he would bathe.
Surgical gauze was placed over the skin on his face and nappies would be strapped to his hands as mitts at night to avoid him scratching his incredibly sensitive skin. Cool, damp cloths were placed on his body everywhere he went to give him some sort of relief from the pain.
Stephanie said, ‘He looked like he had third degree burns. People asked what we had done to our baby. They asked, “has he been in a fire? We couldn’t even hold him. Every time our skin touched his, it would blister and ooze like crazy. I couldn’t even touch my cheek to his.”
At their wits end, Stephanie and her husband Nelson, 36, went on the internet to find a way to help their little boy. They eventually landed on Itsan.org, a forum that explained the symptoms of topical steroid withdrawal.
“It was all about the side-effects of topical steroids, and how skin conditions can get worse when you stop using them,” said Stephanie.
As Stephanie scrolled down the page, image after image of children came up on the screen with skin like Isaiah. Stephanie used her mum’s instinct and stopped using the topical steroid creams. She researched how to make her own homeopathic balms.
She developed a successful blend of lemongrass and zinc which she added to Isaiah’s skin with guaze wrapped around each limb.
The balm soothed Isaiah’s skin and eventually they saw patches of clear skin.
Stephanie took 50 photos a day to see the progress and by October 2014, 10 months after starting the balms, Isaiah’s skin had healed and it was smooth and clear.
“We saw 35 doctors altogether. They all said it was eczema. I want to show them all the photos showing how Isaiah’s skin cleared up.”
Stephanie admits that during her c-section she was given Ibuprofen and this was passed on through the breastmilk. She believe’s Isaiah’s skin condition was a reaction to medication. Their family does have a history of allergies and reactions to medication.
If you look at Isaiah now, it would be hard to believe he was the same boy with inflamed red skin.
“We lost the first year of his life. I wasn’t able to kiss him or hold him,” said Stephanie.
“Now we squeeze him all the time. He is a squeezable little guy.”
Isaiah is now a healthy and happy little boy and no longer has allergic reactions to perfume or deodorant.
Stephanie wanted to share her story to assist other parents who may have a child going through a similar skin condition.
Mums around the world will relate to doing anything to fix the pain of their child and we’re glad Stephanie was able to find a solution to help her son.
If you would like to read more about Stephanie and Isaiah, head to their blog isaiahquinn.blogspot.co.uk.
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