Eight-year-old girl suffers organ failure and BOTH of her lungs collapse after she has a severe allergic reaction to a common medication
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- An eight-year-old girl suffered from a seizure and went into cardiac arrest
- Doctors were treating her with anti-seizure medication but she reacted to it
- The girl has been left with her organs failing and collapsed lungs as a result
The mother of an eight-year-old girl who had a severe reaction to anti-seizure medication has issued a warning to other parents.
Alexis Trusz, from Brisbane, suffered from intense seizures for two weeks before she went into cardiac arrest on May 20.
Her stepfather, Zane Sherwood, performed CPR on her until paramedics arrived and took her to Queensland Children's Hospital.
Alexis Trusz (left, right) suffered a series of seizures over a two-week period before having a massive that lasted 18 minutes and going into cardiac arrest on May 20
Doctors diagnosed Alexis (pictured with her mother Casey) with DRESS syndrome - drug ash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms
Anti-seizure medication failed to stop her seizures and she was given Tegratol, also known as carbamazapine, and sent home.
Soon after, Alexis had a 40C temperature and a nasty rashes that last for nearly two weeks.
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'I took her to the doctor seven times in almost three weeks,' Alexis' mother Casey told Daily Mail Australia.
'They kept telling me it was a virus and to give her Panadol.'
The rashes began to blister and Alexis was struggling to breathe before she was placed in intensive care in hospital.
Her rashes began to blister and Alexis was struggling to breathe before she was placed in intensive care in hospital
Within an hour of being in intensive care Alexis' health rapidly declined - she had pneumonia, her lungs collapsed and her liver failed
She had a heart rate of 188 beats per minute - well above the average for a resting adult.
'She swelled really bad - her legs had the effects of third-degree burns,' Mrs Sherwood said.
'There was no size difference between the top of her legs and feet.'
Within an hour of being in intensive care Alexis' health rapidly declined - she had pneumonia, her lungs collapsed and her liver failed.
Doctors then diagnosed Alexis with DRESS syndrome - drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms
Mrs Sherwood said she has spent nearly a month in hospital with her daughter.
'Every time I go and make a cup of tea - her fever made her heavy in my arms and lose her bladder down my legs. Every time I go and leave her I think of that and I get really anxious,' she said.
'When they told me at 2am they were going to incubate her and I had to leave the room I didn't know what I was going to come back to.
'I didn't know if I was going to come back to anything.'
Alexis has now been moved wards and doctors are unsure how long it will take for her to recover.
Doctors are baffled as to what caused Alexis' seizures, and they believe she is allergic to carbamazapine
She will be monitored by doctors for at least a year, as they believe her symptoms are 'likely to reoccur'.
Doctors are baffled as to what caused Alexis' seizures, and they believe she is allergic to carbamazapine.
Mrs Sherwood issued a grim warning to parents to trust their gut when it came to their child's health.
'Be very aware of the drugs your kids are being given,' she warned.
'If you don't feel like the doctors are listening to you keep going back. I lost a lot of confidence in doctors when I kept bringing her back and they kept sending her home.'
A Go Fund Me fundraising page has been started to help pay for Alexis' hospital stay.
Mrs Sherwood issued a grim warning to parents to trust their gut when it came to their child's health
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