Sushma's parents said that the teenager never used to miss a day at school even when she was sick and could manage to make it to the classes until she turned 14.Overcoming a rare life-threatening auto-immune disease, a teenager from Bengaluru managed to score 76 per cent marks in the recently held Karnataka Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams.
For the past two years, Sushma D, now 16, has been suffering from Juvenile dermatomyositis — a rare auto-immune disorder by which the immune system attacks blood vessels throughout the body causing muscle inflammation.
According to doctors at Aster CMI Hospital, the disease had severely affected her breathing muscles (muscles of the chest) and kidneys which led to an urgent need of dialysis, blood transfusions, and ICU supports along with steroid medications for survival.
“Sushma D had severe muscle weakness and was unable to walk and breathe. By the time she was brought to our hospital, she had already developed respiratory failure and was put on ventilator support. Due to prolonged ventilation for more than a month, we had to conduct a tracheostomy enabling her to breathe. Later her kidneys had also shut down and she was put on dialysis support for a few days,” Dr Sagar Bhattad, Consultant, Pediatric Immunology and Rheumatology, Aster CMI Hospital said.
Dr Bhattad added that her condition was turning critical every day and that the doctors saw only slight chances of survival then. “Though this condition is more common in adults, we are now witnessing this in children as well,” he said.
This is when the team of expert doctors at the hospital began a collaboration with a crowd-funding platform to help Sushma D survive and appear for the SSLC exams, considering the family’s strained financial background as well.
“With the support from the funds raised through the crowd-funding platform, the family was able to continue her treatment and by the third week, Sushma D started showing recovery and by six months she started doing all her activities on her own,” Dr Bhattad added in delight.
“However, she still faced a challenge to hold a pencil or a pen for several months due to the severe muscle weakness in her hands. With the help of aggressive physiotherapy, she regained regular movements of the hand and could finally start writing,” he explained the positive development in treatment.
Meanwhile, an aspiring lecturer, Sushma’s parents said that the teenager never used to miss a day at school even when she was sick and could manage to make it to the classes until she turned 14.
“My daughter suddenly complained of high fever and swelling on her face. She had danced and sung during an occasion and initially we had thought the activities might have left her strained. However, her hands and legs remained swollen, and rashes were beginning to show up two days later. She had also fallen unconscious on the way to the hospital,” Sujatha, Sushma D’s mother recalled.
She added that her daughter was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) immediately after the doctors diagnosed that the condition was affecting major parts of her body.
Meanwhile, Srinivas, Sushma D’s father who works as a priest in a temple said, “She used to read while I used to hold her favourite books during her treatment at the hospital. Her books were the only source of distraction for her that made her forget her pain. Even during times of extreme pain and agony, she did not let go of her ambition and her willingness to learn.”
The sole breadwinner of the family, Srinivas added that a sum of Rs 7 lakh was collected via crowd-funding which enabled treatment for his daughter.
On cloud nine after knowing about her achievement in the Class 10 exams, Sushma D thanked her parents and the doctors of the hospital for working together in helping her pull off her dreams. “They have ensured that I will be able to turn my dream into a reality one day. It is due to the constant support from my parents and doctors that motivated me to prepare for my exams and resume normal life,” she said.