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Good news for Canadian resident Lisa, the little sister of Dundas Star News managing editor Mark Cripps. The woman was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) two-plus weeks ago after taking antibiotics that had been prescribed to her following minor surgery. She suffered a rare but life-threatening severe adverse reaction to the antibiotics, SJS, which resulted in rashes all over her body that blistered over and caused her skin to peel off in sheets. After a two-week stay in the hospital, where she was treated as if she had suffered serious burns, the woman was able to go home.

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Mark Cripps’ sister Lisa has fought for much in her life. She is now in for what may be the fight of her life.

As a young child, Lisa contracted pneumonia and spent a month in the hospital. She grew up with an abusive stepmother and struggled through a difficult marriage. Despite the obstacles, she managed to raise two children and find a career in real estate. But last week, the young woman with an infectious personality, hit another road block. She was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), an adverse reaction to antibiotics prescribed to her following minor surgery.

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If you happen to fall ill during this season from colds and flu, take note of the prescriptions your doctor hands you, especially those for common antibiotics. Two years ago, my doctor prescribed Ketek for a lingering sinus infection that other meds just weren’t knocking out. He warned me to only take it if I really felt I needed it. He said it was a very strong antibiotic.

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Natural health products may be all the rage in alternative medicine, however many herbal remedies are linked to serious adverse reactions and potential health risks, according to the January 2009 edition of Health Canada’s Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter.

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“Mommy, take my eyes out,” Ian Milne cried when he was just 3 years old. The Colwood, British Columbia boy had suffered an adverse reaction known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), in which the skin blisters and peels away, according to The Windsor Star. Mucus membranes also can be affected, causing painful and debilitating blisters in the body’s orifices such as the mouth and eyes. In more severe cases, dehydration, infection and even death can occur. Many times, long-lasting vision problems, including blindness, can result from lesions in the eyes.

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Last month when Kim Oake was bitten by a feral cat while working as an animal control officer in Canada, she was given Clavulin, a common antibiotic to ward off infection. The antibiotic nearly killed her. Her family wants to know why people aren’t told about the serious, life-threatening reaction that could occur by taking common drugs, according to CBC News.

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Kim Oake, the Canadian single mother of two who became ill with toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) last month, was admitted to the hospital and put into a drug-induced coma to help battle infection, is going home, according to her sister Lisa, who keeps regular updates on the Kim Oake Support Group Facebook page.

“It is absolutely amazing that within three weeks of being admitted to ICU, she will be able to walk out of the hospital (with the help of a walker),” Lisa writes in a Dec. 17 update. Doctors say that Kim’s fast recovery has been staggering. One doctor told the family that when he first saw Kim when she admitted to the hospital weeks ago, he believed her chances of survival were only 30 percent.

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“Each day is a victory,” writes Lisa Oakes, sister of Kim Oakes, the Canadian animal control officer who took antibiotics for a cat bite last month and ended up in the hospital struggling for life. Kim had suffered a rare adverse reaction to a commonly prescribed antibiotic which resulted in toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), a severe form of Steven Johnson Syndrome (SJS). Since we first told you about Kim, the family has formed the Kim Oake Support Group on Facebook to provide updates on Kim’s struggle and to educate others about the debilitating condition usually caused by over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, and antibiotics.

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Canadian Kim Oake was bitten by a feral cat while working at her job as an animal control officer for the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The bite began to swell and become infected, so she received a tetanus shot and a round of antibiotics.

Within days, everything changed. Kim started having severe headaches and then target-like blotches sprang up on her skin.

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About 300 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) each year. It is a serious and life-threatening disorder often caused by an allergic reaction to prescription and over-the-counter medications, and it can affect people of all ages, including children. Those afflicted by the disease experience severe and often painful inflammation of the mucus membranes and, if left untreated, it can result in blindness, serious health problems, and death.

Julie McCawley became a victim of SJS when she was just 11 months old. Her mother, Jean McCawley, established the SJS Foundation in 1995 to provide the public and medical communities with information about the adverse allergic drug reactions and to serve as a support outlet for victims of SJS and their families. Today, Julie is 14 years old and as a result of SJS has lost vision in one of her eyes.

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