But Thi is a fighter. Despite his failing eyesight, he entered Da Nang University of Technology and got a part time job to pay for his schooling. His eyesight continued to worsen and he received four surgeries on his eyes in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The surgeries cost so much his family couldn’t afford to even stay with Thi at the hospital. And as much as he tried to study, with 1/10 vision and recovering from surgery to improve his eyesight, he simply couldn’t keep up. He had to repeat a year of school. Doctors told Thi he would likely go blind.

There is one more hope – a surgery at Da Nang hospital in Singapore. The cost translates to about US $24,000. And that is simply out of Thi’s reach. Yet, Thi is determined to overcome his condition and graduate from Da Nang University and, with luck, have his eyesight restored.

Thi’s story is told in the Thanhniem News, one of the most widely circulated daily newspapers in Vietnam with a readership of more than 2 million per week. The newspaper raises money from readers to support a social service campaign to those in need.

SOURCE: Stevens Johnson Syndrome › SJS damaged Vietnamese man’s eyes, but he hopes to see again

TEN is the most severe form of Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), a life-threatening hypersensitivity disorder that presents with a rash on the skin that then blisters over, causing the skin to fall off in sheets. SJS/TEN also affects the mucus membranes causing blisters in the mouth and on the eyes. The fatality rate of those with TEN approaches 40 percent.

Though she miraculously recovered, Judy was told that by doctors she would likely have lingering eye problems from the severe scaring. She learned to live with the minimal eye pain, but as each of her three children were born, her immune system seemed to go into overdrive, according to doctors, attacking the cells in her eyes and deteriorating her vision. According to her story in Frederick News Post, as the years progressed, Judy’s eyesight became worse and worse until she could no longer see the faces of her children.

Doctor’s treated Judy’s chronically dry, burning and painful eyes with steroids, but she was still unable to see very well and had become unable to tolerate light or wind. Judy sought the help of specialists, tried immunosuppressant drugs and even chemotherapy, but nothing seemed to help. Doctors advised she learn Braille and get a seeing eye dog, as it was likely her vision would only get worse.

And then Judy met with specialists at the Cincinnati Eye Institute and underwent a stem-cell transplant. It restored her vision only minimally, but doctors and Judy didn’t give up hope. Several surgeries to repair a ruptured cornea and remove cataracts finally resulted in restored vision in one eye. For the first time ever, she was able to see your youngest daughter’s face.

While more surgeries are anticipated on her other eye, and there are no guarantees her vision won’t deteriorate again, Judy says she is thankful for the vision she does have and vows to maintain a positive outlook on the future.

SOURCE: Stevens Johnson Syndrome › Woman’s sight restored after TEN

Rachel was looking for others like her – people who had taken common medication, like ibuprofen from the super market, and had a severe adverse reaction called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) or its most severe form toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN).

She shared her struggle in the videos and in an interview with me – how her skin blistered and peeled off in sheets, how sores blossomed on and in her mouth and her eyes became bloodshot. “Dracula eyes,” she called it. It was her gynecologist – who also serves as her primary care physician – who diagnosed her with SJS. He sent her immediately to the emergency room.

“They (emergency room staff) kept asking me, ‘What did you take? What did you take?’ and I kept saying, ‘nothing,’” she says, because the last medication she had taken – the ibuprofen for a headache – was two weeks earlier.

The next few days were a blur. Rachel was admitted to the hospital on a Friday, and by Sunday doctors were putting her into a drug-induced coma to shield her from the pain and heal her battered body. Ninety-seven percent of her skin had peeled away. She stayed in the coma for six weeks. What she remembers of that time are vivid dreams and nightmares. Rachel’s recovery was slow and arduous. The videos, it seems, were a way for her to cope, to fully understand the battle she had fought. Some don’t win that battle. Knowing that, she says, both frightens and humbles her.

Nearly five months after she fell ill, Rachel’s life is beginning to return to normal. She celebrated Christmas with her family. “I almost wasn’t here on Christmas,” she says. Last week she returned to her job full time. She is no longer in rehab. (She stopped a week and a half early, she says, because insurance stopped paying.) “My wounds have healed,” she says, though the condition has caused macular degeneration. “I may lose my eyesight.” She’ll have to follow a rigorous eye hydration regime to keep her eyes as healthy as possible.

Most importantly, as she heals, Rachel is trying not to clutter her mind with negative thoughts – like, what if the condition returns. “I hear this is normal – for me to feel this way,” she says.

Rachel’s desire is to develop a community on YouTube for people affected by SJS and TEN. If you or a member of your family has been touched by SJS or TEN, Rachel encourages you to contact her through her YouTube channel.

SOURCE: Stevens Johnson Syndrome › Life slowly returns to normal for SJS survivor, SpunkyRachel