Warning: This article contains graphic images which some readers may find distressing.
A woman suffered a nightmarish response to pain medication after giving birth to her third child five years ago.
Having come through an emergency C-section, Aleshia Rogers was three weeks into an ibuprofen-fuelled recovery when her face began to swell and a rash appeared all over her chest.
The Nebraskan mum was informed by doctors that it was either a case of scarlet fever or pink eye and was told to continue taking the painkiller.
Advert
Just hours later though, Aleshia's facial skin was ravaged by blisters, leaving her unrecognisable to her family.
Immediately rushing back to A&E, the child and education technician was then diagnosed with a rare condition known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) before being transferred to an intensive care unit.
SJS is reaction where the immune system sparks widespread inflammation in response to a medication.
The 27-year-old had to be put into a medically-induced coma to fight off sepsis and multi-organ failure, while the medics gave her a five-to-10 percent chance of survival.
Her loved ones were put through three weeks of agonising uncertainty before Aleshia finally awoke from her coma.
"We believe it was all triggered by taking ibuprofen. I took it twice a day for the C-section recovery pain then continued taking it to ease my pain and swelling [when I developed flu-like symptoms]," she recalled.
"Ibuprofen was my go-to med. I'd basically taken it my whole life since I was 14 to help with period pains.
"They don't know why I had this reaction to it. Doctors don't really have an explanation for it. They just said my body decided it didn't like it one day. It's very upsetting and confusing.
"There's no prevention and once it starts, there's nothing you can do to stop it. And there's definitely a chance I can get it again at any time."
Aleshia's early symptoms also included a burning sensation upon swallowing.
"Then my eyes started swelling," she revealed. "They were bloodshot and burning and I got a small rash on my chest so I went to the ER and they told me I had pink eye and sent me home.
"The next day, my whole face was swollen and both eyes were swollen shut. I went back to the ER and they told me I had scarlet fever and to go home."
Her SJS progressed into the most severe form, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, which is as deadly as it sounds.
"The doctors said the skin had died and detached. They called it sloughing. It fell off in sheets," Aleshia added.
"The doctors said 90 to 95 percent of the skin came off my body. Since your skin is your biggest organ, this caused me to get sepsis and multi-organ failure."
While deep in a coma, Aleshia underwent a full-body skin excision and grafting alongside an amniotic eye membrane transplant.
After waking up, she was discharged from the hospital a month later.
Aleshia, who is still recovering from long-term complications related to SJS, said: "I had absolutely no idea what had happened to me. I forgot that I had given birth. I lost a lot of memories.
"My family told me it really was touch or go as to whether I'd make it through. I've been told so many times that I'm a miracle.
"It's always a thought but I live my life like tomorrow isn't promised and try not to live in fear.
"I don't want people to be afraid of medicines, but I want people to be aware and mindful of what can happen."
Dan Seddon