SJS Robs Mississippi Woman of Her Sight, But She Bites Back

Jackson, MSAn allergic reaction to medication can often lead to Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS—a rare condition that is characterized by symptoms ranging from a skin rash, to the sloughing off of huge expanses of skin that are akin to 3rd degree burns. For some, it has meant months in hospital. Some have died. Others have gone blind from SJS.

Kay Thornton is one such person. Nine years ago, in 2000, the 51-year-old Thornton was blinded by Stevens Johnson Syndrome stemming from an allergic reaction to medication. Losing her sight was more than just embarrassing and inconvenient. It almost drove her to suicide. "It was very embarrassing and humiliating for my daughter to take care of me," Thornton told CNN on September 17th. "It wasn't supposed to be that way. I'm supposed to take care of her."

Thornton has nine grandchildren now. She has not seen seven of them thanks to Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

That all changed recently with groundbreaking surgery.

"They said we have three candidates for this surgery," Thornton told a reporter from WLBT 3 On Your Side television in Jackson, Mississippi. "We went back in I believe in December or January and that's when they told us they had picked me to be the candidate."

Unique Surgery Beat Back Her SJS Blindness

The unique surgery performed on Thornton is known as Modified Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (MOOKP) surgery, or 'Tooth-in-Eye' surgery. An 'eyetooth' (also known as a canine tooth, or cuspid) is removed from the patient and fitted with a prosthetic lens. The retrofitted tooth is then implanted in the eye.

Three weeks after the bandages came off, Kay now has 20/70 vision in her treated eye and she is now seeing, for the first time, seven of her nine grandchildren.

Her oldest grandchild, Kaila, was just five the last time her grandmother was able to see her. Kaila is now a teenager and as tall as her grandmother. "Do you understand you look nothing like you did?" Thornton says excitedly as the WLBT cameras roll. "Turn around (and) let me look at you."

A happy ending, this time. Tragically, many victims of SJS do not enjoy happy endings. Many—even children—have been permanently blinded, while others who suffer from the horrendous effects of Stevens Johnson Syndrome rash and the sloughing away of skin never completely recover. Many are scarred for life, and moany don't survive. For those with severe Stevens Johnson Syndrome skin disease or Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), death occurs in 15 to 20 percent of the cases.

There are 100,000 deaths from allergic reactions to prescription medications in the US each year.