Newly Married Couple Expects to Bury Baby, Doctors Surprised by How She Survives Even Twenty Years Later
Rog and Tina Thomas met for the first time in Hong Kong, where they quickly fell in love and got married. It took them five months to decide that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other, even though they figured that they did not want to have children yet. It was then that social services introduced them to a little girl named Mui, and they immediately realized that they were in love with her.
They were warned that the little girl had a skin condition and that her health was quickly declining, but the new parents paid no heed to that. Mui had been abandoned by her own parents at birth, and physically looked very different from other children. No one knew what exactly her condition was, but that did not deter her parents either. When she was three years old, Rog and Tina adopted her. But life after the adoption was not a bed of roses – the new parents constantly had the threat of losing their new daughter over their heads. But Mui hung on, despite what the doctors said. Finally, in the year 2002, she was diagnosed with the disorder harlequin ichthyosis. This was a rare genetic condition that caused her body to shed the same amount of skin in one night, that other people shed over the course of two weeks. This left her skin raw, colored bright red and made her more susceptible to infections of the skin.
But just because she was surviving did not mean that life was easy. During middle school, she was constantly bullied by her classmates because of her appearance, and she even found herself contemplating suicide multiple times. They insulted her, shouted art her and made her feel unhappy about herself. At the same time, she attempted to block the pain and started to avoid treatments that could help her. What Mui wanted more than anything else in the world was the chance to live a normal life – a life that everyone around her seemed to live.
Now, at the age of 23, she is the fourth oldest person in the world to survive with her skin condition. Surpassing all expectations placed on her by her doctors, she truly paved the way for a future where she proved that she was a fighter.
Strange But Rare Skin Conditions You’ve Never Heard Of
Our skin is our largest organ and it is vital to keep your skin healthy. Here are some very strange and rare skin conditions via CBS News:
Argyria
If you think only the cast of the Blue Man Group has blue skin, think again. Folks who have ingested or had prolonged contact with silver salts may end up with a condition called argyria, in which the skin is stained a grey-blue shade. What causes people to come into contact with silver particles? Working with silver, such as in mining, refining and manufacturing. Colloidal silver has also been used to treat infections in alternative medicine, and silver dietary supplements have been marketed to treat cancer, though never proven safe or effective.
According to Medscape, people with this condition can treat blue areas with a depigmenting medication, although it’s not very effective. Sunscreens and opaque cosmetics may help skin from darkening even more.
Morgellons disease
What is Morgellons disease? It’s still a mystery. The condition was established after dozens of anecdotal reports of people experiencing symptoms that include crawling, biting and stinging sensations on the skin; skin lesions, rashes or sores; and some mental confusion. A 2012 study yielded no answers explaining the disease, which many doctors believe exists only in patients’ minds.
The CDC recommends seeing a doctor who can treat co-existing medical, including psychiatric conditions, that might be contributing to their symptoms.
Vitiligo
Vitiligo is a skin condition in which there is a loss of brown pigment from certain areas of skin, leading to irregular white patches. It affects about one per 100 people in the U.S. Vitiligo occurs when immune cells destroy the cells that produce brown pigment, and is thought to be an autoimmune problem.
Vitiligo is tough to treat. But cosmetics can help, and there are a number of treatments that can minimize, camouflage, or even eliminate the white patches. These include steroid creams and a treatment known as photochemotherapy, in which drugs and ultraviolet light are used in combination. For people with vitiligo on more than 50 percent of their bodies, there’s depigmentation, in which patients apply a drug that fades the skin to match the depigmented areas.
Erythropoietic protoporphyria
Erythropoietic protoporphyria, known as EPP, is a disease characterized by extreme sensitivity to light. Patients with EPP feel a burning sensation in their skin, and experience redness and swelling. As a result, they typically have to avoid exposure to strong light and must wear appropriate protection when they’re in the sun.
Besides avoiding the sun, treatments for symptoms include pain medication, sedatives, beta-carotene supplements, fluids and glucose to boost carbohydrate levels.
Blau syndrome
Blau syndrome is a rare condition characterized by skin rash, arthritis and swelling in the eye. People with Blau syndrome tend to have fluid in their joints, and sometimes have permanent bending of the fingers and toes. It is an autosomal disease caused by genetic mutations.
Blau syndrome can’t be cured, but doctors will sometimes treat patients with immunosuppressant medications to reduce symptoms.
[Source/CBS News]
