(Daily mail): A mother-of-two was left battling for her life in the wake of building up a dangerous fleshing-eating infection from a cat scratch on her breast.
Theresa Ferris White, 48, created pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) from the scratch, which happened while she was working in a animal shelter.
The condition, which can be activated by insect bites and any skin harm, struck her right breast , where she was clawed.
Ms White, from Nova Scotia, Canada, who said PG made her skin ‘slide off’, needed to make them decay flesh replaced with that from a dead body. Doctors even cautioned her family she may not pull through.
She took a very long time off work in light of her condition and has been abandoned self-conscious as the condition still causes flare-ups of painful ulcers.
Speaking about her 10-year battle with PG for the first time, she said: ‘This is a very painful disease. It’s a rare condition and it’s hard to go through it by yourself.’
Ms White was working in an animal shelter 11 years ago when she and a colleague were trying to dry one of the cats with a towel.
Recalling the moment she was scratched, Ms White said: ‘He started going crazy, clawing my arms and chest, when he caught right breast.
‘The next day I noticed a lump on my right breast where the cat had clawed me, I kept an eye on it, as it was starting to get very painful.’
There she was diagnosed with PG, which is thought to be caused by an overactive immune system, according to the NHS.
# Fighting for her life
She said: ‘They decided to operate, which made the wound worse, and my skin and breast tissue began to slide off.
‘I spent a month in the hospital, having my daily dressing changes as I was loosing skin and doctors thought I might not pull through.
“It wasn’t until I was seen by more doctors and dermatologists that I was eventually told I had pyoderma gangrenosum.
‘My right breast was unrecognizable. I had lost all the skin and the top part of the tissue from my breast and it was extremely painful.’
# Skin from a deceased body
Ms White underwent a procedure to replace her lost skin with that from a deceased human body, meaning the body is less likely to reject it.
Speaking about the operation, she said: ‘In April of 2007 I needed to have an operation in order for my skin to grow back again.
‘The donated skin from a deceased person was traumatic to have to deal with and the surgery was very painful.
‘I have managed to keep the condition under control, treating small flare-ups quickly, but have been left with scarring on my breast.
‘I have a hard time with relationships as I am very self-conscious about my appearance now.’
Ms White was also diagnosed with PTSD and depression as a result of her battle with PG, which strikes one in 100,000 people, according to estimates.
# A supportive family
Praising her partner Blaine Cruickshank, 47, Ms White added: ‘He is very supportive of my PG symptoms, depression and PTSD.
‘With my second flare up on the right side of my stomach, he actually did all the dressing changes every day.
‘He is always telling me I’m beautiful just the way I am and he loves me for me. Always trying to build up my self-esteem.
Ms White also credited her daughter, Genieve, 31, who ‘has been there through it all, right from the start of this battle’.
And she explained her son, Thomas, 30, ‘has had a very hard time dealing with my diagnosis’ because he didn’t like to see her suffering.
# Raising awareness
Ms White, who claims she was lucky to find a dermatologist who specialises in the condition, is now desperately trying to raise awareness of PG.
She said: ‘I wish more doctors knew about this disease so people don’t have to suffer as much as I did.’
The post Mother-of-two was left fighting for her life after a cat scratch on her BREAST appeared first on Bawza NewsPaper.