Gianotti Crosti Syndrome

Hello everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for praying for me this past week. I am doing okay, but I am so sick of people taking samples of my bodily fluids. It has become annoying! On Wednesday I had a biopsy where they took a piece of skin from my thigh, which was the size of a pencil eraser. Then, on Friday some nurses shoved some Q-tip type things up my nostrils. That was not pleasant at all! Today, I had a really nice nurse take a bunch of blood samples from my right arm (hence why my rash is MUCH darker today on my right arm than any other part of my body). All these new doctors and nurses are very nice. I am so glad that Dr. Pedro referred us to them, because they were able to get to the bottom of what happened to me.

So...they have figured out that the rash is from Gianotti Crosti Syndrome. It is extremely rare. Dr. Pedro has never seen this before in any children and the new Pediatrician has only seen this once ever before...and she has been practicing medicine for quite a while now. I am glad that she is familiar with this because she knows about all the things to keep an eye out for. For example, my liver has become enlarged, but this is a common response to having the syndrome. Gianotti Crosti is a sort of autoimmune response that happens in children 3 months old to 15 years of age. It is so rare and is not contagious. This can come about for many reasons. We are not sure what set it off within me yet, that is what all the blood work and snot was for. We will know next week. Some of the things that can allow this to happen is immunization shots, a common virus (like a cold or flu) that I might have been exposed to prior to the rash appearing, or bacteria. If this was caused from a virus (like the cold or flu), and another child was exposed to this same virus that doesn't mean that my friend will come down with Gianotti Crosti Syndrome. That is just not how these autoimmune things work. The only way they would get this Syndrome is if their immune system response is like mine. So, I hope my friends are not worried that they will become speckled like me because they won't be. Also, I can't be around any of my friends right now, because my immune system is compromised. I go back to the doctor on Friday to get my stitches out and for them to check my liver again. The rash that is on my skin can last for up to 4 months. So don't be alarmed if you seem and I am still speckled. Hopefully I can return to school soon. I miss my friends and my teachers Miss Ashley and Miss Heather.