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Our Kids - Meet Sydney
When Sydney spent the day at home with a headache, the last place she expected to end up was in a coma at SickKids. But that's exactly what happened in the spring of 2005.
Sydney, Reye's Syndrome
It's a Mother's Day Nancy will never forget. Only a few weeks earlier, her daughter, Sydney was at home sick with a headache. Nancy, had given her aspirin to help with her aches and pains, but suddenly, Sydney felt much worse.
Nancy rushed Sydney to her local hospital but they weren't able to diagnose her condition. She was transferred immediately to SickKids Critical Care Unit (CCU) where she was induced into a coma for 11 days and was put on life support because she couldn't breathe on her own.
Doctors diagnosed Sydney with Reye's Syndrome (pronounced Rye's), a disease caused by the ingestion of medicine that contains salicylate (such as Aspirin). It affects all organs of the body, but mainly the brain and liver. Reye's Syndrome occurs predominantly in children and teenagers after flu-like infection and affects approximately one in one million people. Doctors in the CCU kept close watch on Sydney to ensure that swelling in her brain was decreasing. Sydney's body was producing excessive quantities of ammonia; a normal level is 40 but Sydney's ammonia level was at a life-threatening 480.
Sydney came out of the coma on Mother's Day. Nurses rushed to the CCU Waiting Room to bring Nancy into the CCU because Sydney had a very special message for her mother. Somehow, after her 11-day ordeal, Sydney managed to whisper, "Hi mom. Happy Mother's Day!"
After coming out of the coma, Sydney needed to relearn all basic functions such as walking and talking because her body endured severe shock from the disease. She spent 40 days at SickKids where she worked with staff members from various departments, including respiratory therapists and physiotherapists, in order to regain her ability to live and move independently.
Sydney has resumed her life back at school with her friends and family. She has spoken at her local church about her time at SickKids, and she and her mom designed matching "Believe" tattoos to celebrate Sydney's recovery. Working with the Kids Believe in SickKids Program – an initiative developed to help children fundraise –Sydney is planning a fundraiser for SickKids with her mom.
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