His dry scaly skin would crack painfully and his inability to sweat made it impossible for his body to regulate temperature.
To reduce his torment, parents - Shai-Anne Sifford and Zach Padelford, both 21, would slather him with coconut oil and shea butter and give him two oatmeal baths a day to soothe him also would have to exfoliate his scales every three days.
After reading an article on the impact cannabis oils can have on chronic skin conditions, Shai-Anne, a medicinal marijuana user, decided to try the oil on Carter in August 2017.
The use of cannabis oil is legal in Las Vegas, Nevada where they live, but only to people over 21 years.
Shai-Anne, a full-time mom, said:
"When he was born his skin was as red as a tomato and so tight to touch. It looked painful. He couldn’t even close his eyes."
"He was diagnosed with lamellar ichthyosis three days later."
"Basically it means that his skin builds up into scales like a fish and it limits his ability to move."
"It stops his ability to sweat which means he’s intolerant to temperature."
"Babies with this are at a greater risk of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SIDS) because if they get too warm they can suffocate."
"He couldn’t even close his eyes."
"I was using a no-touch thermometer about eight times a day to keep his temperature stable."
"Doctors didn’t offer us much advice or help. I feel they neglected us because they didn’t know what was going on."
"They told me to keep him covered and to avoid baths and to come back in two years when he was two."
"It was traumatising. There were no road signs and so few treatment options."
"For a while we used to do two oatmeal baths a day with baking powder which helped disinfect his skin and exfoliating him every few days."
"I used to spend my days just lathering him with coconut oils and homemade organic creams.'
"I was at my wit's end with it when I read about cannabis oil and the benefits it can have for people with skin conditions like Carter's."
"I’m a medicinal user so I decided to try it."She added:
"I began to put it into the homemade creams with shea butter and essential oils that I was already making."
"Seven months later he doesn’t even look like the same child. He used to have no hair because of his scales but now his hair is starting to grow."
"He used to have open sores that would be bleeding but his skin has almost completely cleared up."
"His progress has been insane."
"His eyes could never close completely but since I've been using the oil on his eyelids they are almost closing all the way."
The mum said she fears Carter’s condition would relapse if she to stops using the cannabis oil and says she feels let down by the medical system.
"The standard way to treat this is a drug called amlactin, which is a lactic acid that burns away the top layers of skin,"
"Other patients I've met with this disorder say it feels like they've been put in an oven when they apply it."
"I've tried it for Carter but it just wasn't working. Other than that we've had no support from doctors in terms of a treatment for this."
"I feel without the cannabis oil, he wouldn't have a life."She said other sufferers of the lamellar ichthyosis that she has met have been blown away by her son's pictures and progress and are thinking about trying it themselves to see if it works for them.
"I just want him to have a normal life, and this is the only treatment that has offered him the chance at that," she ended.See video below
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