A Mother's Instinct Saves Her Baby from a Misdiagnosis

When Tiffany Stavely rushed her five-month-old daughter to the family doctor after noticing suspicious spots on her face, she didn’t anticipate facing a life-threatening scenario for her little one.

The doctor diagnosed young Ava with chickenpox and prescribed a lotion called 'calamine' for treatment. But Tiffany didn’t accept this diagnosis, feeling something entirely different was going on.

"It was an unusual rash, covered in acidic pus-filled blisters," explained the 28-year-old mother from London in a later interview. "I felt terrible at that moment. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it wasn’t chickenpox because my son had it when he was younger, and it looked nothing like this."

A Remarkable Turnaround: Released Home After Five Days of Antibiotics

Tiffany was uncertain about her next steps, but "my motherly instinct immediately told me the doctor was wrong," she recalls.

The next day, Ava's condition rapidly worsened. Tiffany wasted no time and took her baby straight to the hospital. There, following a series of tests, doctors discovered Ava was suffering from a rare syndrome known as 'Kawasaki', which is challenging to diagnose in infants.

As Ava's condition deteriorated, doctors performed a lumbar puncture, revealing she also had meningitis. The early diagnosis was crucial in saving the baby's life, allowing doctors to treat her non-stop with antibiotics. Amazingly, her condition improved within five days, and she was discharged home.

Against all odds and in a remarkable turn of events, young Ava successfully battled both illnesses before even reaching her first birthday and made a complete recovery.