Soaking romper suits and sodden cot sheets created a watery mystery for Perth mum Barbara Christie – until she discovered the peculiar leak was coming from her baby daughter’s hands and feet.
The sweat dripping from Katherine – then eight months old – was enough to make puddles under her highchair. And her tiny hands were so slippery, she could barely hold her plastic toys.
Then came saturated shoes and wet footprints trailing the barefoot tot about the house. Her bewildered mum – who had been repeatedly told by doctors not to worry – worried.
“They said it would probably go away,” says Barbara, now 45, from the home in Willetton, near Perth, she shares with husband Russell, 45, and their other daughters Jessica, 15, and Lauren, 10.
The older Katherine (now 13) got, the more severe her sweating became, until she was diagnosed with a rare condition, hyperhidrosis, which involves excessive sweating and is crippling to self-esteem. It can occur in the hands, armpits, feet, face or head and happens when the sweat glands are overstimulated.
By the time she was 12, the pretty Perth student had survived schoolyard jibes and muddled through hundreds of primary school humiliations. “The constant sweating was awful,” cringes Katherine. “I could hardly hold my flute any more. And my schoolwork was always smudged.”
“We’d tried all the known treatments and nothing worked,” explains Barbara. “Finally she came to me crying, ‘I can’t live like this any more!'”
Botox brought Katherine the relief she needed – and she became the youngest hyperhidrosis sufferer in the country to reap the benefits of the treatment.
It took 100 injections – 25 in each hand and each foot – to temporarily turn off the tap. Injected into the affected areas, Botox works by paralysing the nerves that stimulate the sweat glands.
But it’s a costly treatment – between $1000 to $1400 for Katherine’s hands alone – and is often painful. The price depends on the severity of the condition, as it relates to dosage and varies from patient to patient. It also provides only a temporary cure.
The procedure must be repeated at least twice a year to keep the determined Year 9 student symptom-free. “But it’s worth it!” beams Katherine.
The man behind the amazing turnaround is Perth cosmetic physician Dr Michael Molton, who says Katherine’s case of hyperhidrosis was the worst he’d ever seen.
“The impact on her life was very severe and I considered Katherine a genuine case,” he says.
The risks, including numbness or weakening of the treated muscles, didn’t deter the teen. Barbara says, “Katherine’s condition had attacked her self-esteem and my clever girl stopped following her dreams. Some things are just more important than money.
“I have to give my special thanks to Dr Molton from the Restoration Clinic of WA, who has helped with sponsorship for Katherine’s treatment. It’s changed all our lives for the better.”
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