Earlier this month, Kyle Viljoen announced that he was being monitored in the hospital after suffering highly unusual symptoms. At first, doctors misdiagnosed him with hand-foot-and-mouth disease. After his situation worsened, the Below Deck Mediterranean star was rushed to the hospital. Input from specialists settled on the diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
Currently, the reality TV star is still recovering in the hospital. Issues of outpatient care and long-term health management remain.
Kyle is “stuck with it” for the foreseeable future
Kyle gave an exclusive update to The Messenger from his hospital bed. Thankfully, his fiancé, Dr. Zachary Riley, works at NYU Langone Health, and is on hand to nurse help his love back to health.
Needless to say, it’s been a rough journey. Kyle spoke of dealing with the “mental state and the emotional state of what just happened.”
But Kyle is on the road to recovery with a solid medical team monitoring his progress. He said, “Every two hours on the clock, every single day care, everyone comes in. Every single two hours. Every night and day. Dermatology, ophthalmology, urology, internal medicine, pharmaceutical and psych.”
What is Kyle dealing with?
The National Library of Medicine defines the illness as a “rare, acute, serious, and potentially fatal skin reaction in which there are sheet-like skin and mucosal loss accompanied by systemic symptoms. Medications are causative in over 80% of cases.”
Kyle was one of the 80%. He explained, “Two weeks after starting that and I continued to take this medication whilst I was sick because when it comes to anything [like] anxiety or depression or mood instability, you don’t stop taking the medication. So I was obviously diagnosed with anxiety and stuff. I had started the medication two weeks [prior] and [that] led to SJS.”
And now that the syndrome was activated, Kyle will have to manage it long-term. He told The Messenger that, “it occurs from that medication, then you are stuck with it for the rest of your life. I’m working through it. I’m coming across easy and stuff, but it’s a lot of internal processes [that I] still need to go through.”
“It has attacked my immune system, which has made me weaker than I’ve ever could have ever imagined,” the Below Deck Med star continued. “So I will have to monitor every single thing I do. I’ve never started off with any allergies for medication or food or anything related to that, and after this [I] officially have been now allergic to [a mood stabilizer]. I need people to understand and know how dangerous it is. These doctors were saying not enough doctors are informing the patients of the dangers of this medication.”
How will Kyle’s life change?
The interviewer representing The Messenger asked, “What adjustments and changes to your lifestyle do you have to do moving forward in your daily routines?”
He explained, “My immune system has been compromised. So I really pick up illnesses and viruses faster than the average person, if that makes sense. So I’m susceptible. I have to take extreme precaution as if I were living during COVID era. And this is going to be months on end. There’s going to be adjustment to [my] mental state, there’s going to have to be adjustment to intake of qualities or foods and drinks and stuff that I take as it has affected my entire internal organs as well.”
The situation has been nothing short of “traumatic” for Kyle, who now has a life-long diagnosis to manage. Here’s to hoping the Below Deck Med favorite feels like his old self soon.
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TELL US – WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO NEWS OF KYLE’S LIFE-LONG DIAGNOSIS? HOW DO YOU THINK HE WILL MANAGE IT? WHAT WORDS OF SUPPORT WOULD YOU SHARE WITH KYLE?
