In the din surrounding Jett Travolta's sad, mysterious death, one term sticks out amid the other buzzwords (seizure, Scientology, etc.), probably for its famous eastern sound: Kawasaki syndrome. Though hardly considered newsworthy before, since the 16-year-old Travolta's passing last Friday, information about the rare inflammatory illness has been popping up frequently in media outlets of every stripe.
We wanted to know more, so we went to the only type of Kawasaki expert we hadn't already seen on the news a dozen times: a parent of a child with Kawasaki syndrome, who spoke to us anonymously about the disease.
JOSSIP: When did you first know your son had Kawasaki disease?
Parent: The main symptom of Kawasaki is inflammation, which makes the child's eyes bloodshot and their tongue and mouth very red and swollen. [My son] had this inflammation, but the doctors initially misdiagnosed him with something completely different—inflammation is a symptom of a lot of things. The moment it became unquestionable was when his fingertips started peeling. When we went in for a checkup a few days after his erroneous diagnosis, the skin was peeling from his fingertips and we were sent to the ER, where he was immediately recognized as having Kawasaki.
Is your child free of the illness?
Yes and no. After his treatment, [my son's] symptoms went away and he was back to normal. However, during the course of the disease he suffered an inflamed coronary artery, and that has to be monitored from time to time for the rest of his life.
Was the treatment invasive or difficult?
No. They just put him on some meds and gave him a few high doses of aspirin—nothing awful.
As far as you know, does Kawasaki cause seizures?
The doctors never warned me or my wife about seizures. I suppose that doesn't mean it's impossible, but I imagine they'd have mentioned something if it were a concern.
How is your son otherwise?
He's fine. He's developing normally for a five-year-old and healthy in every other imaginable way.
So, there's no mental abnormality due to Kawasaki?
Not at all.
Perhaps you've heard all this stuff before; regardless, let us put it into context: While Kawasaki disease can have lingering effects, it makes no sense for any news source to be name-checking it while discussing Jett Travolta's death. Doing so causes unnecessary panic by falsely leading people to fear an illness that's often harmless and almost always treatable. Unfortunately, it's likely that the media has latched onto Kawasaki syndrome because the Travoltas often made a point of telling everyone Jett had it, seemingly using it to explain the boy's strange behavior in public.
This is just more evidence to add to the growing public opinion that Jett Travolta had epilepsy, a seizure disorder associated with autism. It's thought that John Travolta's faith in Scientology, a religion notoriously skeptical of mental health issues and medication, prevented him from admitting that Kawasaki disease wasn't the root cause of his son's major problems.
Below, recent video of John Travolta leading a seemingly dazed 16-year-old Jett by the hand in Paris.
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OK… I thought he may have autism because of a plethora of reasons (the clearly misled diagnosis, Scientology's denial of mental illness, rumours from John's neighbors blah blah blah) but there are a few things I feel like an ass talking about that make me go "hhmmmmmmm." So… I volunteered with kids with autism (but only briefly0. You start to notice a distinct difference in their faces and the way they move. I even recognize the way he is scratching his head.
If what I said now is offensive, please scold me.
Hold on. I know autistic people look like any other people. I meant their general cadence and their facial expressions. Doh. Fuck.
Hold up. The Kawasaki syndrome business is old news, and the press is the one who latched onto the Kawasaki disease as a possible explanation for his death. The Travoltas never came out and said that's what he died from. The Travoltas acknowledged that Jett had a lifelong seizure disorder, for which he was treated until recently, and those seizure disorders can cause brain damage which would account for his odd behaviors. Did he have autism too? Who knows? But not all seizure disorders are caused by autism, and not all kids with autism have seizure disorders.
I find it extremely inappropriate that Jossip interviews a mother with a child w/the disease and then gives a symptons diagnosis WITH AUTHORITY. I think John Travolta is a gay scientologist who had an autistic son in which their religion prevented the family from acknowledging the sickness. That seems to be the driving interest behind the son's death. Fine. That's gossip. But you're doctors. Keep your judgey judgements about "panic by falsely leading people to fear an illness that's often harmless and almost always treatable." to yourself. You don't have all the facts.
well, you're not doctors. You may moonlight as doctos in your second life…
I think it's pretty obvious the kid's light bulb wasn't screwed all the way in. Judging by the video, the kid was about as aware as Paris Hilton at a bible reading. Why did they cremate Junior so fast? They shoved him in the oven faster than a hassidic Jew at Auschwitz. Oy Vay!
I wonder, if they were Jehovah's Witnesses (regarding a transfusion), would people be so quick to tear them apart?
Also, it's one thing to say you don't think it could be Kawasaki. It's another thing entirely to accuse grieving parents of causing the death of their son, without having all the facts.
Blah.
Kawasaki is caused by eating too much raw sushi while cleaning your carpets.
You should never eat raw sushi while cleaning your carpets. It is okay to eat raw sushi before or after cleaning your carpets just not at the same time.
As the parent of a child with a debilatating mental illness, I know what its like to have every yahoo in the universe give you their 2 cents on what is *really* wrong with your child and how to fix it. "Just love 'em," or "Vitamins!" or "You're over medicating!" Blah blah blah. Tho' I obviously take a different stance on psychiatry and brain disorders than Scientologists and am obviously curious about the Travolta's situation, I just can't judge them. There are always too many variables we don't know. And as for cremating their son, yeah, at first I thought they might be hiding something, but sheesh, I might have done the same if I thought paps and tabloids would dig him up just for the story!
Janice-
Jehovah's Witnesses don't have it easier or anything. Judges seize the children of JWs because denying minors transfusions is "medical neglect." (Of course, there are times when the child dies during the court process. Once this happened to a boy in 1991. Of course, the parents weren't charged with criminal neglect because it was a religious choice.) And the newborn twins case in Vancouver made people make fun of JWs left and right. It's tough on them, too.
I'm not saying the Travoltas are bad people or anything. It's just… questions need to be raised because youth need their life and liberty protected from certain twisted religious teachings. Whether Scientologists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses…. and the parents need to be able to take the critisism.
@I don't think Bert and Ernie are gay… just looking for the right women.:
The only thing I'm saying is that people aren't so quick to assume JWs are "evil". Misguided, maybe. Overzealous religious nutjobs, probably.
But people tend to blame the religion with JWs, rather than the parents. Scientology is a lot more vilified. When JWs deny a transfusion, I find people are at least somewhat compassionate about the conflict they face. Less so, with Scientologists.
Also, with a transfusion, at least there's PROOF the child had a medical condition. This is all speculation, but people are pretty quick to assume it's likely fact, which I think is kind of malicious.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Scientology. I think it's crap. But I also think there's kind of a double standard, and I'm surprised that the mass media would jump on grieving parents like this.
The book describes the abominable oppression and persecution in the occupied Palestinian territories, with a rigid system of required passes and strict segregation between Palestine's citizens and Jewish settlers in the West Bank. An enormous imprisonment wall is now under construction, snaking through what is left of Palestine, to encompass more and more land for Israeli settlers. In many ways, this is more oppressive than what black people lived under in South Africa during apartheid. I have made it clear that the motivation is not racism but the desire of a minority of Israelis to confiscate and colonise choice sites in Palestine, and then to forcefully suppress any objections from the displaced citizens. Obviously, I condemn acts of terrorism or violence against innocent civilians, and I present information about the casualties on both sides.
Well, we can only presume that JWs aren't treated as poorly. How did you measure that? This is only anecdotal but I remember two of my teachers making fun of JW parents and my class roaring with laughter. JWs get called evil a lot, too. As much? Who know? I do agree that it's malicious to call parents "evil" but I think it's fair to call them out on an irrational choice that puts a minor's life at risk.
It's a fact that Jett wasn't "different" because of Kawasaki syndrome (no medical preoffesional out there would protest this) and it's a fact that they took him off the seizure medication (because of harmful side-effects) and didn't bother try another. Although it's not a certainty, it's probable Jett suffered from autism. And I think it's fair to criticize John and his wife's choices. I don't think it's fair to call them criminals, though. (I mean, even if it was proven that Jett died because of Scientology, our judicial system wouldn't prosecute them because it was a religious issue. There isn't even adequate evidence and people are calling them murderers. Yeesh.)
OK, ignore No. 12. Sorry. That was my third strike, right?