Actress Sarah Chalke Opens Up About Son’s Illness

The ‘Scrubs’ star appears as a guest star in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ as a mother whose child has Kawasaki’s disease and opens up about her own experience of having a son with the same diseas

Canadian actress Sarah Chalke opened up about a recent role she had in the hit series Grey’s Anatomy. Chalke played the role of a mother named Polly who struggles to get the hospital to properly diagnose her child whose symptoms are getting progressively worse.

The episode, entitled “Can’t Fight This Feeling”, Clarke puts on the full range of maternal emotions as she pushes the hospital to run more and more tests until the cause of her son’s illness is properly diagnosed as Kawasaki disease.

That particular illness causes a person’s blood vessels to swell and if untreated lead to heart disease.

“It’s a very visual disease,” Chalke explained. “It’s a high fever, and then everything because of inflammation goes red. So it’s red, bloodshot eyes, red lips, red rash and red hands and feet, and then the last telltale sign is the skin on the fingers peels back. It was absolutely the hardest thing I’ve ever been through, and there’s nothing in the world like not knowing if your kid is going to be OK.”

“There is a treatment, but basically you only have a 10-day window to get it,” Chalke continued. “If you don’t get that, there’s so much inflammation in the body that the danger is that you can get aneurysms because there can be damage to the coronary arteries, and then the kid will have a heart attack.”

The particular danger of Kawasaki disease is that treatment must begin within ten days of developing otherwise it becomes life threatening. In the episode, Polly prevails, and treatment for her son begins on day 10.5.

Chalke said she was able to fully relate to the character Polly because her own child was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. She says she endured the same harrowing experience as the character Polly experienced. Chalke now devotes part of her time to helping raise awareness of this disease.

She also currently stars in the sitcom “How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)”.

Source material:

Sarah Chalke Talks about Her Son’s Illness
http://www.everydayfamily.com/blog/sarah-chalke-talks-about-her-sons-illness/

Sarah Chalke Opens Up About Son’s Battle With Kawasaki’s Disease
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00059052.html

Kawasaki disease
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_disease