
Isom has consulted several specialists, including a doctor in the Netherlands, but she still as no idea what is wrong with her.
“Black scabs were coming out of her skin,” said her mother, Kathy Gary.
“The nails would grow so long and come out and regrow themselves. They are hard to touch and stick you.”
Yes… you read right. Oddly enough fingernails have begun to grow from the hair follicles all over Isom’s body.
Details + more photos below (WARNING! Images are graphic and may be disturbing!)
Isom’s disease has affected not only her skin, but her bones and her vision. The once vibrant single mother is now unable to walk without a cane, and her mother has to help her out of bed every day.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, where Isom is being treated, told her family that she is the only person in the world with this unknown condition.
And now she has $500,000 in unpaid medical bills. Isom has state insurance, but it doesn’t cover medical care in Maryland. Her mother lost her job as a medical receptionist because she looks after her daughter at home, so savings have dried up.
Friends and family of the young woman have organized fundraisers, and her high school has dedicated a football game to her charity. Bank of America has even agreed to take donations at any of their branch offices.
Despite her debilitating illness, Isom told ABCNews.com, “I don’t know whether to smile or cry. I am very blessed.”
Shayna also has a blog called Pray for Shanyna where she shares her thoughts and fears surrounding her illness:
It has taken all of my hair out and has left my body with scabs all over it, plus I have lost about 200 pounds.
Two years ago, I was a healthy woman on my own … had big dreams and goals that I was following until one day my body completely shut down on me.
According to WLBT in Memphis, Isom was a junior studying criminal justice when the mystery illness first occurred in September 2009.
Her doctors suspected that steroids she’d been subscribed for a previous asthma attack had caused an allergic reaction of some sort. However, after returning home, Isom began itching.
Doctors prescribed Benadryl, but it got worse.
“It was uncontrollable and we didn’t know what it was,” said her mother.
Soon, her legs turned black. “It looked as if she had been in a house fire and gotten burned.”
Doctors thought she had eczema or a staph infection and prescribed drugs, but it got worse. Meanwhile, all tests came back negative.
“We could not figure out what was going on,” said her mother. “She was just breaking out everywhere. Her body was scabbed all over.”
Today Isom is slowly improving but she is on at least 25 medications (her insurance only pays for five of them). She is currently awaiting the results of genetic tests that may give doctors clues to what is wrong.
Life is short and there is never any guarantees that your health tomorrow will be the same as today but Shayna is surviving with the help of prayer and the love of her family and friends.
CLICK HERE to read more about her story.



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I’m going to pray hard for this sister!!!
How horrible and awful. This poor woman. They should check every part of her body from her genes to her chromosomes to her ovaries and uterus. This could all result from a genetic mutation or even from something as small as an ovarian cyst. She could even have an infection resulting from some biological weapon or from contaminated food. There has got to be an explanation. Is that her leg looking like a piece of driftwood? Terrible. God bless her.
This is so tragic!
Atlien please do a story on the women that invented the device for potential rape victims in Africa. Since there has been such an high occurrence of rapes in Africa a nurse invented a device that women inserts in themselves that have "Teeth" that embeds into the penis and they have to go to the hospital to get removed or die a slow death, which ever comes first. (I made of that last part up).
Oh my goodness. I will be praying for this beautiful young lady.
I have to read this when I’m home b/c I’m a nail tech and this OS disturbing
OMG, my heart broke reading this. The poor woman it’s heartbreaking I will do what i can to assist…
Let’s pray for a cure…So sad.
I’m praying for your blessings to come…..
Wow
crazy sad! I hope they find a cure for whatever this condition could be… prayers and positive health vibes for this beautiful young lady!
I will be donating something today. Every little bit helps. Praying for this woman as well as her family, children, and mother.
Prayer changes things and I will definately lift her up in prayer.
SAD
Thats so sad…i cant imagine whats shes going thru
Let’s all start a prayer chain for this young lady. Reach out to somebody you know and the person they know and lets petition for increased health and guidance.
So sad…always count your blessings because tomorrow is never promised
Sad….hope a cure is found fast.
This is so sad, and I hope they find some type of cure for this young lady. My prayers are with her, her mother, the family, friends that help, and the doctors. This is a medical mystery that needs God’s intervention on behalf of the doctors..
Praying for miracle with this one, where do we donate?
Oh Wow!! Praying that she may be healed in the name of Jesus!!
My heart goes out to her!
Very, very sad and disturbing. Please Lord, help this young lady to overcome this.
She needs prayer and money! I will be doing both for her. Those pictures just tiurned my stomach and i waiting on my food to get here.
*sighs* May God be with her and the Doctors. May The lord bless somebody with the knowledge of her condition and help her to get better and possibly others as well that might go through this or know somebody who might have to go through this and I pray for the strength of her family and friends that are helping her through this
Steroids caused me to have a skin disorder that caused red burning rashes on my face neck and back…took 2 years to clear up …im still scared it will come back…i feel for her and pray they find some kind of cure and quick.
Yes this is terrible and I really hope and pray that doctor’s,researchers and scientists can find cures to horrible diseases that afflict humans all around the Globe. However; I do believe that her profession as a beautician may have exposed her to some terrible chemical or perhaps she may have even ingested one of those haircare chemicals without even knowing it. Many beauticians have developed cancers and other pulmonary diseases after years in the business of perms and hair colors…
Cursed?! She may need to see a root doctor…
GOD BLESS HER NOW & FOREVER.
just the most unbelievable story u cld ever hear…i pray god be w/her & her family thrgh this time if no one can do it he. he is a healer & merciful god all she has to do is keep saying with ur stripes i am healed an he will do for her
I saw this story last week when I went to my friends bank. Many folks were giving money because this could be any of us. I hope all goes well for her.
I would go see a holistic or chinese doctor if I was her…25 synthetic medications isn’t a good thing under any circumstances…
Praying for her,this is so sad….
i just read it…so sad, you never know what life has in store for you
God bless you and …prayers are on there way up….watch the blessings come down
wow i will be praying for her after reading her story
I pray that as God continues to watch over and bless this woman, she remains prayerful and strong.
just prayed for her…
My husband and I just prayed for her healing.
Such a sad story!! Praying for the best!!
Just so sad. I wish more info could be released on her condition. Was she visiting a foreign city? or eaten a foreign food? Sad & so many questions. I’ve seen autoimmune diseases take symptoms of this kind before. Also, some cosmetic procedures leave allergic reactions with symptoms like these.
Hope she can get the maximum of SSI disabled benefits possible to assist taking care of her and her child. She should seek out a specialized research health entity to provide care at no cost. Bless her.
Oh Jesus.
This really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?! we bitch and moan about the smallest things, and if you read that article, that woman still considers herself as BLESSED! I know GOD has a reason for doing everything, and i know he wouldn’t put her through this if he didn’t have a plan to bring her out! I pray for her healing and her strength and the strength of her mother and child! this is SO sad!
This is so sad, but I thank God for the blood of the Lamb! He has healed all and I believe that she receives her healing…and if that woman who was cussed out by those kids on the school bus can get over 500k in donations, she can too…Thank you Lord for financial blessing for her and her family!
She reminds me of the Tree Man in Indonesia whose body is covered in a bark-like substance. They say it was a result from an HPV type virus. There hasn’t been a cure for him, but I pray they will be healed.
May GOD heal her.
We should all say a prayer.
Maybe, they need to check out side effects of products she used as a beautician and other chemicals/environment thereafter.
I read about this recently. What is her medical diagnosis? it’s been 3 years. Did they ever show her story on Medical shows. I wonder. We need to keep this circulating all over social media. Perhaps some medical genius might diagnose and find a miracle solution.