These handwriting samples from his weekly school journal present a clear picture of the handwriting being affected by PANS. When PANS started, his handwriting was still somewhat neat in September 2016. But from there his handwriting becomes progressively worse. It gets progressively messier and he clearly is not able to write on the lines. We are fortunate to have the handwriting as a clear marker to show that something was going wrong in his brain when meeting with lots of doctors and educators . My hope is that this helps another family.
My Story - PANS Project ![]() The month of August has always been a month of celebrations, trips, parties, and friends. August 2009 was no different – A trip to Camden Yards, a visit with the Orioles in their clubhouse, a meet and greet on the field with Red Sox, a game of wiffle ball with Orioles mascot on field in front of fans, a camping trip with friends, a deep sea fishing trip, an amazing party with friends, family, and new neighbors. I always had friends laughing and hanging without any anxiety. I was excited for school, alert, outgoing, and absolutely no behavior issues or anxiety. ![]() September 2009 - I missed the first week of school because I had strep throat and an ear infection. October 2009 – I had H1N1 and was quarantined – it was very scary. November 2009 – I was required to get the H1N1 vaccine to return to school. December 2009 – Symptoms started to appear. Gazed look, large pupils, blank stare, no expression, pale coloring, puffiness, sleepiness, anxiety. February 2010 – After my first Grand Mal Seizure - The beginning of tests. EEG, CAT Scans, MRI, Spinal Tap. ![]() During the summer of 2009, after divorcing my husband, my son and I moved into our new home. Shortly thereafter we experienced many losses, including his 19-year-old babysitter and “big brother” to a car accident and his 21-year-old cousin to cancer. My son was already in therapy to help get thru the divorce and move. According to his therapist he was engaged and accepted the losses. The Day it all Started Suddenly in February 2010, during school vacation, life significantly changed. TJ was attending zoo camp as he had several times previously. When I picked him up on Thursday, the counselor who had known TJ since he was two, pulled me aside and said he acted very strangely in camp today. He was withdrawn, hid under the table, wouldn’t eat, and wasn’t his usual happy go lucky kid; she was very concerned. I explained that he was going through a lot and maybe it finally caught up with him. His grandmother watched him that night while I worked. At 8:00, she called me very concerned and asked me to come home right away, “Something was wrong with TJ”. TJ had cornered himself in a fetal position, soiled himself and was violently jerking. It was very scary. Friday, my good friend agreed to watch TJ while I had some appointments. He told me that he thought TJ maybe having seizures; he jerked all morning and wouldn’t eat or get off the couch. ![]() BEFORE DIAGNOSIS Onset occurred at age 5, almost 5.5, in September 2010, the Thursday of the second full week of school. He came off the bus that way, moving like electricity was running through him, afraid to sleep alone, with urinary frequency. Those symptoms were just the start, as more features (fight/flight anxiety, extreme sensory defensiveness, trouble swallowing, fear of vomiting, dilated pupils and light sensitivity) came on in unexpected waves throughout that year. He did have a “sore throat/cold” and pink eye summer 2010. We saw many doctors over 18 months; we visited our family doctor, a pediatric urologist, ER doctors, 2 neurologists, psychotherapist, neuropsychologist, allergist, immunologist trying to get to the bottom of all the new symptoms. I was surprised at the ease with which some providers would want to prescribe big-ticket psych drugs without doing things like checking blood sugar or thyroid! He was eventually worked up for diabetes (negative) and other urinary disorders (also negative). As waves of more symptoms hit including, sudden sensory defensiveness, irrational and overwhelming fear of red lights, extreme perfectionism, declaring that he wished he were dead; we scurried from one specialist to another searching for help. DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT We learned about PANDAS from co-workers familiar with Dr. Louise Kiessling's work in RI and from the April 2012 Parents Magazine article on PANDAS. One co-worker was listening to our struggles and ran in with the article saying it sounded just like what I had been describing. I read that article and wondered if the reporter had a spy-cam in my house. Our family doctor looked at the article and agreed that could be a possibility, checking his throat, sinuses, ears, perianal region and blood for strep. The throat culture was positive despite treatment for strep back in Jan-Feb. In April of 2012 with our family doctor, for his initial treatment for suspected PANDAS, he started a round of antibiotics (Pen V), receiving 3-10 day rounds totally about 4 weeks of antibiotics. We saw dramatic improvements 4 days in. No antibiotic = full relapse. |
AuthorNEPANS Board Members & Special Guests Archives
March 2018
Main Sections
Categories
All
Note:Many Blog entries are long enough to go onto a 2nd page. Please click Read More in the bottom right of some blog entries!
|