Overcoming PANS and PANDAS to Reclaim a Normal Childhood and Family Life

Before we found Arbor Health our daughter was sick, and we didn't know why. She just started feeling yucky all of the time. Then she started having sensory issues and food and eating issues and even extreme OCD and anxiety issues. She was constantly in a state of fight or flight, and it was scary. Her symptoms were so severe and disruptive to our family that we were unable to function normally as a family. She couldn't go to preschool, and anything that we needed to do, like go to the store, was a struggle for us. It was just a very difficult time. Our experience with other doctors included seeing people like physical therapists who tried to help with her sensory issues, but they didn't help. We even were evaluated by a speech and language pathologist for her eating issues, but that didn't help. We even saw an amazing therapist that tried her very best to help her with her potty training issues, but none of it helped. We didn't realize yet that it wasn't a behavior issue, but it was an immune system and brain inflammation that was actually causing her symptoms. At her very worst is when our very supportive pediatrician actually suggested PANS and PANDAS and told us to seek additional help. And Arbor Health was the help that we needed. What made me say yes to Arbor Health was actually when we were doing the research to try to understand what PANS and PANDAS was, trying to find a practitioner, I came across a Facebook video that Arbor Health had posted. The founders of Arbor Health were actually talking about PANS and PANDAS, and they were talking about it in a way with such detail that I knew they got it. I knew they understood what we were going through, and I knew they were going to help us before we even had our first appointment. If there was one thing that might have made me hesitant to get started with working with Arbor Health, it would have been the cost. I knew it was more than typical medical appointments, but after those first two appointments that we had, it was absolutely clear that this is what our daughter needed. They actually had a plan to help us figure out how to help our daughter get better. We felt incredibly supported by our team at Arbor Health. I remember one time specifically where we met with our health coach on the phone and talked about some OCD and anxiety issues we were having with our daughter, and we were really struggling with how to help her. And I know healing takes time, but when you're in the symptoms and in the moment, it's very hard. Our health coach was amazing. She provided the positive encouragement and positive reinforcement that we needed to get through the moment. And she had so much experience with other parents that she said exactly what I needed to hear at that time. I knew that they specialize with PANS and PANDAS kids, and I knew that there were certain things that they were going to be testing for like bacteria and viruses, because I had done a lot of research. But what surprised me was that they included testing for mold, toxic mold. And that was a game-changer for us because that was a huge part of our daughter's illness. We remediated our house and we were able to heal. We provided an environment for our daughter and our whole family, actually, to heal. The best part of our experience with Arbor Health is Thank you. that our daughter is better. She got better, and now she's a completely normal and functioning kid who loves to go to school with her friends. How our lives have changed now, after we've worked through Arbor Health and worked on our healing journey with our daughter, is that now we can live. We aren't just trying to survive day-to-day anymore. We can actually leave the house. We can even take trips. So because of the healing journey that Arbor Health guided us through, we are now able to go to places as a family. Even going to the store as a family is very exciting for us, because now we can do it. But she can also play soccer and go to school and do all the normal things that typical kid should do. If your child has any symptoms of PANS or PANDAS or you think they might have something similar, they are the right people to help. They are amazing. And just try meeting with them because they have so much expertise and knowledge they can apply to help our children. They helped us get our lives back. I'm Shari from Rochester, New York.