Hello and welcome, glad to have you here! My kiddo and I recently had a chat with her ND, Dr. Jennifer Bahr and Jody, over at Resilience Naturopathic to share the kid's perspective of living with a neuroimmune condition and treating outside of conventional medicine. Choose one of the links below to hear her story!
I have never been quiet about the fact that we are a neurodivergent family, that is also living with, and parenting through, a neuroimmune condition. My kiddo was diagnosed with PANDAS when she was just 6 years old. We had experienced a series of traumas, illnesses, and stressful events such as family member deaths, multiple ear/throat infections, the start of kindergarten where bullying occurred, etc. At her worst, she was literally trying to jump out of moving vehicles, lost the ability to read, write and do simple math. She was unable to sleep by herself and was wracked by episodes of both severe panic attacks and rage. She was unable to safely travel to and from school and, even on the days we got her there, it was not a productive school day. She was also always much worse on days she did attend school; it was an obvious trigger for her, likely due to the constant germ exposure and stress. With all that in mind, she started an online charter school for the remainder of elementary school. We then decided to take a homeschooling approach that's a loose version of unschooling. In this model of learning, she can engage in project-based learning on topics that are exciting for her and not try to fit into all the boxes that traditional education focuses on.
Anyway, back to the actual PANDAS piece...we were lucky to have (mostly) supportive family and friends and quickly got connected with a diagnosing and treating provider that was able to prescribe several accessible prescriptions, along with many supplements that pulled her out of the darkness. Although we were (and still are) thankful for that initial and validating support, conventional medicine was not the way to healing for us. We have spent these last 6 years trying to support her and get her into remission, as well as advocating for the neuroimmune community and doing our part to help support other families.
Doing interviews that other families (parents AND kids) can listen to/watch is just one way we are continuing to try to support families. We hope that this video is helpful to you in some way, even if it's just that you are not alone in this nightmare and seeing that it can get better. I have worked with many P/P families who are trying to navigate how to parent, keep themselves well and keep a strong family unit. If you need support, please feel free to schedule a time to chat.
If you would like more information about PANS/PANDAS and other neuroimmune conditions, please check out Neuroimmune Foundation.
Also, stay tuned in February 2024 for my chat with Dr. Bahr and Jody over at Resilience Naturopathic where we chat about how I factor in neuroimmune and other medical conditions when I'm working with and supporting families!
Be well,
Ashley
#PANDAS #PANS #neuroimmune #parenting #motherdaughter #podcast #parentcoach #homeopathy #classicalhomeopathy #alternativemedicine #homeschooling #healing #resiliencenaturopathic #youtube #spotify
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