Jack

Hello Everyone

Jack was always the happiest, sweetest, and funniest kid you ever met until about 2 years ago. Our sweet 8 year old son Jack if you did not know was diagnosed with pan/pandas in May after he was hospitalized with seizures. Our son had a rage attack in the emergency room and destroyed the room and punched a nurse. The image of our baby boy being dragged through the hospital by security to the psych ward will never leave me. It was a fight but we were able to get him properly diagnosed. We found out he has 2 brain infections, He has been battling this for over 2 years and we had not clue. If you don’t know what pans/panda is, it’s an autoimmune disease. Meaning his body was attacking his brain. Causing multiple side effects. Tourette’s, rage attacks, OCD, defiant disorder,food regression, insomnia, panic attacks, hypertension, separation anxiety, depression, hallucinations, dilated pupils, seizures, Loss of skills, sensory issues, aggression, urinary symptoms, and school refusal. We did not know what was wrong with our baby until he was diagnosed. They thought he was going crazy or was autistic. They were giving him unnecessary drugs with terrible side effects.

We thought Jack would be better by now but unfortunately he is not. He has not been able to attend school. Looks like he will be having to do school from home. Our goal is to get him to eventually go to school in person. I took a leave from work to care from Jack and have been receiving partial pay through the family medical leave act but unfortunately it only runs for 12 weeks and it has run out. We were hopeful that Jack would be better by now. There is no timetable on his recovery. We have applied for SSI but it takes 6 -months to a year to receive any benefits. In April we had to move out of Fitchburg. Our landlord would not renew our lease because of noise complaints made by the neighbors. Jack was having rage attacks and the neighbors complained even though they knew Jack was sick. It was stressful but thankfully we found a place to live. It’s in a better area and a better situation for Jack. The new school has been amazing trying to help us get Jack to school. Unfortunately our rent has now doubled and one income is not enough. Jack has a really hard time leaving the house to do anything and anytime we can convince him to do anything we take advantage of it but it takes a lot out of him. Some days are better than others. He is on new medication that is helping and he has come a long way recently but he’s not there yet. Jack has a team of 4 doctors working with him, infectious disease doctor, neurologist, rheumatologist, and his pediatrician.

It’s extremely hard to ask but if anyone could possibly help with anything. His medical bills and daily living expenses are adding up.

If you have any questions please reach out. If you can’t donate that’s ok please just share.

Thank you everyone we really appreciate all of you.