Support our friend with PANS-PANDAS

We are fundraising for our friend who is suffering from a severe autoimmune disorder called PANS/PANDAS. Though it is most studied in children, there are several documented cases in adults - such as in the case with our friend.

It starts after an infection (frequently Strep A) manages to trigger a grossly overreactive immune response from the body. The immune system starts to mistake the body's own cells as the enemy, and specifically targets the Basal Ganglia of the brain. Essentially, at least when the initial infection is Strep, it is very similar to Rheumatic Fever--except that the tissue targeted by the immune system is the brain, versus the heart.

The result? Depending on the person, it causes either sudden, extremely debilitating OCD symptoms or extreme restrictive eating disorder. Frequently, the onset of these is overnight.

At the same time, the patient rapidly develops motor/vocal tics, extreme and scary emotions, sleep dysregulation, sensory processing issues, violent and difficult to control movements, chronic joint and muscle pain, extreme fatigue... the list goes on. It is completely and totally debilitating. For our friend, even walking through a room and understanding where everything is in space around her is extremely difficult.

It's not a well-known disease. So, for the first 2 of the 3 years she has had this, she was misdiagnosed as having a severe case of PTSD and other psychological issues.

Last summer of 2023, one of us, her friends, stumbled upon the condition, and everything finally started to click.

She is now, being treated by a reputable doctor with experience working with PANS/PANDAS patients. But, her basic needs (food, medication, transportation, etc.) have been so consistently unmet that it has been impossible to make substantial progress--even to make it to important doctor appointments. This has physically and mentally broken her down to the point where she is no longer able to work or pursue her professional/academic career.

She does not have family support, and has not been receiving the support she needs from others for the past 3 years.

What is most needed are consistent, monthly donations, preferably committed for the next year. We understand that not many are in a position to give much on a monthly basis, but, consistency over the long run is much more important than receiving several large donations up front and then having nothing to go off of after that.

In order to still meet the monthly goal then, with smaller donation amounts, we will need a larger number of donors, and so, we NEED HELP bringing this fundraiser to the attention of others who might be willing to either give themselves, or pass it along to people they know. Please help with this if you can, even if only a little!!

The amount reflected in the monthly goal amount accounts for Rent, Medical needs, Utilities, etc. Specific urgent needs will be listed and updated over time below this main description.

Urgent Need June 2024:

Our friend has been​ unable to pay rent consistently, and, after a year of ups and downs in this regard, is now being evicted by the 26th​ of June. ​

We had a Givesendgo page that we were previously raising funds with, but, unfortunately, at the beginning of the new year 2024, we lost several donors who had committed on a monthly basis. (We assume through January)

https://www.givesendgo.com/G9Z97

The landlord is torn and very sensitive to the situation but needs to provide for his own family--the inconsistency in being able to pay has not supported that, and he can't continue to keep her at her home with it always being a question month to month of if he will have the income or not. If we are able to​ ​​recruit enough consistent donors on ​this GoFundMe within the next day or two, there is a chance that she will be allowed to stay, but our window of time is shrinking. If you could please keep this in prayer that would mean ​so much to her.

"Beneath your protection,

We take refuge, O Mother of God:

do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:

but rescue us from dangers,

only pure, only blessed one."