Support Annie and her kiddos

Hi everyone,

My name is Colleen. I have been friends with Annie for about 30 years. She is one of the most caring people I know. She has an absolute heart of gold. Her two greatest loves in life are Colton and Millie. Many of you are most likely unaware of the obstacles Annie and her family have faced over the last few years because she is not one to bring attention to herself. But one of the most heartbreaking is Colton being diagnosed with PANDAS.

Colton is 9 years old and one of the sweetest boys you will meet. He loves to play outside and makes a friend at any given park he goes to. He knows no stranger. If given the choice to play outside on his skateboard or scooter with friends, that will always be his top pick. He recently started BMX racing this summer, and it’s not only his jam, but he’s excellent at it. He has a little sister who is 6, and he is such a great brother to her. Colton, Millie, and Annie have endured a lot of life changes this summer and the last couple of months. Back in August of 2022, he started to show strange symptoms. He had the constant urge for frequent urination. He was checked for UTIs and wasn’t showing any infections. This was affecting his daily school life and becoming a massive problem at night trying to get him to relax and sleep. Over time, he started having OCD symptoms and extreme anxiety. Some nights, he would refuse to sleep b/c he was so scared. With this, he started throwing temper tantrums and would have lows and highs constantly throughout the day. His mom took him to doctors and was constantly told it was him and in his head. The doctors just wanted to put him on medications. At the end of May 2023, Annie finally did enough digging and got him to the right doctors who listened. Annie knew in her gut it wasn’t in his head and that something was wrong with her kiddo. Colton had a neural zoomer done and tested positive for PANS/PANDAS. He started treatments and a regimen right away. Unfortunately, his numbers were so high from going untreated for so long that it’s been difficult to get them to go down with his current treatment. He needs IVIG. These are infusions that have been proven to help. But because 1 in 200 kids get this diagnosis, insurance has refused to pay for it, saying it’s investigational. These treatments cost $12,000 and up for only one treatment. She needs her kid back. He needs IVIG. In August 2023, she applied for any help and grants she could get as it is very typical for most families to get denied coverage for treatment by insurance for IVIG for kids who have a diagnosis of PANS/PANDAS.

Annie found a clinic in Denver, CO, willing to help. Colton has been accepted into a trial program that will give him the treatments he needs to fight the terrible symptoms of PANDAS. Of course, any mother would do anything for their child, so Annie was all over this. They will be making frequent trips for the next 4 ½ months to get him treatment. While most of this is covered by the clinic helping them, she will have costs and expenses that will still incur—especially taking the time off at her new job without pay. When I asked Annie about making this page, she initially declined, stating that she “had Faith in God and that He always came through for her.” But her friends and family can be angels to Him along the way. Let's help come together to support Annie and the kiddos to get back to stability. Thank you for visiting this page; any help is extremely appreciated.