It’s our first fundraising event! We, as a family, have decided to raise money for a cause that is important to us and we hope you will help us. Even if you can’t help financially, please help with our vow to raise awareness for this disease: PANS/PANDAS.

So why did we decided to join an awareness movement? The short answer is because more awareness is needed and SEPPA (Southeastern PANS/PANDAS Association) is answering the call to help distribute information packets to medical providers across the southeast. The long and complicated answer is because we deal with this disease on a daily basis. It’s a disease that has infiltrated our entire world, consumed our lives and stolen our son’s childhood. A bold statement? Yes, and one that dictates more awareness. No medical professional could figure out what was going on with our child. It took our own research to fit the pieces of the puzzle together until we were able to see a specialist.

But even with diagnosis, treatment is often long, winding, and exhausting. And even more importantly, it is most certainly not covered by insurance, aka expensive. This is unacceptable. Children are suffering and medically sick and need treatment, not obstacles. And we, as families, need support and understanding, not denial after denial. My heart aches for not only my own child but for the many that go undiagnosed for years. 

For every dollar raised, SEPPA representatives will be able to personally provide current, rigorous, scientifically sound information about how to identify, diagnose and treat PANS and PANDAS to at least 5,000 pediatric providers in the Southeast between now and the end of 2019.

If you can’t contribute financially, please vow to learn more. We are slowly coming out of the shadows and vow to raise awareness for this currently silent disease. Knowledge is power and helping one family who may not have ever heard of PANS/PANDAS can be the difference between healing and years of misdiagnosis. Learn the symptoms and share with friends and family or feel free to ask us:

https://www.sepans.org

https://www.pandasnetwork.org