Gabe is a 13 year old boy with neurological issues and Akathisia who is literally wasting away — starving, and in extreme anxiety. He lives with his family in southern Ohio. His parents and grandparents are dear friends of ours. Gabe has four younger siblings.
Gabe and his family are back home from DC where Gabe was taken to the Amen Clinic this week. They did testing but offered little help. The trip was extremely difficult on everyone for many reasons. (They rented an RV and took the entire family. Gabe can’t quit moving or walking and needed the RV space. He is neurologically hypersensitive, so everything is agitating.) After the testing the parents met with a team of doctors.
They say that a part of his brain has been damaged due to one of three things:
1) PANDAS: According to one site, PANDAS means “Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections occurs when strep triggers a misdirected immune response results in inflammation on a child’s brain. In turn, the child quickly begins to exhibit life changing symptoms such as OCD, anxiety, tics, personality changes, decline in math and handwriting abilities, sensory sensitivities, restrictive eating, and more.”
2-3) Or, the cause could have been caused by Lyme disease or parasites, but no matter, a part of his brain has been damaged.
Rebecca, Gabe’s mother who is a nurse, has suspected that it could be PANDAS (which I had never heard of).
More testing is to be done, but I don’t know from where (what clinic and location). And I don’t know if it will happen because I just received some text update from Carolyn, the grandmother, as follows:
“The HS woke you up to pray. Rebecca just said they are taking him to the hospital for admission. This will be awful for him but she can’t do it anymore. He was up most of the night just walking He’s losing more weight and his brain is really bad. Just mumbling now.”
I wonder what kind of pain Gabe is in. I’ve never heard this discussed, but I’ve seen two, recent pictures of him. He looks like a person who has lived through Auschwitz. He looks like a starving child from a third world country, only Gabe does not have the bloated stomach. He’s skin on bones everywhere.
Gabe knows Jesus. They may lose him.
Please pray for God’s mercy and whatever words come to you, but lift him and them up. I know I’ve never used my blog in this way before, writing personal letters (another genre) requesting prayer, but I also believe that you are grateful to pray for others in such deep need. We are one in the bond of love.
Thank you so much for being the Body of Christ,
Karen
Journey North Character 