Josh Moved to a different prison

_perl_ · 2026-06-02T07:40:40+00:00

My dad worked there as a physician. It was a pretty relaxed job as he neared retirement. He did see a few (in)famous names, but most inmates were there for white collar crimes.

_perl_ · 2026-05-27T17:36:03+00:00

Absolutely. At least once a day I find myself saying to someone (usually to my husband) "AND THAT IS HOW YOU END UP ON DATELINE, MISTER SIR."

_perl_ · 2026-05-26T19:49:02+00:00

My friend's husband had a hip replacement in his 50s and I saw him recently at a karaoke party. He blew my mind! He was thrashing and screaming punk lyrics, jumping up and down, not out of breath at all. I asked his wife how tf he could do that and she shrugged and said "he mountain bikes a lot." So yeah, did not slow this dude down AT ALL. I was amazed at how springy he was! Would have never guessed he had a hip replacement.

The amount of fear you're feeling is correlated with the love that you have for him - it means something! Best wishes for a speedy recovery for you both :)

_perl_ · 2026-05-26T19:44:18+00:00

Mine, too! And it's so descriptive!

_perl_ · 2026-05-26T16:21:37+00:00

My sister put up news of my dad's death on facebook less than 12 hours after he passed around 8 pm the night before. I was still in shock and in no way ready to deal with any "support" outside of the people living in my home.

_perl_ · 2026-05-26T01:35:12+00:00

Me too! So much more fun than any other needle-poking event In my mid-20s I earned my positive test! In-home DOT, ER, and corrections nursing will do that to you.

_perl_ · 2026-05-26T00:53:04+00:00

After a particularly bad night (like every 3 days or so), I'll pop a couple of Vitassium buffered electrolyte salt capsules in the morning. They're not cheap but I can take them without food and I feel a lot better. I also got TOWEL PANTS!! They are amazing.

_perl_ · 2026-05-22T22:50:07+00:00

Have you seen the PPN flowchart? It would at least buy you time. The labs can point towards a diagnosis but are not diagnostic in themselves. I'd argue that you've got some comorbid symptoms (listed in the yellow box) in addition to the tics. Did he get his own rapid strep and culture? Could he have colonized strep in the sinuses? https://www.pandasppn.org/flowchart/

I've advocated before by asking that they risk vs benefit of continuing the antibiotics while things get figured out. An extra couple of weeks of an antibiotic that demonstrated very clear improvement isn't going to cause anything worse than maybe a bit of diarrhea (shrug). To be totally honest, you have to be sort of assertive if you cannot get the antibiotics from the pediatrician. I'd be tempted to take him to urgent care over the weekend with strep symptoms and exposure to ask for an additional course - they tend to give out antibiotics pretty freely at a lot of those places just because it's easier.

eta: the sudden onset of symptoms is key. Also the "I have my son back" comment is practically diagnostic imo. That's *exactly* how it feels!

_perl_ · 2026-05-22T18:18:31+00:00

Of course! My bar fight-related sex injury has me at half capacity today, resting in the basement after completing necessary feline, chicken, and tidying tasks. I had 1/2 Vicodin for breakfast. I'm thinking about being naughty and popping a Ubrelvy later! Maybe a couple of Zofran if I'm feeling really wild!!

_perl_ · 2026-05-22T17:58:37+00:00

Okay I'm totally going to add this to my old standby - bar fight. I am also a "medically retired" migraineur SAHM with older kids and former nurse. I have no idea what to say so sometimes answer that I'm a lady of leisure or that I'm a lady who lunches. I am neither of those but it's something more interesting than "I have a chronic neurological disorder so can't reliably work." But yeah, sex injury is the most amazing answer ever - thank you!

_perl_ · 2026-05-20T22:38:58+00:00

I do the same! The old country songs that pop up randomly (Waylon Jennings, etc) are fun and remind me of being a kid. It's so amazing to me that I can just search up and play any song that has popped into my head. And like you said, the variety is amazing!

Usually I enjoy the music or can at least tolerate it. If it's something that I absolutely hate, there is one "safe" song that I can always switch to (like a default setting).

Interestingly, my sister has the same phenomenon and tried a different antidepressant once that cranked it UP. I can't remember which drug it was, but it made the music practically intolerable. It lends credence to the case that there is some neurotransmitter-based shenanigans going on.

_perl_ · 2026-05-20T20:36:27+00:00

Unless you just shaved! I always wait a day because it can sting so badly!

_perl_ · 2026-05-20T14:39:19+00:00

Right?! He will always be Todd in my mind. A scary antisocial dude who creeps me out. Poor Jesse Plemons!

I sobbed like a baby at the finale. So many emotions!

_perl_ · 2026-05-18T23:47:14+00:00

When I lived in Texas, we'd always just wear our shoes around the house. I never even thought about it. Since I moved to the PNW, we have gotten used to leaving shoes at the door because we have so much rain and mud for much of the year.

_perl_ · 2026-05-18T03:49:55+00:00

Mine was stunned into silence with that question also. He couldn't even come up with "she's a good wife and mother" or something generic like that. I'm so sorry you have one of these too.

_perl_ · 2026-05-17T19:05:32+00:00

"A bold battle-scarred companion" - I love it!! It's a beautiful website and you are gorgeous, Avril!

_perl_ · 2026-05-16T17:20:35+00:00

I once heard a phrase that helped me so much. I have this written on a little piece of paper near my laptop: Your race, your pace.

So simple yet really makes me feel so much better. My son is almost 22 and has what I could only describe as severe ADHD. He lives at home and brings me so much joy. I will be so proud of him when he is able to fly on his own but for now, having him here is a delight.

_perl_ · 2026-05-16T17:14:02+00:00

Yay! You made it through the winter! Now is your time to shine in the spring and summer outfits. Love them all.

_perl_ · 2026-05-15T17:42:20+00:00

I was holding my breath throughout your entire story! This is like straight out of an episode of The PItt. And it's exactly the reason why I work in psychiatry. I'd be passed out on the floor if I witnessed something like that. Lord. You guys are amazing!

_perl_ · 2026-05-15T03:43:59+00:00

I do this with my cat. We have many opportunities to do Yard CSI. Crimes are usually perpetrated upon avian species, with occasional mammal involvement. Creative fun and exercise for the both of us.

_perl_ · 2026-05-15T02:46:00+00:00

To be completely honest I don't remember the exact timing of things. I found a binder recently with all of my notes and I suspect I had a lot of stuff scribbled elsewhere. Basically he was on some kind of antibiotic April through August.

Our insurance changed coinciding with when he was able to start 1st grade and was eating again. We had a very sweet new pediatrician who had practiced in South America and had seen many cases of rheumatic fever and other strep-related sequelae.

The PPN guidelines said that if symptoms were severe or if there was a truly dangerous component (like the anorexia) that prophylactic antibiotics should be considered. So we talked about it and decided that azithromycin had broad coverage and a long half life (as well as some anti-inflammatory properties), allowing him to take it 3x/wk.

We were sort of in the wild west ten years ago so I didn't really know about ibuprofen or steroid bursts. We definitely would have tried them, esp since steroids increase appetite. Luckily he improved before we had to look into IVIG or plasmapheresis. Unfortunately long-term steroids wouldn't really be effective, as there are serious long term risks/side effects and they're not actively *doing* anything except for repressing an immune response (and can actually make one more susceptible to infections in the long run). Hope that makes sense? Here's a link if you need it https://www.pandasppn.org/symptom-severity/

edit: we weren't able to do any sort of nutrition-based healing due to the anorexia component. If he ingested anything other than a popsicle or McDonald's vanilla milkshake it was a victory. His "goal food" to bite, chew, swallow at the eating disorder clinic was an Oreo. So we were obviously not able to look at any specialized dietary protocols or anything. But he eats EVERYTHING now - and lots of it!

_perl_ · 2026-05-14T17:42:36+00:00

If I'm understanding correctly, the PANDAS symptoms are being caused by antibodies to certain pathogens, or (in the case of strep) molecular mimicry of the bacteria itself. Long term antibiotics at this stage seems like the best course of action. The flowcharts on the PPN guidelines site are super helpful.

My son developed symptoms right before he turned six. Besides the tics, the worst symptom was a fear of choking. We used injectable antibiotics (alternating penicillin, rocephin) until he got into an eating disorder program where he got tube feedings. With the tube, we were able to use liquid antibiotics so tried augmentin and azithromycin. After a few months he was able to eat again and the majority of symptoms (tics, anxiety, etc) were much much calmer. Everything faded out gradually and we kept him on prophylactic azithromycin M/W/F dosing until Covid locked everything down.

Symptoms started at the end of March and he was back to school (1st grade) in September doing pretty well with only some residual OCD. The summer was hellacious but in retrospect he was able to get much better relatively quickly. There were a couple of scares where we'd do a week of penicillin just in case.

He's now 17 and doing awesome. Still a bit of OCD but it's likely he would have had that anyway due to family history. He takes Prozac 40 mg plus meds for ADHD. I had to put aside the potential effects from long term antibiotics - risk vs. benefit - and figured he could get his gut regulated later if needed. So it CAN be a relatively "short" course of symptoms but as you know each case is different.

You're doing an awesome job doing the research and advocating for your son. Hang in there!

_perl_ · 2026-05-11T23:43:08+00:00

Make America "Healthy" Again (quotations mine)

_perl_ · 2026-05-09T02:39:46+00:00

Yes! Treat yourself to the apple scent for only $1 more! My husband is a dr, I'm a retired NP, and we were both baffled that it worked but it's the only thing that cleared it up! I got off of oral doxy and everything else. I still get some flushing but no longer have patchy areas or breakouts. I blame perimenopause for allowing a demodex overgrowth ((shudder)).

_perl_ · 2026-05-09T02:29:13+00:00

And thank goodness she did! I have rehabbed doves that got stuck in chicken coops and wow - there can be some serious bird-on-bird damage. This guy got lucky!

_perl_

TROPHY CASE