What happens when a simple strep infection transforms your child

into someone you don't recognize? Flying Through Fog dives deep

into the hidden world of PANS/PANDAS — a condition where

common infections trigger autoimmune responses that attack the

brain, causing sudden personality changes, severe anxiety, and

behavioral issues that leave families desperate for answers.

One of the hardest parts of a PANS/PANDAS diagnosis isn't just

getting the diagnosis—it's figuring out how to talk about it. How

do you explain to your child that their brain is under attack by their

own immune system? What do you tell siblings who've been walking

on eggshells for months? And how much should teachers, friends,

and extended family really know? In this episode, licensed clinical
social worker Angela Henry joins hosts Krystal Vivian and Lindsey
Forsyth for an essential conversation about communication. They
break down how to have age-appropriate discussions with children about their diagnosis, why naming the disease can actually be
liberating, and how to navigate the delicate balance between privacy and advocacy. From the child who presents about PANDAS to their entire fifth-grade class to the teenager who only confides in one
parent, they explore how different families approach these
conversations in ways that work for them.

When you're in the darkest moments of your PANS/PANDAS

journey—when your child is a shell of themselves, when every day

feels like surviving an impossible storm—it's hard to imagine that

things will ever get better. But they can. And they do.

For the final episode of Season 1, hosts Krystal Vivian and Lindsey

Forsyth are joined by Angela Henry to share powerful stories of hope

from real PANS/PANDAS families. From the mom whose daughter

went from a watermelon "cake" due to severe food restrictions to

eating real birthday cake a year later, to the child who missed a year

and a half of school and is now getting straight A's, to the 19-year-old thriving in pre-med who wants to become the doctor that helps other PANDAS kids—these stories prove that healing is possible.

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The P in PANS/PANDAS stands for pediatric, and that single word
shapes how patients get treated long after childhood. Meet Kirk,
Emily and Lily from the National PANS/PANDAS Youth Alliance.
They talk with us about what it's like to live with a condition most
doctors still associate only with small children. Each of them were diagnosed as children, but they had different journeys and different experiences, which shows how vastly different each individual's
experience with PANS or PANDAS truly is. Kirk, Emily and Lily talk
about how differently PANS/PANDAS presents from person to person, how tick-borne infections play a role, and how relapse can arrive years after a treatment that seemed to work. They also talk about the
National PANS/PANDAS Youth Alliance, how they advocate for themselves and other people living with PANS/PANDAS and what they're pushing for legislatively.

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PANS/PANDAS is usually diagnosed in young children, and it usually arrives with OCD or tics. Cat and Brandi's stories don't follow that
script. Both were teenagers when symptoms took hold, both watched their bodies and personalities change in ways their doctors couldn't explain, and both spent years being told that what was happening to them wasn't real. In this episode of Flying Through Fog, Krystal and Angela talk with Cat and Brandi about what it's like to lose yourself
and know it's happening. We get into what late onset changes about
the experience, the particular damage done by a positive test that no one will act on, and the shame that settles in when you start believing the person you become in a flare is who you actually are. Cat and
Brandi also talk about what helped, what they want from the people closest to them, and the friendship and advocacy work that grew
out of all of it.

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