Emily Simpson recently revealed that her 10-year-old son Luke will undergo a brain procedure after being diagnosed with PANDAS.
For those unaware, PANDAS is a “pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. It describes a group of conditions thought to affect select children who’ve strep infections, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. There have been some reports of the development of tics, obsessive-compulsive behavior and other mental and neurological symptoms after PANDAS, although a clear link hasn’t yet been established,” according to Cleveland Clinic.
The 49-year-old appeared on the season 19 reunion of The Real Housewives of Orange County, where she revealed that her 10-year-old son Luke had been recently diagnosed with PANDAS.
After the shocking revelation, Cohen asked her to give the update on her son Luke’s current condition, to which Simpson said that his condition is “very complicated.”
The devastated mother quipped, "He went from a happy fourth grader that no teacher had ever said, like, there’s issues. He was gifted. And all of a sudden, my child just completely changed. He just regressed. He started talking like a baby. Acting out. And I was so confused.”
“And when the first episode aired, I had so many moms in my DMs saying, ‘Have you checked into PANDAS?’ It’s very complicated. I’m not a medical doctor, but it’s associated with strep throat,” she recalled.
Cohen went on to ask, “Is it something that can be treated?”
“Yeah, so he is going to have a laser treatment on his brain. To reduce the swelling in his brain. He asked if the laser would hurt, and I said, ‘No, it won’t hurt.’ So, he has to go five days in a row for like three hours, and it’s supposed to reduce the swelling,” Emily Simpson explained.