MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries - Ep. 62 | Watch Out for the Worms

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

A mother is terrified when her five-year-old daughter suddenly develops obsessive compulsive disorder, that leaves her completely unable to eat. Desperate to save her child, the mother embarks on a heart-pounding quest to find an answer before it’s too late.Follow MrBallen's Medical Mysteries on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish for free every Tuesday. Prime members can binge episodes 57-64 early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Wondery+ subscribers can listen ad-free--join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey Prime members, you can binge episodes 57 through 64 right now and ad free on Amazon Music. Download the app today! On a quiet Friday afternoon, a mother and her five-year-old daughter sat across from each other playing a game of tic-tac-toe. The girl pushed her curly hair behind her ears and smiled at her mom. The little girl had been acting very strangely lately and so her mom was grateful to see that it seemed like she was doing better. The mom picked up her pencil and drew a new tic-tac-toe board and then placed an X right in the center to start the game. After that, her daughter excitedly scribbled an O to the right of the X. But when the mom made her next move, placing an X in the top right corner, she watched her daughter's face fall.

The girl could see she was one X away from losing the game and she began to whine. The mom tried to reassure the girl that it was just a game, but the girl continued to pout and kind of be upset as she placed an O in the bottom center square. The mom was about to write her winning X, but before she could mark the box, her little girl let out a high-pitched scream and begged her mom to stop. Then the usually sweet girl picked up a pencil and pointed the sharp tip at her mother's chest. And with a crazed look in her eyes, she shouted that she would stab her mom if she made another move. for when you play classics like MGM Grand Millions or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. With their ever-growing library of digital slot games,

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Redacted, Declassified Mysteries is a new podcast hosted by me, Luke Lamanna. Each week I dive into the hidden truths behind the world's most powerful institutions. From covert government experiments to bizarre assassination attempts, follow Redacted on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Ballin Studios and Wondery, I'm Mr. Ballin, and this is Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries, where every week we will explore a new baffling mystery originating from the one place we all can't escape, our own bodies. So if you liked today's story, the next time the follow button is at your house, tell them

you just got a brand new cute kitten and if they want, they can go pet it, it's in the guest room. But don't tell them that your kitten is actually a rabid adult Bengal tiger. This episode is called Watch Out for the Worms. One Wednesday morning in October of 2019, Tara Richardson gave her 5-year-old daughter Brielle a kiss on the forehead and then sent her out the front door of their house. Brielle's curly hair blew in the wind as she ran down the steps and her oversized big-girl backpack she'd insisted on buying bounced from shoulder to shoulder. Tara watched from the stoop as her daughter made her way to the bus stop in front of their house and then turned and

waved goodbye to her mom with a big smile on her face. One of Tara's favorite things about her daughter was her enthusiasm for learning. Every morning, Brielle always jumped out of bed excited for the day ahead. Sometimes she was even up before Tara and her husband. They'd walk into the kitchen to find Brielle waiting already dressed for school. Just a month ago, Brielle was even given a special award in her kindergarten class for upholding their school's motto, being responsible, respectful, and resourceful. However, last week, Brielle actually had to miss school while she recovered from a nasty

cold and it drove the little girl crazy. Tara thought about how glad she was that Brielle could go back to class now. Tara craned her neck and spotted the school bus a few blocks away. She gave Brielle one last wave and then walked inside and shut the door behind her. Her husband John had already dropped their other kids, Tommy and Sarah, off at preschool, which gave Tara just enough time to get herself ready for her busy day ahead. Tara was a psychiatrist in Wichita, Kansas and had recently transitioned to working as a traveling therapist.

Instead of working in one place, she spent her days traveling to different children's psychiatric hospitals and senior care facilities. Tara had just turned around to head upstairs to change when she heard somebody pounding on their front door. And so Tara rushed forward worried something had happened to her daughter. She threw open the door and actually found Brielle standing there, crying and out of breath. Tara knelt in front of her daughter and asked what was going on, but Brielle could barely

speak through sobs and full-body tremors. Tara quickly identified that her daughter, for whatever reason, was having a panic attack, and so in a calm voice she told Brielle to breathe in slowly for three counts and then out for three more. And as Brielle's breathing began to even out, Tara ushered her inside and then ran to the kitchen for a glass of water. When she returned, water in hand, Brielle was sitting on the carpet next to the front door. Tara peeked out the window and saw the school bus idling outside. She sat down next to Brielle and explained that the bus was going to have to leave without her. Brielle said she didn't care. She didn't want to leave the house, and she didn't

want to go to school. Alarm bells went off in Tara's mind. Her daughter always wanted to go to school. Tara wondered if maybe something had happened recently. Maybe her daughter was being bullied. Fifteen minutes later, Brielle had finally calmed down enough to have a conversation with her mom. She would agree to go to school, but she let her mom know she was not happy about it.

By the time Tara pulled up to Brielle's school, the first bell had already rung and so Tara knew her daughter would be marked late. Tara watched her daughter grudgingly make her way to the front door of the school. The usual lightness in her step was gone. After Tara was certain that Brielle had gone inside the building, she pulled away from the curb and began the drive home, racking her brain for an explanation for Brielle's behavior. That evening, Tara set the table and called her family to the dining room for dinner. The day had been hectic, to say the least.

After her crazy morning with Brielle, Tara was late to her first appointment of the day, and then to make up for the delay, she had to push all her other clients back. And so with all the chaos at work, Tara didn't get home until 6.30, which was why she only had time to make scrambled eggs and toast for dinner.

Just as Tara was placing the serving dishes in the middle of the table, John appeared with the kids trailing right behind him. They took their usual seats, the littlest in his high chair and Sarah and Brielle on either side of their mother. Tara doled out eggs for everyone while John buttered up some toast and passed it around. Tara knew Brielle was very likely still feeling sensitive after her panic attack that morning but she was anxious to know how the rest of her daughter's day had gone.

And so Tara asked Brielle, you know, how was school? But Brielle didn't answer. Instead, she kind of slowly chewed her food like she didn't like it and just stared down at her plate. Tara repeated her question, but it was like Brielle didn't even hear her. Tara reached out to her daughter trying to get her attention, but as she did, Brielle burst into tears. Tara watched as Brielle quickly became hysterical and started sobbing so hard she couldn't

even chew her food. And then before long she began choking on her eggs, gasping that she couldn't breathe. Tara and John jumped out of their seats and ran to Brielle, trying to get her to swallow the food. Finally, Brielle did calm down long enough to take some sips of water and get the eggs down. And when Tara asked her what happened, Brielle cried that she'd swallowed a piece of eggshell. She insisted that it was actually still in her mouth, or maybe stuck in her throat now. Tara was not so sure, but she led Brielle to the living room and had her lie down on

the couch. And then Tara used her phone's flashlight to look inside led Brielle to the living room and had her lie down on the couch. And then Tara used her phone's flashlight to look inside of Brielle's mouth, all the way to the back of her throat. But she didn't see anything, no eggshells, nothing. And so she promised Brielle there was nothing to worry about, there was nothing stuck in her mouth or her throat. But her daughter said that was only because she had already swallowed the eggshell. And so she told her mom she was now scared this was going to kill her, this eggshell.

But as much as Tara tried to convince her daughter that she really was okay, Brielle absolutely refused to eat any more of her dinner and spent the rest of the night absolutely obsessed with this eggshell. The next day Tara woke up feeling refreshed. She hoped Brielle felt better too and hopefully had forgotten about the eggshell incident. And so Tara brushed her teeth, then headed down the hall to Brielle's room to help her get ready for school. And she was surprised to see that Brielle was actually still lying in bed.

Tara told her that, you know, the bus is going to be here in 45 minutes, and Brielle still had to get dressed and eat breakfast. But as soon as Tara mentioned school, Brielle began to panic. She scrunched up her face and started crying that she couldn't go, she was not going to go. Tara tried to reason with her daughter. She explained, you know, it's already Thursday, you know, Brielle only had two more days before the weekend.

And also Tara reminded Brielle that she loved school. Tara even promised to put rice krispie treats in her lunch, Brielle's favorite snack. But mentioning food only seemed to make Brielle more upset. Through tears she told her mom that she was now worried that she had accidentally swallowed a worm. Tara couldn't believe it but she did her best to try to calm Brielle down and promised her there was no way she had swallowed a worm. But Brielle wouldn't hear it and she just kept on crying.

Eventually, Tara was able to finally convince Brielle that she was okay, but then the sound of the approaching bus outside set off a whole new wave of anxiety in the little girl, and Brielle dove under her covers hiding her face screaming she was not going to go to school. And so as this was happening, Tara decided, you know what, Brielle is in no shape to go anywhere today. In fact, she was starting to worry that there might be something seriously wrong with her daughter. And so she told Brielle that she could stay home

this morning, and then she turned to get her cell phone from her bedroom. Tara dialed her office manager and explained she would need to cancel all her appointments for the day because she was dealing with a family emergency. Later that day, Tara sat in the living room with Brielle, brushing her long curly hair in slow, soothing motions. Once Tara had told her daughter that she could stay home, Brielle had actually mostly calmed

down. It still had taken most of the morning for the little girl to start acting like herself again, but Tara was just happy that Brielle was not focused on eating worms or eggshells anymore. But as Tara continued to brush her daughter's hair, Brielle began to fidget and shake her head from side to side. Tara asked her to sit still and tried brushing her hair again but it was hopeless. The little girl kept craning her neck trying trying to look at her hair, and then she just kept

on shaking her head from side to side, trying to get her mom to stop brushing. Tara put the brush down and asked her, you know, what's going on? And Brielle looked at her mom with terror in her eyes and said she was really worried that she'd just swallowed a whole bunch of hair while her mom was brushing it. Tara explained that maybe a little bit of hair had come loose and it was definitely all in the hair brush. Tara even showed Brielle the brush. But her daughter insisted there was more hair that Tara had not seen and that was the hair

she had swallowed. At this point, Tara knew the best thing she could do for Brielle was to actually show her that she was okay. So she grabbed her phone's flashlight and once again peered inside her daughter's mouth and as she did, she told Brielle there was no hair, there was nothing in there. But her daughter just shook her head in disbelief. Brielle jumped up from the couch and ran to the bathroom and when Tara cut up to her, she saw her daughter sitting on the bathroom counter looking in the mirror, her mouth wide open as she checked for loose hair. The following afternoon, Tara suggested that she and her daughter play a game of tic-tac-toe, one of Brielle's favorites. And Brielle immediately lit up at the suggestion,

so Tara grabbed some paper and some pencils. The game started out fine, but as the game progressed, and it seemed like Tara was going to win, Brielle became increasingly agitated. In fact, she got really mad every time her mom made a move she didn't like, and then suddenly, Brielle actually threatened to stab her mom with a pencil. Tara was shocked. Her daughter had never, ever been violent before. Tara thought about how rapidly her daughter's behavior had deteriorated over the last two days. At this point, she couldn't even recognize this little girl sitting in front of her. And so it was becoming increasingly apparent to Tara that if Brielle did not get better soon, she would need professional help from someone other than her mother.

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was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Tara had left out on purpose. Her daughter had refused to eat or drink anything all day, and so Tara had basically put the sandwich out in the hopes that Brielle would see it and finally get hungry enough to eat it. But Brielle just kept walking into the kitchen, looking at the sandwich, clearly seeming interested, but then backing out and walking away. And this had been going on since lunchtime. The girl just kept pacing back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, never stopping to actually eat. It broke Tara's heart to see her

daughter acting this way. And so at some point she attempted to distract her daughter by asking her what her friends were doing this weekend, you know, hoping that maybe Brielle would ask to meet up with one of her friends and have a playdate. But Brielle did not take the bait and just kind of ignored her mom and just again kept on pacing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room, retracing the exact same steps each time. And also as she was doing this, Brielle kept repeating the same phrase over and over again.

I'm hungry, but I don't want to die. I'm hungry, but I don't want to die. Over and over again as she paced. And then eventually by that afternoon, as the girl was still pacing, it was like she lost the ability to speak and could only get out fragments of words from this phrase. Tara watched in horror as her five-year-old regressed to a two-year-old speaking level. And then eventually, Brielle became so hungry and overwhelmed that she started to cry and then collapsed on the floor in a fit of anger and frustration.

At this point, Tara, who was a trained psychiatrist, could see that very likely, her daughter was showing classic symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD for short, which is where a person is plagued by recurring thoughts and can't stop themselves from doing the same thing over and over and over again. But Tara was thinking like this is happening way too rapidly. Tara knew that OCD developed gradually and whatever was going on with Brielle had basically hit all at once. In just two days, Brielle had gone from healthy and happy to starving herself to the point of collapsing on the ground. Although

Tara was a doctor herself, she knew she needed more help. A few minutes later, Tara paced around the kitchen, phoned to her ear as she explained what was going on with her daughter to the on-call pediatrician at the local hospital. And after asking Tara dozens of questions, this doctor suggested that Tara follow up with a neurologist. Tara was very familiar with the medical system, being a doctor herself, and knew it could take months for Brielle to get an appointment with a neurologist. Tara was totally exasperated and she explained to this doctor that no, that would not work. Brielle wasn't eating or drinking anything.

She needed help right now. Forty minutes later, Tara sat in an exam room at the Wichita ER, her hand clasping her daughter's. After what felt like forever, the emergency room physician strolled breezily into Brielle's room. She was younger than Tara expected, maybe in her early 30s, and she was wearing these brightly colored scrubs under her white coat. She introduced herself to Tara as Dr. Sarah Fields, and then she turned to Brielle. In a gentle voice, Dr. Fields asked Brielle what was going on.

Tara watched as her daughter fidgeted in the bed and then said she was sick and that she had accidentally eaten a bunch of hair and was going to die. Dr. Fields just nodded and then began to conduct a routine examination of the child. After reviewing Brielle's symptoms and kind of taking some notes for a second, Dr. Fields looked at Tara and told her that she didn't think there was anything seriously wrong with Brielle. From what Dr. Fields could tell, she thought Brielle might have a urinary tract infection. Sometimes UTIs can be linked to behavioral changes like aggression, paranoia, and anxiety,

all of which Brielle seemed to be experiencing. Dr. Fields had already called in a prescription for antibiotics. Beyond that, the doctor suggested that Brielle just drink some Gatorade to replenish her fluids. As Tara listened to this doctor, she felt frustration boiling up in her body. She knew Dr. Fields was likely doing her best, but her dismissive attitude was sort of outrageous. She knew that Brielle was struggling mentally, she was violent, had severe OCD, at least it seemed like she did, and she was refusing to eat or drink. All that would not be caused by a simple

UTI. And so at that moment, Tara realized she would just have to figure this out herself. After they got home, Tara put Brielle to bed and then went down to the kitchen. She scrolled through her phone until she found her friend Debra's phone number. The two had been colleagues in medical school and after graduation, De Deborah had gone into pediatrics. Tara composed a long text message explaining what was going on with Brielle and asked if Deborah knew any specialists who might be able to help. The next morning, Brielle and Tara were back at the hospital, but this time to be examined by a pediatric neurologist, Dr. Samuel Edwards, that Deborah had recommended.

Miraculously, he was able to squeeze them in for an emergency appointment, and now Tara watched as her daughter paced around the room anxiously. After getting there, Dr. Edwards had decided to test Brielle to determine whether she was suffering from a potentially dangerous condition called encephalitis. Tara was grateful that Dr. Edwards was taking Brielle's symptoms so seriously, but she was terrified at the same time. Encephalitis causes inflammation in the brain and can cause symptoms such as confusion and hallucinations, but it can also be deadly.

The sound of the exam room door creaking open pulled Tara out of her anxious thoughts. Dr. Edwards greeted Tara and knelt down next to Brielle. He removed his glasses and calmly asked Brielle if she wouldn't mind sitting down next to her mother. But it was like Brielle didn't hear him. She just stood there swaying back and forth. But Dr. Edwards was unfazed. He just said that was fine.

Brielle could stay where she was. Dr. Edwards stood up and turned to Tara and he explained that the MRI and the other tests they'd done on Brielle showed no signs of encephalitis or any other problem. He said he consulted with his medical team and nobody was quite sure what to do next, but they did think Brielle was dealing with some sort of psychiatric condition. Dr. Edwards took a seat next to Tara and offered to admit Brielle to the Children's Psychiatric Hospital. Tara stared at the doctor incredulous. She tried to control the anger she felt coursing through her body as she explained that she was the admitting psychiatrist on call for the Children's Psychiatric

Hospital. She had witnessed the onset of Brielle's baffling symptoms herself and in her experience, psychological issues do not present themselves this quickly and with such force, so this did not seem like a psychological issue. Dr. Edwards listened intently, nodding sympathetically. He looked over at Brielle, who was fidgeting and now sitting on the floor, and then back at Tara. And then the doctor said there was one more thing they could try. He knew of a neuropsychologist in Wichita who studied new and rare diseases.

It was a long shot, but he might be able to figure out what was wrong with Brielle. Tara was very skeptical, but at this point she was willing to try anything. And so after a moment, she thanked Dr. Edwards and asked him to please put her in contact with this physician right away. On Monday morning, Tara sat next to her daughter at the neuropsychologist's office. Brielle squirmed uncomfortably in her chair as the doctor asked Tara a series of questions about Brielle's recent health history. Tara's responses were admittedly curt and to the point.

She didn't mean to be rude, but she didn't know how many more doctors' visits her daughter could take before she would have another episode. The last thing Tara wanted was for Brielle to lash out at this physician the way she had at Tara with the pencil. But the doctor, who clearly picked up on the mother's frustration, only had a few more questions. And one of those questions was, has Brielle suffered from a cold recently? Tara thought for a moment and said, yeah, Brielle had a bad cold a couple of weeks ago that had kept her home from school for a few days. At this point, the doctor stopped writing and looked up from his notepad. With an optimistic look on his face, he told Tara he was now almost certain he knew what

was wrong with her daughter. The doctor, who again specialized in studying new and rare diseases, explained to Tara that when Brielle had gotten her cold, it almost certainly had triggered an incredibly rare immune response. Instead of trying to get rid of the virus, Brielle's body turned against itself, attacking her brain. This condition is called Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, also known as PANS. Tara was shocked. She'd heard of PANS before, but it was so rare she'd never seen a case in real life. In fact, she was specifically trained

to be very skeptical of it as a diagnosis. But in Brielle's case, after she thought about it for a minute, she knew it did have to be what they were dealing with. The onset of PANS is sudden and horrifying, and it only affects kids. While the symptoms vary from child to child, the disease is usually marked by anxiety and depression. Like Brielle, some children become violent, develop tics, and can even have hallucinations. Parents whose children have had PANS said their kids became completely different seemingly overnight, just like what had happened to Brielle. But because PANS is so rare, it can sometimes take months or even years to correctly diagnose

it. Tara was incredibly thankful that this doctor had been able to get the right answer in just five days, and she was especially grateful because the type of inflammation Pan's causes is very hard to find on an MRI like the one Brielle had gotten. And the disease is so rare nobody else had thought to look for it. If it wasn't for this doctor's willingness to think outside the box, Tara may never have gotten the right diagnosis and her daughter's life would have been at risk. Although Brielle was quickly diagnosed, she was not able to get the treatment she needed

in Kansas. There was only one doctor in the state who treated Pans and he couldn't see Brielle right away. Brielle's family ended up finding a specialist in Arizona who prescribed ibuprofen and steroids to treat the inflammation in her brain. And so even though Brielle's treatment began quickly, you know, within a couple of weeks of showing symptoms, it still took three months to recover. In the wake of Brielle's battle with PANS, the Richardson family traveled to Topeka,

Kansas to lobby the Kansas legislature to provide better care for children with PANS. Thanks to Tara and Brielle, Kansas did pass new PANS legislation in 2022 that provides medical coverage for children affected by this terrifying and rare disease. new episodes of Mr. Ballen's Medical Mysteries, early and ad free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. And also, Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to Mr. Ballen's Medical Mysteries ad free. Join Wondry Plus today. Before you go, tell us about yourself

by completing a short survey at listenersurvey.com. From Ballen Studios and Wondry, this is Mr. Ballen's Medical Mysteries, hosted by me, Mr. Ballin. A quick note about our stories, we do sometimes use aliases because we don't know the names of the real people involved. And also, in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said in these stories, but everything is based on research.

And also a reminder, the content in this episode is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This episode was written by Natalie Pritzovsky. Our editor is Heather Dundas. Sound design is by Matthew Cielelli. Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan. And our coordinating producer is Taylor Sniffin. Our senior producer is Alex Benedon.

Our associate producers and researchers are Sarah Bytak and Tasia Palaconda. Fact checking was done by Sheila Patterson. For Ballin Studios, our head of production is Zach Levitt. Script editing by Scott Allen and Evan Allen. Our coordinating producer is Samantha Collins. Production support by Avery Siegel. Executive producers are myself, Mr. Ballin, and also Nick Whitters. For Wondry, our head of sound is Marcelino Villapondo.

Senior producers are Laura Donna Palavota and Dave Schilling. Senior managing producer is Ryan Lohr. Our executive producers are Aaron O'Flaherty and Marshall Louis for Wondry. A few years ago, while digging through a box in storage, I expected to find old keepsakes from the 1990s. Instead, I found VHS tapes and police reports detailing a murder that happened in Dayton, Ohio. Police arrested Jim McQuarter and Timothy Perrow for the Triangle Park murder. And the two are brought to jail. McQuarter blames Terrell.

I didn't do it Right there's the m- as is right there. As I dug through the contents of the box I uncovered that the murderer may have been connected to a group who called themselves the Lords of Death. I'm Thrasher Banks, host of the new Tinderfoot TV show, Lords of Death. Join me as I unpack the box and discover connections between the Lords of Death and a slew of unsolved murders. Thanks.