ASPIRE Blog

My message to parents is to listen to your child and trust yourself. We all have strong parental instincts for a reason. I know there will be days when all you want to do is hide under the covers and shut the world out. But, perhaps there will be days when your child is healthy enough that you start to forget how bad it was.

Daily tick checks help prevent tick-borne infections. Removing ticks properly is essential.

School Nurses play an integral role in the health of students. School nurses support students and student health every day of the year. Children with PANS/PANDAS have complex physical and mental health conditions that benefit from the support of a school nurse.

So today, we ask YOU to ask your kids this one question: Without Teachers, what would you have never learned. You can ask about teachers in general or one particular teacher. Then post their answers in the comments below!

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day is May 7th National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day raises awareness about the importance of caring for every child’s mental health and reinforces that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development. Does your child have OCD or an Eating Disorder along with other cognitive, behavioral, neurological, […]

Nurses’ Role in PANS/PANDAS What role do nurses play in helping families with PANS/PANDAS? Nurses are an integral part of the team. Nurses are often the first point of contact during an office visit. It is crucial for nurses not only to recognize PANS/PANDAS symptoms but also to understand how assessments are done and the […]

Symptoms of Lyme Disease – General Overview Lyme Disease Symptom Overview   Physical Symptoms Early Signs and Symptoms (3 to 30 Days After Tick Bite) Fever & Chills Headache Fatigue Muscle And Joint Aches Swollen Lymph Nodes Erythema migrans (EM) rash Later Signs and Symptoms (Days to Months After Tick Bite) Headaches & neck stiffness […]

Tick Testing and Disease Transmission Statistics Gabriella: Thank you to Dr. Rich for talking with ASPIRE today about Tick Report and his lab at U Mass.  Dr. Rich and I spoke in 2019 at the Central Mass Lyme Conference. Please tell our ASPIRE community about your work. Stephen: TickReport is a service offered by my […]

Neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with tick-borne disease. Gabriella: Dr. Roseann, thank you for joining ASPIRE to talk about neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with tick-borne disease. Many of our families are dealing with PANS, Lyme, and other tick-borne infections whether or not a tick-borne infection triggered the first PANS symptoms. Some patients’ initial PANS […]

Every Friday during Lyme Disease Awareness Month, the Vector-Borne Disease Regional Centers of Excellence will give interactive presentations on their work for tickborne diseases such as; tick surveillance, how to collect ticks, tick bite prevention, tickborne disease research, and other activities.  Every Week at 1:00pm.

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. ASPIRE will post several topics on Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Illness. Check back here for updates.

Tick Resources Tick Types, Tick Stages, Tick Diseases Tick Type & Stage Identification Chart List of Tick Borne Diseases Tick Table Tick Life Cycle CDC AKC Lyme Disease Rash Examples CDC Lyme Disease Testing Lyme Disese Testing Challenges Treatment ILADS Treatment Guidelines Lyme Disease Basics Lyme Disease Association