“Every second I lived felt like an eternity of being tortured."

Jen Kanaba sent her son to school believing he was getting better after recovering from walking pneumonia. Eight hours later, she was looking at a completely different child. What should have been a step back into normal life became the moment everything unraveled. In an instant, fear replaced certainty, and questions replaced answers. What followed was not just a health crisis, but a decade-long fight for answers, survival, and hope. In this blog, we share a deeply personal root cause healing journey, showing how pain turned into purpose, and how the IHP Health Coaching Certifications helped Jen find answers for her son, Drew.

When a Mother Knows Something Is Not Right

There is a moment every mother recognizes, even if she cannot explain it. It is the quiet shift when something feels off, before there are words or diagnoses to confirm it. Jen did not need anyone to tell her something was wrong with her son. The moment he walked through the door, she could see it in him. She recalls, “When he came home just 8 hours later, everything had changed—I was looking at a completely different child.”

That realization did not come with clarity or direction. Instead, it brought fear, urgency, and an instinct to protect her child at all costs. Within hours, his symptoms escalated into something far beyond what she expected.

What they did not know at the time was that Drew was beginning a battle with PANDAS, a condition that can trigger sudden and severe neurological symptoms in children.

She shares, “Literally in a few short hours, he developed severe, debilitating OCD.” Looking back, she does not soften the experience. “Honestly, it was awful. A nightmare that we seemingly couldn’t wake up from.”

A Childhood Taken Overnight

For Drew, the shift was immediate and overwhelming. He describes it in a way that stops you and forces you to imagine the reality. “One night in fourth grade, I went to bed a healthy, happy, normal child,” he recalls.

Then everything changed in a way no child could prepare for.

“I woke up with visual and auditory hallucinations that lasted on and off for a decade,” he explains. His symptoms did not come in waves that passed. Instead, they became constant, shaping every part of his day and every part of his life. He continues, “Crippling OCD for 13 years, panic attacks that would last from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep, and deep depression.”

Over time, his world became smaller and more confined. Activities that once felt normal were no longer possible. He shares, “I was bedridden on and off for 10 years… and typically sick every day.”

But the physical symptoms only tell part of the story.

The emotional toll was constant and relentless. There was no break, no pause, no moment where the weight lifted. Drew says it plainly, “I fought suicide every day of my life.”

That kind of battle is difficult to comprehend from the outside. It is not one moment of struggle. It is waking up and choosing to keep going, over and over again, even when everything feels unbearable. For a parent, there is nothing more painful than watching your child fight a battle you cannot take from them.

Searching Everywhere, Yet Still Missing Answers

Like many parents, Jen turned to the medical system first. She trusted the process and followed the recommendations given to her. However, something never felt complete or fully explained. She recalls asking the question that would shape her entire journey, “No—what is the root cause? He was fine last week, and now he can’t function.”

Instead of answers, she was given a path focused on managing symptoms. Jen explains that long-term antibiotics became the standard approach. So she followed it, believing it was the only option available. Over time, that approach created consequences they did not fully understand.

“Drew wasn’t on antibiotics for months… he was on them for years—six years,” she shares. As she looks back now, that realization carries weight. “In trying to help him, I unknowingly caused damage to his gut, his brain, his nervous system… pieces of him that we’re still working to rebuild.”

Antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiome, which plays a critical role in immune and neurological function. When this balance is altered, the body can struggle to regulate inflammation and maintain stability. Over time, this kind of disruption can place additional stress on the very systems needed for healing. For families like Jen and Drew’s, it can quietly prolong the struggle beneath the surface.

Although they would later learn Drew had PANDAS, no one was stepping back to look at the full picture.

PANDAS is often linked to immune and inflammatory responses that can affect the brain, leading to sudden symptoms like OCD, anxiety, and changes in behavior.

A Family That Refused to Stop Fighting

When answers did not come, Jen did not stop searching. She pushed harder, determined to find something that would help her son. “We literally exhausted every option I could find,” she says. That determination led them across the country in search of help.

“I dragged him from one end of the US to another,” she explains. Each trip carried hope that the next doctor might have the answer. However, that hope often came with disappointment. “We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on promised treatments that ultimately failed him,” she shares.

Drew experienced that journey alongside her. “My parents took me all across the country… to the top doctors, and nobody could help me,” he says. Even in those moments, his mother stayed close. “She would sleep on the floor while I slept in bed to make sure I never did anything to myself,” he recalls.

The Battle No One Could See

While the physical symptoms were overwhelming, the internal battle was just as intense. Drew describes it clearly. “My world was taken from me and flipped overnight. I was a prisoner to my body and mind,” he shares.

That experience extended into every part of his life. “I even got bullied in school for something that I could not control… It was my new life,” he explains. The isolation and pain continued to build over time.

By 2019, everything reached a breaking point. Jen shares, “At just 17 years old, he had a plan to end his life.”

Drew describes that time in a way that is difficult to fully comprehend. “Every second I lived felt like an eternity of being tortured,” he says.

Even simple moments became overwhelming. “I would walk downstairs every day thinking… this is my last time I will see my mom, dad, and brother,” he recalls. As a family, they leaned on their faith to get through each moment. Jen explains, “We lived second by second… staying grounded in our faith.”

And yet, this was not the end of his story.

A Decision That Changed Everything

At his lowest point, Drew made a decision that would change everything. He remembers the conversation clearly. “Drew, you’re either going to kill yourself, be bedridden, or you can go all in and heal yourself,” he says.

From that moment forward, he committed fully to understanding his body. He studied relentlessly and began testing different approaches. He explains, “If I could just understand the scientific component… I could potentially heal myself.” That shift marked the beginning of a new path.

After years of searching, failing, and starting over, something finally began to change.

Root Cause Healing Journey That Finally Made Sense

Jen continued searching for answers that went deeper. That search led her to the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute. She explains, “IHP gave me the pieces we were missing the entire time.”

Through the IHP Level 1 Health Coaching Certification, she built a strong understanding of the body’s systems. Through the IHP Level 2 Health Coaching Certification, she learned to use at-home functional lab testing and create personalized wellness protocols. For the first time, everything began to connect.

Drew stepped into this work as well, bringing his own experience with him. For years, he had been the one searching for answers, sitting across from professionals who could not fully understand what he was going through. Even when he explained his symptoms, there was always a gap between what he felt and what others could see.

Through his training, that began to change. He shares, “It gave me the opportunity to understand biology and physiology to a greater degree… then opened the door to now being a real practitioner.”

For the first time, he could make sense of what had happened inside his own body. However, it also brought clarity to something else he had felt all along. “I actually can understand how my client is feeling,” he explains. Because for so many years, he had experienced the opposite.

“There was a massive disconnect, and I never felt seen or heard.”

He pauses on that realization.

“They would look at me like I was crazy.”

Now, he is the practitioner he once needed.

From Mother and Son to Business Partners

What began as survival became purpose. Today, Jen and Drew are not only mother and son, but business partners. Together, they built Root Cause Integrative Wellness to help others find answers they once searched for.

Drew describes their dynamic simply. “We are yin and yang… we mesh perfectly together,” he says. Each brings a different strength, creating a balanced approach.

Jen focuses on connection and support, while Drew leads the clinical side. Their work goes far beyond wellness protocols. “It’s sitting with families in the hard moments… praying with them, hugging them,” she shares.

Root Cause Healing Journey That Now Brings Hope

Today, their message reflects both experience and purpose. Jen encourages parents to keep fighting for their children. “To not give up… to keep fighting and advocating for your kids,” she says.

Drew reminds others, “Your thoughts and emotions are not your identity.” He emphasizes that healing is possible with persistence.

He adds, “Your healing will come if you do everything in your power to make that reality.”

When Your Pain Becomes Someone Else’s Breakthrough

This is what happens when a mother refuses to give up. This is what happens when pain becomes purpose. What once felt impossible becomes the very thing that allows others to find hope.

If you feel called to help others in this way, there is a path forward. The IHP Level 1 and IHP Level 2 Health Coaching Certifications provide the foundation to guide others through personalized wellness protocols.

Connect with Jen and Drew

Jen and Drew’s journey has become a mission to help others find answers and feel supported along the way. Through Root Cause Integrative Wellness, they share insights, encouragement, and real stories from the clients they serve.

• Instagram: @RootCauseIntegrativeWellness

• Facebook: RootCauseWellnesss

Drew also shares his journey and perspective as an Integrative Health Practitioner:

• Instagram: @drewkanaba_ihp

• TikTok: @drewkanaba

Jen and Drew's experience is not just a story. It is proof that pain can become purpose and that calling can lead to helping others find answers. Schedule a call with an Enrollment Advisor to begin your own journey back to health today.

To see how this same commitment to asking deeper questions can transform a healthcare career, explore how one Doctor of Pharmacy made the transition to integrative health and found his true calling: How a Doctor of Pharmacy Found His True Calling in Integrative Health.