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Lisa Rinna opened up about her daughter Delilah Hamlin‘s health struggles in her recently-released book, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.
Nearly seven years after the 62-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum confirmed that Delilah, 27, had been diagnosed with pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) as a child, Lisa recalled the hardships she and husband Harry Hamlin, 74, faced as they navigated the disorder while also admitting to bribing Delilah and Amelia Hamlin, 24, to appear alongside her on Bravo.
“At eleven years old, she was diagnosed with [PANDAS], which can start with a strep infection then manifest into tics and severe obsessive-compulsive behavior. Don’t ask me how, they’re still studying it and it’s extremely rare,” Lisa wrote, noting that the illness drastically affected Delilah’s life, as well as the dynamic of their household.
“This thing got a hold of her, and she started to have expansive panic attacks,” she recalled. “She was screaming, yelling, pounding on the windows of our house trying to get out. It was terrifying.”
In the years that followed Delilah’s diagnosis, she was unable to ride buses, fly in planes, and enter elevators.
“There was a point where she wouldn’t go to school unless Harry came and sat outside the classroom for four hours. And he did it,” Lisa shared. “She didn’t want me, she wanted Harry.”
While Lisa and Harry engaged in a number of calming activities with Delilah, like car rides and visits to their local pond, nights were hard.
“The panic would creep in again, almost like the sundowning patterns dementia patients exhibit. I would sit with her and pull her away from the windows as she was screaming and pounding on them to try to get out. One time, she was having one of these attacks—melting down, screaming, almost like she was possessed by the devil—when Harry scooped her up, put her in the car, locked the doors, and drove her to the hospital, all while she was yelling and kicking,” Lisa shared.
Looking back, Lisa described Delilah’s struggles with PANDAS as “the most devastating time” in their lives, noting that the disorder “threw [their] house into chaos.”
“I felt helpless, and I was anxiety-ridden 24-7. We didn’t know what we could do for her, and we didn’t know if it would ever get better,” she admitted. “We felt we lost our child and would do anything in our power to get her back.”
Because Delilah, who has since battled depression, required such hands-on care, Lisa mentioned that “everything” in their family’s lives revolved around getting her the help she needed. Meanwhile, Amelia “felt a bit left out.”
“She was also put in the position of not daring to rock the boat because everyone was already so worried about Delilah,” Lisa stated. “Nobody meant to neglect Amelia, and I don’t think we did. But our focus was on Delilah. It really did take a village to help my family through this time.”
After sharing that Amelia spent nights with their housekeeper and nanny to “get away from the stress” of the situation, Lisa revealed that that dynamic lasted for nine years.
In other news, Lisa appeared on the February 26 episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast, Dinner’s on Me, where she spoke of bribing her girls to film RHOBH.
“They just didn’t wanna film. I remember that. And I would have to bribe them to film because, of course, they would want the kids. And I would be like, ‘Okay, I’ll buy you this. You just come film for like 15, 20 minutes,’” she admitted, via PEOPLE.
Lisa Rinna starred in a full-time role on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from season five through season 12.
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