Emily Simpson is opening up about one of the hardest parts of motherhood: wanting to fix something for your child and not knowing the right answer.
The Real Housewives of Orange County star has been sharing more about her son Luke’s health journey after previously revealing that he had been diagnosed with ARFID, also known as avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.
After Emily spoke publicly about Luke’s struggles during the RHOC Season 19 premiere in July 2025, viewers reached out with suggestions and recommendations. That eventually led to more testing, and Luke was later diagnosed with PANDAS, a group of autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with strep throat.
Now, Emily says she is still trying to figure out what the best path forward is for her son.
“I don’t know if Luke’s any better,” Emily told Us Weekly while promoting Season 20 of RHOC. “We’re still dealing with a lot of the same issues, and we’ve tried a couple things.”
Emily admitted that the uncertainty has been especially difficult for her as a mom.
“I don’t know if they’re working, and that’s hard for me as a mom because I want to fix everything,” she shared.
Emily said she feels torn between continuing to search for treatments and therapies or simply accepting that Luke may just need to be supported exactly as he is.
“I go back and forth between continuing and trying to find different therapies for him, or just [thinking] Luke is Luke, and maybe he doesn’t need therapy or IVIG treatment,” Emily explained.
She added, “Maybe he just needs to be Luke, and that’s hard sometimes to figure out if I’m doing the right thing and making the right choices when it comes to him.”
For now, Emily says she is still searching for answers and trying to trust herself as she makes decisions for Luke.