About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.
Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Letdown

As would be expected, Caroline is experiencing a letdown of sorts about being out of the routine she was in for almost four months, and back in the noisy realm of our home. She's been kind of down and grumpy, which hasn't alarmed me but definitely is a contrast from how she was during our visits with her in Texas. Gone is the spunkiness. She kind of mopes around, looking lost. I am also aware that she is back to trying to eat whatever whenever, which isn't good. I told her yesterday we were starting a strict meal/snack schedule that we would all be following. She was fine with that since she craves structure anyhow. I would hate to see her gain back the twenty pounds she lost, now that cross country season is upon us. She says she is out of shape, which I guess she means stamina and conditioning, because she looks fabulous. She hasn't run for four months so she will have some work to do.

I got mad at her yesterday when we were in Wal-Mart school supply shopping. She got agitated as soon as we entered the store. I need to remember that Wal-Mart is overstimulating, noisy, crowded, and too big for her. Target would have been a better choice, or even Walgreens. She becomes quickly frustrated by the confusion (and the messiness of the store shelves since there has been a stampede there apparently.) She kept snapping at me, showing no patience at all. I called her on it rather angrily myself. I don't think it is back to things as they were before, but I do think that she's going through a lot internally.

1 comment:

domandkat said...

I think you have the best reason ever NOT to go to Walmart! It bothers the who ha out of me going there, but not like that. Just stay away when she's around - and maybe when she's not around too!

I'm looking forward to seeing ALL of you together on Sunday!