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!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Date Night!

I am so excited that my husband and I are going on our first date in several years! Some may ask why the long wait, but for those familiar with pediatric bipolar disorder, you know that going on a date is no small thing. For years we could not go out because we couldn't leave Caroline at home without a parent. She had been in such an unstable state for so long that we knew if we were gone, something would happen that would ruin our time. But with Caroline so remarkably stable after coming back from Meridell, I realized we could actually go on a date now and not worry about leaving her home with her two younger sisters (who will be engrossed in a movie.) We just haven't been able to do a lot of things "normal" families do, like go in one car on vacations. We still take two cars on any trip over an hour because Caroline does so much better without the noise of her sisters irritating her to explosion.

Hopefully nothing will go wrong tonight--we know there is always that chance, but we will be close by if we have to head home quickly.

Thank you, Meridell, for doing wonders with our child!! Brandi, I hope you still read this!

4 comments:

Accidental Expert said...

Have a wonderful time! Wow, I really hope that some day we can do the same.

We're in the same boat with vacations, family outings, etc. Its gotten to the point where they are so painful, its just easier not to do them at all.

domandkat said...

I am SO HAPPY for you! Hope you had a magnificent time! TGFM( Thank God for Meridell)!!!

Cinda said...

Please excuse if I already wrote this. I swear I did but I don't see it. Maybe I just thought about it! Anyway, as a mom of a daughter with bipolar that is now 23 I can relate to your blog. My husband and I have a hot tub which we try to use every night. We had a rule that we couldn't discuss work or money while soaking for a short time. When our daughter initially became very ill we had to add "Linea" to the rules of NO DISCUSSION. Sad but we were always discussing, worrying, obsessing and trying to figure out what to do which left us no time to be with each other. Fifteen minutes a day!? But it was helpful and we began to cherish this little piece of time together. Take care of yourself!!

Megan said...

Sorry Cinda that you didn't see your posts until now! My internet connection was messed up for a week so I wasn't posting. We have gone on another date since, which was nice too. I am seeing how much we need to nuture each other.