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!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Whew!

Caroline and Jane went on a church middle school retreat this weekend and thankfully Caroline handled herself just fine. We sent her with a little fear and trepidation knowing that in the past she hasn't done very well with that kind of over-stimulation and lack of sleep. Of course, we sent her with a lot of instructions for her leaders and with all of her medications labeled morning, noon, and night, assembled in little ziploc bags. The leaders said she had a great time and there were no incidents. We were very relieved to hear that and happy that she could feel like a normal teen for once, and do things that other kids do without mishap.

My husband is gone for four days which means it's just me holding down the fort. Oh boy. I slept badly last night, getting woken up by Caroline who couldn't fall asleep again after waking up at 2:00. I woke up with a migraine for Mae's first day at school. I wasn't a very nice Mommy this morning. I dropped everyone but Jane at their respective schools, then went back to bed for three hours while Jane worked on her schoolwork. I am so glad she is a self-starter! After school, we sorted through the fall clothes, which reeked of moth balls, making my migraine much worse. Stupid of me. Oh well.

4 comments:

Corrie Howe said...

I just found out we have mutual friends. Rich and Dawn are now the Senior Pastor and wife at our church! We love them!

Small world!

Megan said...

That is so cool! They are a great couple, very sweet. I am glad you get to have Rich as your pastor. This is a small world! Thanks for the lemonade nomination! An honor, I am sure!

BipolarPorch said...

I thought I was the greatest husband on earth. At least that is what I tell my wife. Hmmmm...

I used to have migraines and it is ironic you write about it today bc I was just emailing my pdoc about the first migrain I had back in college during a depressed period. Then I read your post.

Strange.

Quantum physics is a reality i think.. Your quarks (quantum-speak) must have come through my thick skull somehow.
Andrew

The very latest on breaking Bipolar Disorder news...

Megan said...

Migraines and stress go together for me, and fall allergies don't help. I lost a complete day yesterday to the headache. Using light therapy now, hoping it helps.