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, February 12, 2010

Over the Hump?

It may be too early to celebrate, but this is the first year in long while that Caroline has gone through a fall and winter without a hospitalization! She is doing very well right now, and perhaps the XR version of the Seroquel is helping too. Meridell said that the children who leave their program and stay on the prescribed course of meds afterwards have a 90% chance of no hospitalizations needed in the next year. Well, we can attest hopefully to the veracity of that statement, but I am waiting until the end of February to start whooping. I am just so glad she went there! We would do it again in a heartbeat if necessary.

7 comments:

Debbie said...

thats super! hooray for caroline!!

Bev said...

That is fantastic news!

Fighting for my Children said...

Great! I hope everything keeps going well for Caroline and your family.

Accidental Expert said...

Great news. You are giving me hope for my own daughter. The meds seem to be helping a bit, but its way too early to tell.

Anna said...

I am so glad to hear it. Hope you have a really nice weekend.

Meg said...

That's great! Hopefully the hospital is a thing of the past.

Hartley said...

I will keep my fingers crossed for you both!

Hartley