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!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

She May Have Lost the New Friend

I was worried this might happen, that Caroline's reputation at the pool would put an end to her new friendship with the one girl there who was nice to her. She stopped responding to Caroline after they had a great time at the mall that day, and I have a feeling that her mom may have recognized Caroline and heard some of the rumors and discouraged her daughter from hanging out with her. I have seen her mom for many years, so I wouldn't be surprised if she remembered something Caroline did years ago. I am not certain about this, but suddenly her daughter is too busy to get together or to call, or whatever. Caroline was sadly perplexed.

The only bright spot is that Caroline has met another young teen girl who lives near us who is in the same lacrosse camp this week, and we are carpooling together. She hasn't known Caroline previously so this friendship could have a better chance. Life can be so unfair sometimes when you have a mental illness or other handicap.

8 comments:

Meg said...

This just breaks my heart. Who are all of these people that believe they are so perfect themselves that they cannot forgive and forget the behavior of a child? My son and his friends have all done crazy things over the years that we've all as parents had to forgive and forget. But they are kids. And they are learning. And we go on. That just gives me the creeps that these parents are so unforgiving for something that happened years ago. So judgmental. And the parents are teaching their children to be judgmental. Sad.

Mommylebron said...

This is hard. I've seen the same thing with LeBella time and time again. I have even been denied jobs because parents or teachers remember something she had done (especially before meds). My heart goes out to her and I also hope this friendship is able to blossom.

Fighting for my Children said...

Awww, that must be so hard to watch. You hope they can make a good friend especially at this age where friends can turn into lifelong friends and then someone has to throw the past in her face. That sucks!

Katherine said...

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that this is something that is bound to get better in the end. I had trouble with friendships in adolescence - my mother in particular was often worried that I was undersocialized, which I probably was. It's an entirely different story for me as an adult, however. I have friends who've seen me at my worst and haven't judged me. I even have some friends who also have MH problems and that's been a very good thing. We understand one another in a way that isn't possible with others of my friends. Peer support shouldn't be underestimated!

I'm sorry to hear Caroline is going through this, though. It's not right for people to be that judgmental.

Megan said...

Yes, life has been really unfair to Caroline in some regards.

Megan said...

Thank you for all our your comments and support! I know that the future will get better as she gets older and other people mature as well. Moving wouldn't hurt either!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I know the pain, we lost other friends too due to parents talking about a single incident. It's so hard to watch our kids suffer over things they can't help. I hope this new friend is a fresh start!

Megan said...

Thanks Mama Bear!