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!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Bad Weekend, But Christmas Cometh!

My husband spent the whole weekend in the ER, not for himself, but because of Caroline, and then one of our dogs.  On Saturday Caroline developed another UTI so it was back to the ER for more cultures and antibiotics.  Then last night one of our dogs decided to try my dark chocolate cookie dough batter that was left within reach of his nose on the countertop in the kitchen.  He consumed more than half of the dough, and seemed OK, but then this morning he was vomiting continuously and became quite ill.  So then my husband spent the afternoon at the vet ER hoping that our dog would pull through.  He did, but he will be there overnight, to the tune of $600.  Fortunately, we have pet health insurance, so we will only end up paying $100 once we get reimbursed.  Yuck.  So Christmas in only a few days away, I am done with shopping, and I still need to finish decorating the tree.  I am not as excited about the whole Christmas commotion this year, dragging my feet a in the decorating department.  I think Bill and I are very worn out.  He has been super grumpy lately, very quick tempered.  And then in turn I am grumpy because usually he is the positive one.  I know the stress of joblessness is getting to him and being home all day with the kids doesn't help.   Blah, blah, blah.  Whatever.

I hope you are having better days.  We all need to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and then get over ourselves.

2 comments:

Accidental Expert said...

It always seems that those strokes of bad luck always come one on top of another. Glad Caroline and the dog are OK.

I know what you mean about the whole joblessness and lack of the holiday spirit. We are also dragging. I'm trying desperately to put it all aside just for a couple of days and enjoy, but sometimes it's easier said than done.

Megan said...

And then today I had a fender bender with a light pole in a parking lot in our new van. Now we are just laughing because what more could go wrong!

I am sorry that you are going through the joblessness thing too. My husband is so down. I am having to encourage him daily too. I can't think beyond two weeks at a time now. Can we pay the bills due in the next two weeks? That's as far as we can see right now. Thank you for checking in!