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!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Neuro Psych Appointment

Well, I actually really like the neuropsychologist that Caroline saw on Friday.  He did some tests and said that they showed the same results that were of concern to the sports medicine doc, so we will go back for about three hours of testing in a week or so.  I am not too concerned because the areas she is scoring low on are the same areas she has always scored low on: processing speed and working memory.  I don't think the concussion has anything to do with these scores.  But it is good to have another look at her brain and the way it works since it has been two years since she has had comprehensive testing done.

Caroline is going to camp TOMORROW.   Yay! The YMCA Camp Silverbeach accepted her, in spite of her long med list and the recent concussion.  So we went shopping today for various items for  camp, and she is very excited.   I wrote a short letter giving the camp staff a heads up about her triggers, etc.  Hopefully, all will go well and she will have a great time and there will be no "incidents."  The only big concern we have is that she get enough sleep every night.  Sleep is a huge factor for bipolar kids and teens and lack of it can greatly affect their moods.  So we are sending along her melatonin, Rozerem and Benadryl and hope that she can sleep in spite of the hard camp mattresses and noisy roommates.  Maybe she will be so worn out by all of the activities that this won't be an issue.  Anyway, I am looking forward to the break and I know that she is longing to have the kind of summer camp experiences her three sisters get to enjoy.

1 comment:

Accidental Expert said...

My daughter did a YMCA camp last year and really liked it. She and her brother just got back from a 5 day camp and it was a wonderful break for all of us.