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, January 8, 2012

Disaster Prone

I really hate the feeling that our family is disaster prone.   I mean, we don't go looking for trials or attention by any means.  But it seems like if it isn't one thing, it is another for us.  Everyone has problems to deal with, whether it is within their family or at work, or whatever.  But I would love to get to a place where we had some smooth sailing:  a steady job (and income), a stable school situation for Caroline, and a stable bipolar child.  It would seem that we never get all three at once.  Caroline has been stable for over two years with no hospitalizations, but during this time we have been essentially jobless for over 12 months, and she has not been able to stay at one school longer than a year,  but for one during the 7th grade that turned out to be a very poorly run school resulting in a very bad experience for all.   Sigh.  I have so much to be thankful for, I really do, but sometimes I just want easier problems with which to deal.   Like what color to paint the downstairs bathroom, or which mutual fund to choose, or what vacation we will taken this year.  But the reality is, trial builds character.  I guess we have a lot of character, if not a lot of money in our retirement funds right now, or kids that don't need a whole lot of help.  My faith has been stretched to the breaking point at times.  But like a three cord strand that isn't easily broken, God holds us together,  our marriage, our sanity, our testimony to His goodness.

3 comments:

Fighting for my Children said...

hugs Things will get better!

Anonymous said...

Praise God!

Anonymous said...

Have you read the book, "One Thousands Gifts"? A friend referred me to it and our pastor did a sermon on it recently. I just started and it has been very powerful, especially as we go through trials in this life. You may find some strength in it too. I’ll be praying for you!