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 17, 2012

Military Community Youth Ministries, Here We Come!

My husband's new job is with Military Community Youth Ministries, an ecumenical ministry to military brats in the US and around the world.  He will be at the home office in Colorado Springs in a leadership role, overseeing others who are serving Christ and kids in the military community in this way.  If you are interested to know more about MCYM and how your child might get involved with this non-profit that provides mentorship and leadership training, please go to:  www.mcym.org.  We hope to move to Colorado by early June to start this new adventure.  If you have some good recommendations on counselors and psychiatrists in Colorado Springs for Caroline, please let me know!  Also, MCYM is tightly related to Young Life, for which we used to work for 12 years.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

That's fabulous!! I was technically on MCYM staff but never went out to the "field" because Kent decided he was ready to get married! Congrats to Bill and YOU! Lots of love!!

Megan said...

Oh that is right! We miss you guys. When will you come back to the states??