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!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Bad News at the End of the Quarter/IEP

She is failing or has a D in almost every core subject. Obviously this is not good.  We need to get this ship turned around soon or we need to look at other options for her schooling.  She is still having the scrolling vision and headaches, which I am strongly suspecting in due to too high level of Lithium in her blood after researching chronic toxicity symptoms of Lithium.  She sees the psychiatrist on Wednesday and we will ask for blood work and a slow titration down on this med.  Her thyroid biopsy was postponed as the radiologist felt it wasn't necessary.  Still waiting on the results of the brain MRI.

The IEP meeting is next week.  Thankfully my husband is here and can be part of the discussion.  I am feeling quite discouraged by this first quarter, between her very real physical issues and the confusion over her schedule in the beginning and now the resulting poor grades.  Definitely doubting our decision to throw her into a big school.  As great as this IEP team is, she may need a smaller environment and more intensive help than a big public high school can give.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

God is for you my dear friend.
God is for Caroline.
Lifting you up.

Anonymous said...

Call me my dear friend.I don't have your new number.
Read your entire blog.
So impressed to pray for you right now.
Your old college roommate.
R.

orionoir said...

as someone who has been taking lithium for 30+ years, i do encourage frequent lithium levels. your daughter will become the best judge of what level works for her -- for me, .6 to .8 m/eq is optimal, 1.0 too high.

still, take good care to enjoy such healthy times as may come your way. sometimes people bog down too much in the psychiatric mumbo-jumbo and lose sight of what life is all about, that is, living.