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!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Proud of My Girl

With finals starting this week, Caroline has thrown herself into studying for them with gusto.  She has typed out a study schedule to cover all the bases.  I am so proud of her tenacity.  Considering how difficult this semester has been in every way, she is remarkable for not giving up.  That she would dedicate herself to doing as well as she possibly can on these exams has really surprised me.  I didn't have half of her zeal in high school.  I am just praying that she won't have any med issues or health issues that will interfere with her actually taking the exams.  But I guess that is what the IEP is supposed to cover.  We have a meeting this week to decide on changes for next semester's classes.  We may ask her to be put into a different teacher's math class if we can't get him to change the way he operates.

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