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, March 22, 2009

The Daily Dive

Today I had to drive Caroline around in the car for an hour while she slept--just like when you have a baby that melts down but then won't take a nap. Car travel is calming to her for some reason, so we use it not infrequently. She was fine after that, until about 5:00 when she takes her daily dive. The late afternoon and evening are always her worst times. Remember the hell hour before dinner when you had toddlers and preschooolers? Well, we have one who seems to not have outgrown it. Very inconvenient when you have dinner to make, three other kids who need your attention, and a husband who has come home from work and instead of spending time with you, he has to spend the early evening doing damage control so we can all have some peace later. Maybe.  Sometimes I think it is her craving for sensory stimulation that hasn't been satisfied, sometimes I think it is teenage histrionics, sometimes I think it's the devil. I'm exaggerating but that's just how it feels.
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