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, March 23, 2009

Never a Dull Moment

Our lives are very exciting with Caroline in it.  We never know what a day will bring.  Like yesterday when she took my sister's dog for a walk in her neighborhood, decided to try a path into the woods (bad idea), then got so lost she cried out for help until someone heard this faint voice and went to go find out who was in trouble.  She was covered in mud.  I had no idea she had even gone past the end of the street.  

Then today, while in a very agitated state because of who-knows-what, she went out front and decided to take it out on my bushes.  I went out there and told her to stop whacking at the bushes, she told me to shut up (one of her newest and fondest things to say to me), and I was ugly back (not a great Mommy moment), and went back inside.  The next thing I heard was her outside, crying in a very scared manner.  She runs inside holding her head, which was gushing blood down her face.  Apparently she turned from the bushes to the dog leash and was swinging it around in anger, until she hit herself in the forehead with the metal end of the leash.  Natural consequences I would say.  I took one look at it, noted the gaping hole, and said yep you need stitches.  So off to the ER for the long wait.  Luckily my husband relieved me after an hour or so.  She came home with three stitches and instructions not to play lacrosse for the week.  Great.  Just when we got off to a good start.  Oh well.  

One day in the life of Caroline Denisovitch.  (In college, I actually didn't get it until after I had finished the whole book that all of that happened in one day to that guy.  I mean that was a lot of stuff to happen in 24 hours.  Now I understand how that can be, sadly.)

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