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!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Not My Favorite Day (week?)

What can I say.  Another crazy day.  More doctor appointments, some planned, some not.  I just really kind of had it today.  Honestly, I'm just sick of being a caregiver 24/7.  I wanted to just get in the car and drive away and just get away, from everything and everyone.  Having Caroline in our family is like having someone walking around every day with a gaping, oozing wound, ugly and putrescent, something you shrink from lookng at,  but you have to look at it everyday knowing you are powerless to cure this constantly bleeding gash.  I lost it at her today when she declared she was not going to lacrosse practice.  We have spent so much money on her, and often she will quit before she has really started out of fear of failure.  I felt awful later for blasting her, because I know she woud be completely different if it wasn't for this uncaring disorder.  I really was overcome by anger this afternoon and just kind of drove around until I ended up at a friend's house for a glass of wine and girl-time.  She was so great, just letting me vent.  She doesn't completely understand, but she is there for me, and I am so grateful.
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1 comment:

domandkat said...

When I first started reading this entry I thought you needed some girl time. Glad you got it! If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, you can certainly have some girl time with me!

BTW I blasted my kids the other night too - and they don't have the difficulty of being bipolar either. I'd just gotten pee'd on after A had wet his pants 3 other times in one day! AND the waiter didn't bring the check in a timely manner so we could leave the CG dinner early so as to not have even HAD this situation!

Come to think of it, we would've need a BOTTLE of wine between us instead of just a glass :-)

March 12, 2009 at 8:41 AM

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