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!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

I Have a Dream Too

Who cannot know the gripping speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave in Washington DC, calling for equal rights for all men and women in our country.  "I have a dream..." is still regarded as one of the greatest speeches of all time.

I have a dream too.

I have a dream that one day scientists will find a cure for early-onset bipolar disorder.

I have a dream that one day bipolar children will be treated compassionately by their families, teachers, neighbors, and lawmakers, and will have equal access to all the services they need.

I have a dream that one day there will be the ability to determine exactly what medications each child needs according to sophisticated brain imaging technology. 

I have a dream that Childrens Hospital of the King's Daughters will open a beautiful, cutting edge child psychiatric unit for the children of Hampton Roads, offering the latest in acute care, as well as residential care, including neuropsychiatry, neurofeedback, and therapies such as occupational, recreational, art, music, animal, and yoga, as well as a huge, wonderful playground.

I have a dream that these special children will no longer have to suffer from social isolation, embarrassment, shame, and educational difficulties because of the amount of school they miss because of their illness.

I have a dream that this terrible handicap will one day be eradicated so that all bipolar people are free of this dream-robbing disorder.

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1 comment:

amber said...

CHKD definitely needs something like this. VABPC just doesn't cut it (to understate it most rigidly).

April 15, 2009 at 8:56 AM

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