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, April 1, 2009

Third Day...better

Bill decided to let Caroline sleep until she woke today.  I was not so sure about that, because I was afraid she would wake up mad that she wasn't on time.  He went off to work, and Caroline woke up a half hour before school started, and she was furious indeed.  Thanks honey.  I knew she needed more time to wake up, so I told her I would take her to breakfast.  We went to a coffee shop, she ate, and then said she really needed to go back to bed.  It is so hard to know sometimes what is fear and what is real need.  But knowing she can't function well tired--she didn't fall asleep last night until 10:45 apparently even with her sleep meds--I decided not to risk having to pick her up again.  She did go back at 11:00 and stayed til 3:00 without incident.  She was just fine when I picked her up.  

She must be anxious or something, because normally her sleep meds knock her out and keep her asleep all night.  She is trying to do her homework now after lacrosse practice and she is freaking out again over the work load, even though her teacher said not to worry, just finish what you can.  Her teacher had called me last night to find out how she could help Caroline to have a successful time there.  She was great, very compassionate and understanding.  Today, I dropped off a brochure from the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation which was penned just for educators on the types of accommodations these kids need in class, one for her teachers, and one for the principal.  I hope they read them because I think they will be helpful.  
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