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!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Caroline Leaves Tomorrow

Today wasn't a very eventful day.  In fact, I think I was avoiding eventfulness today by being gone most of the afternoon, getting a pedicure, or helping Mae with her giant ancestry project due on Monday.  Honestly, I felt extremely stressed out from the time I woke up and still do feel that crushing anxiety I sometimes struggle with.  I am sure it is about Caroline leaving for months.  We had a nice dinner for her tonight, chicken and dumplings, and the girls gave her cards (even Elizabeth, at my prompting) and we gave her a journal to write her thoughts in.  I also took her to pick out a new purity ring, since she lost hers at an amusement park last Saturday.  It is silver, with two hearts intertwined, diamond chips to make it sparkle.  I hope they let her wear it.  She really wants to have it on.  She feels insecure somehow without it. 

She had a hard time today, very agitated, worried about whether she had packed everything. Watching her try to pack and "organize" is painful.  Her executive function deficits really show when she needs to think and plan.  It is as if her brain goes haywire and starts smoking if she is asked to look at a situation and figure out what needs to happen in which order.  She is pitiful in that way.  I hope the RTC will help her in this regard.  Well, they have to get up at 5:00 tomorrow so I'd better get off to bed too.


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