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, June 24, 2009

I Secretly Wish She Could Stay

Yes, I wish Caroline could just stay there, only because she is thriving there and she hasn't thrived in years.  She is as happy and functional as she has ever been.   She misses us terribly I know.  I don't miss her yet, but I know I will.  We don't know that she will do as well when she comes home.  At the RTC she has a very tightly  structured day that our family couldn't reproduce--life happens here.  I aim for order but nothing ever is perfect.  And her school situation there is ideal: small class size with teachers who understand bipolar kids (and truly care for them) and can give her plenty of one-on-one attention and who can challenge her right where she is at in every subject.  There are no schools that I know of like that here.  Even the special school here that claims to do that didn't really meet her educational needs.   So it's hard to want to bring her back when you know that life here will be so much more challenging.  We are still unsure of what school she should go to in September, and I am quite anxious about it.  The ED classes (emotionally-disturbed) can be full of kids who are close to going to juvenile detention, and she doesn't fit that at all.  I pray for wisdom.
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