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, August 12, 2009

Yes!

Today my husband and I met with the Principal of the private school that Caroline attended for three days in April of this year. She was not in a good place then, and basically freaked out to the point that we knew she needed to go to a residential treatment center. Now that she is coming home after four months, we have to find a school for her, having ruled out the public middle schools in our area. We weren't sure if they would really take her back, even though it sounded like they would. I had to hear it in person. So, I am very glad to report that he was more than glad to have Caroline back. He was not fazed at all by the bad start last spring. So she will start on September 1st with her classmates, in a combined class of 7th and 8th graders, a total of thirteen students in the class including her. Perfect size, and hopefully it will be a perfect fit. We shall see. I just wish we could get back the $800 we put down last spring for one month of school and fees. Three days of classes is not a great ratio of education to cost.
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