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, November 25, 2009

Sick Again

I feel like this kid gets sick much more often than my other kids. Off to the doctor again today, this time for bad headache and fatigue. I think that in one week I have been to a doctor's office about eight times. Four kids would mean a lot of appointments by nature, but Caroline kind of triples that number. Once I heard someone say they wish they would invent a van with a washer and dryer in the rear because she spends so much time in the car. I was kind of offended by that, thinking the last thing a woman need is to be tied to her laundry everywhere she goes. Now, I get it. My laundry piles up because I AM ALWAYS GONE!! My neighbor across the street is kind of in awe of how many times I am in and out of my driveway in one day. Between basketball practice, three different school pick up and drop-offs, ballet and Nutcracker practice, dentist and doctor appointments, social activities, church activities, vet visits, and grocery shopping, I probably leave my house a dozen times a day. I need a laundress, or a washer and dryer in my van.

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