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 15, 2010

Possible New Good Friend

One of the new young ladies at Caroline's private school happens to live a minute from our house, plays lacrosse, and comes from a very nice family. She is also diabetic (type 1) so that makes this friendship even better, because, as I have said many times, managing bipolar disorder is a lot like managing diabetes, with the constant medication adjustments depending on their blood levels, etc. Monitoring their meds becomes a full time job in itself. I don't want Caroline to share that she is bipolar too quickly. She did that before a few years ago with another new friend and it really backfired with the mom obviously discouraging their friendship. I just want this young lady to know Caroline for Caroline, not the girl with the mental illness. If this girl decides not to come back to Caroline's school (she can't stand the disruptive troublemakers either) then I will be very bummed. But at least she plays lacrosse, lives very close by, and I can tell her mom is someone I could trust to be a good rule-enforcer.

Lacrosse tryouts happen this week for summer games. I hope that Caroline will make the select team and be able to play and make up for the lost spring season. We shall see!

Stressed today: prom is tonight for my oldest, and besides all the preparation (hair, brow wax, makeup, is the camera ready, pick up flowers, go to picture session, etc), we had two soccer games, ballet rehearsal, a sleepover last night, the Greek Fest which my kids won't miss, and I am now totally wiped out. But my husband and I are going on a date, so I hope I perk up. I just want to sit, not drive, just sit.
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2 comments:

CC said...

I hope this friendship works out for Caroline. I know how important friends are, as we deal with this also.

May 16, 2010 at 12:04 AM
Jennifer said...

Wishing the best for this friendship. My daughter has type 1 as well as bipolar so I get it! I can say that this girl probably needs someone to be as accepting and understanding as your daughter does. There is a lot of judgement out there towards anyone with diabetes, even though type 1 can't be prevented and is an automimmune disorder...off my soap box now. I hope it works out.

May 17, 2010 at 10:14 AM

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