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 9, 2010

New Psychotherapist

Caroline met with her new psychologist today. I would say it went very well. I hope Caroline will really connects with her. Having one therapist consistently for a long period of time is vitally important to a bipolar kid and his or her success in so many ways.

Today was a bad day for me, from starting with a cloudy, dreary day, to dealing with some hard financial things, forgetting about two dental appointments, driving back and forth to three other appointments, to dealing with the three youngest kids at home bickering, the oldest of the four whining about senior pictures, travel plans, "I don't have enough clothes" and me having very little energy to engage them constructively. Just one of those days you would rather forget. I am feeling the letdown after the big end of school events, the award ceremonies, the parties, the gifts for teachers, etc. Jane took her end of the year homeschooling standardized test yesterday and did amazing, so at least that is behind us.
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