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!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

This Could Be a Very Long Summer

With Caroline refusing to go to the pool, a mixed blessing, and all camp money already allocated for everyone for the summer, and most of Caroline's camps cancelled, I am looking ahead to the rest of the summer with some dread. I am hoping to get her hooked on reading other book series besides The Lightning Thief, since she has read and re-read those dozens of times. There are so many places to go and so many things to do around here, but with money very tight in our household, a lot of it is cost-prohibitive. So we have to focus on the free things, which include the beach, the library, and I am trying to think of other things. If you live in the Hampton Roads area, and you know of great free activities, let me know. Caroline still seems manic, too irritable and too hyper-focused, very snappy. She keeps thinking I am yelling at her when I am obviously not. I wish we had some lake house somewhere that we could escape to every summer, for a nice change of scenery, if you know what I mean. Dream on....
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1 comment:

Mom With Bipolar said...

I know this dread well. I have three children, all with mental health issues, and it gets pretty hairy at times. I'm actually worried for my son with BP that I have too much scheduled. But, down time fosters boredom. Boredom fosters mischief and irritability. It seems no win sometimes. Know that I can relate! And, have you seen Family Zip website? It has great ideas, maybe some in your area. There's a link to it on my blog (lower right)

June 25, 2010 at 11:09 AM

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