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!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Concussion, CAT scan, and More...

Caroline suffered a concussion yesterday at lacrosse practice.  Another girl ran into her while her head was down and smacked her to the ground pretty hard.  My husband took her to the ER where the docs determined that she couldn't see clearly (black out spots in her vision) and was having memory problems.  A CAT scan didn't reveal anything too bad, but she won't be playing lacrosse this week, and maybe not next week.  And the real bummer is that this week was one of the only two lacrosse camps happening in our area this summer and I already paid the fee.  Hopefully I can get that back!

And More...

Caroline's standardized testing didn't go so great this year.  She kind of bombed the math portion which didn't surprise us at all given the many fits and starts we had in Algebra all year.  But still, I was consumed with disappointment and guilt for a few days.  She actually scored below grade level and this was a pretty hard fact to swallow.  But hopefully with the algebra tutoring she will have all summer, given for free by a dear friend from church (we are SO grateful) she will catch up by the fall.  The placement test she took at the private school showed the same math weaknesses, so this wasn't a fluke.  The good news is that all of her other scores were above grade level.  Not anywhere as high as her two younger sisters' off the chart scores, but still above average.  Life is hard when you are bipolar, and it seems to affect every aspect  of life, and academics are not an exception.

I am reading a great book right now by Jerry Bridges called "Trusting God."  Greatly encouraging when life is falling apart.  I have been freaking out a lot lately about the near future and beyond, how are we going to pay for private school, what is next for my husband's brain tumor treatment, is Caroline going to do well at this new school,  will we be able to pay for the college expenses for our oldest daughter that the GI bill doesn't cover, should we sell our house and move to another school district this fall, what job will be next when my husband's job ends in late July?  All of this had me trembling and frankly depressed and scared to death.  But I had forgotten where my gaze should be, all day long, every moment, not at the giants I am facing, but at the God who has everything in His hands and who isn't surprised by anything, who never wrings His hands in worry, but has it all in His control.  I have shifted my gaze and am doing much better.

May you find peace and hope today in the midst of the storms!

2 comments:

domandkat said...

Praise God for that last paragraph. How easily we turn our gaze to the task at hand and not keep our FOCUS on Him. I am with you girlfriend!

Hopeful said...

Wow, you sure do have a lot on your plate! Trusting God is certainly a good book to read right now. I read that a few years ago and loved it. Praying that your gaze stays fixed on the loving eyes of Jesus!