Caroline had her first meeting yesterday with our new psychiatrist, who is actually her "old" psychiatrist from the time of her first diagnosis at age 7. We loved her, and the only reason we left was that her staff at that time was notoriously slow to respond to refill requests and emergency appointments were nigh to impossible to come by. She has revamped her office and now has emergency appointment times weekly and also has new staffers. We haven't had to refill anything by phone yet so we shall see how that goes. But this doc was so happy to see Caroline so stable and so successful right now. I look forward to working with her again and she didn't balk at all at the number of meds Caroline is on. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! She concurred, thankfully.
I leave today with our oldest for the college drop-off. With the hurricane coming right toward us, landfall only an hour south of us, my husband is going to stay behind to get our house ready for the deluge. Hopefully they won't have to evacuate, but that is a possibility. We will be safer in Florida than they will be up here! I stocked the house with hurricane supplies. I wish we could all be together during the onslaught, but it is what it is. Pray for our family for safe travel and safe hunkering down! I hope all of you on the East Coast will be okay!! Refill those meds now!
A blog for anyone who needs to know they are not alone in raising a bipolar child.
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!
1 comment:
Good luck on the trip and at your house.
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