Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The beginning...

I am starting this blog to further chronicle my life as a mother of a beautiful daughter who lives with Bipolar disorder. I have filled journals with the journey that has been her life. Her name is Lynn. Lynn will be 14 years old this month. I will provide a summary of historical information that led us to where we are today.

Lynn is my first born. When she was born, I was a young mother. She delighted me with how articulate she was at such a young age. I had no experience and nothing to compare her to so I assumed she was quite normal. However, when Lynn turned 2, I knew something was different about her. Still, I dismissed any indication that she was anything other than a normal, healthy little girl. After all the pediatrician said she was perfectly healthy and progressing quite normally. The colic was intense and seemed to end at three months of age as abruptly as it began at six weeks of age. At 2 years old, Lynn would dissolve into fits of sheer terror. The slightest irritation or interruption in her schedule would send her into a wild episode. She would scream with such force that she would lose her little voice. She would thrash with such vigor that all I could do was hold her tight to me and gently reassure her. Her eyes would roll back, her small body would tense and then after what seemed to be hours (actually about 15 minutes) she would collapse in exhaustion. And this was all at the tender age of two...the years to follow- myself, my husband and our younger daughter watched helplessly as an evolution of what we understand now as a menu of very serious mental conditions tightened their grasp on our beautiful daughter and sister, Lynn.

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