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• May, 2008
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Bipolar Facilities List08 May, 2008 | Posted by: kellee

I have gotten several requests for the centers my son has been in. At first I thought it was better to only give them out via personal email but now..considering my son will be 18 in Feb. and will not be transferred anymore...I am going to list them here for you.

First I want to share a few things with fellow bipolar parents:

I KNOW your frustration, guilt, hurt, humiliation, anger, and feeling of helplessness...I have been there and am still there to some degree. Getting help for bipolar children is not easy - even with all the wonderful hospitals and centers in the US - bipolar is still a hard placement. Be prepared to be told "no" a thousand times before someone will help you with placement. My tip to you is to take your child to a psychologist and get EVERYTHING documented. You will not get placement without your child's behavior on paper. Get copies of their school records showing defiant behavior and his medical records from their doctor...ANYTHING that shows their out of control behavior. Keep a journal as well because no one knows the extreme behavior more than you.

Second: Money, money, and more money. This is the one thing that kept my son out of the "premium" facilites. I did not, still don't, have $100,000 to get my son the "top" treatment. If you do then placement will be VERY easy. If you don't here are a few tips. You may not want to do some of the items below because you are proud and don't want to ask for help, I have been there as well. But once you weigh the frustration of daily living with your bipolar child to humiliation you may feel talking to someone who you will never interact with again, your humiliation will quickly go away.

1) Call your local Department of Health Services to see if they can cover your child with Medicaid, or the like, or be able to foot the bill for placement. Be prepared to show your financial documents etc. If they can't help usually they will refer you to a state agency that can.

2) Call your insurance company. Many will cover in-patient treatment if you have a well documented case. They will have a list of facilities they will pay for.

3) Call the state Mental Health facility or mental health ombudsman. Someone should be able to refer you to a placement that has a financial program or scholorships.

4) Call rich uncle Jerry...don't have one? Neither do I but if you do give him a call.

From the contacts above you should be able to find some type of financial help. I was VERY close to placing an ad in the paper begging someone to help with the financial placement for my mentally ill child...sounds tacky but I was desperate! Do what you have to!

Thirdly: Be prepared to be told its all your fault...you did this to your child and you are a terrible parent. I have been told this..or its insinuated...by more people than I care to say. Heres what I say to that - "If I am such a bad parent then why am I desperately seeking treatment for my child? If I was that bad of a parent I would just ignore my child and let the state take him" Sounds harsh but when you are interacting with "the professional psych community" their textbooks have told them all through their 8 years of schooling that its the parents fault. Be prepared for this and know that NO ONE knows what its like living with a bipolar child until they do it so ****'em and their opinions!

Be involved as much as you can because these centers WILL step all over you. They will tell you that since the child is placed with them that you do not need to be involved except for a weekly or monthly therapy call. I had to take control of my sons treatment because I have learned that 99% of parents drop off their kids at these centers and don't want anything else to do with them until they are "better". So parents that are truly interactive in their childrens treatment are rare and it shocks some of these facilities - they just don't know what to do with us! So prepared to fight to be a part of their treatment.

Now I won't lie...the first 6 months of my son's placement was a HUGE relief! I could walk through my house without fear of something being thrown at me or fear when my phone ran that Cody got kicked out of school again for one thing or another so I would have to leave work YET AGAIN! I am here to tell you that THIS IS NORMAL! Let yourself feel that relief because once your body and mind has recouped you will be fresh again to be involved with getting your child better.

Ok..sorry about novel here but the points above needed to be put on the table. Here are the centers that Cody was placed in:

1st Center: Shodair Childrens Hospital. They would have kept Cody but since he was chewing on his wrists they couldn't keep him because they weren't set up for that type of treatment. They do treat bipolar though and are REALLY nice facilities. If you have a local one and your child isn't into really hurting others or himself then give your local one a call. What the hell..call them any way and let them evaluate your child they can refer you.

2nd and 3rd placements: Psych wards. I don't suggest this as all they did was medicate him into submission AND tie him down. Broke my heart but he had to be placed at these facilites until we could find another center that would take him.

The following 3 center are ran by Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. Web address: http://www.psysolutions.com hit the "Facilities" link at the top to find a center near you as they are all throughout the US.

1st Center: San Marcos Treatment Center: Texas. No impressed with this facility AT ALL! My son was thrown in the back room and bullied and beat up just to get his snack for the day. Of course he didn't tell me this until he was released for fear I would get pissed, start complaining, and the staff workers would make it even more hard on him. Therapists weren't that on the ball either. One good thing was that I could talk to him everyday at night during his phone time so the close contact was good for us.

2nd Center: Copper Hills: Utah. THE BEST!! This center had on the ball therapists, scheduled treatment activities, groups, etc. Sweatlodges, outings, and rewards for good behavior that Cody really worked to get. I must commend this facility as they TRULY want to help these kids and were absolutely on top of the modern treatments for bipolar! They highly encourage family interaction as well. Sadly Cody was kicked out because of his assaultive behavior towards the other kids...really made me sad because I really think this facility would have REALLY helped him.

3rd Center: Laurel Oaks: Alabama. This is where I am now. You can read my experiences with this facility throughout the blog. Not impressed. Had to fight to get him the treatment he needs and am still fighting. The head doctor is GREAT and I finally have a good relationship with his therapist that took awhile. I would give this place a 4 out of 10 stars if I had to rate it. They also place alot of kids here with no families, which is sad, and they have a childrens unit which takes kids as young as 4. These smaller babies are something else!!! When I go there for therapy there is always one trying to kick down the door or jumping on staff or kicking the nurses station window to try and break it...these are TRULY out of control babies. Cody calls them "devil children" but I don't ever want to think of a baby as small as 4 a "devil" child...I think they are just really mentally ill children whose parents have no idea how to control them.

Well thats it! These are my experiences with our mental health facilities in the US.

This road is not going to be easy for you bipolar parents...when it comes to your kids nothing like this easy but its necessary to get them the help they need.

If you child was placed in another facility you would like me to add...please contact me on this website and I will add it to the list!

Good Luck to everyone!

2 1/2 more medicines gone :-)05 May, 2008 | Posted by: kellee

Well things went pretty good at the Treatment Team Meeting. Found out that they have completely re-done his meds, for the most part, and he is now on 3 medicines for his headaches...his headaches he gets because of the Lithium. So we kinda of argued back and forth about what to do. The doctor suggested adding more medicine for his headaches (YEAH...you read that right...MORE!) and I suggested maybe beginning to wean him off the Lithium since he is on redundant mood stabilizer medicines (Seroquel and Lithium). Well that just took the doctor back...LOL...these people drive me CRAZY!!
So yes we are weaning him off the Lithium and 2 medicines for the headaches....SO...2 1/2 more medicines off board...YEAH!!

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Been Awhile...22 Apr, 2008 | Posted by: kellee

Sorry its been so long since I have posted! I have been really busy...
Cody is doing better...WE are doing better. We now have family therapy every Monday and I visit him 3 times a week besides that. During my visits I always find a way to get him to talk about things so its like were getting to know each other again. He's been in centers and hospitals for so long that you aren't there for the daily stuff which encompasses "knowing" someone...does that make sense?
The therapy is definately hard but now that we are coming out the other side the weight is lifting a little...and I'm seeing my boy again for the first time in a LONG time...
The monthly Treatment Team meeting is being held on Thursday...I will post what happens!

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No More Depakote!!09 Mar, 2008 | Posted by: kellee

They took him totally off Depakote this week...YEAH!!! But listen to what they did....took him totally off Depakote but added 300 more ml of Seroquel. So I guess its a small victory...maybe...

A list of my sons meds19 Feb, 2008 | Posted by: kellee

My son came for an 8 hour visit this past weekend and when I picked him up I was given this thick packet of envelopes. They contained his medications and instructions. I have posted the list below...and people wonder why I think they are medicating him into submission!

» Read more |

Heres my baby..11 Feb, 2008 | Posted by: kellee

I wanted to post this photo for you all. Codys and my birthday was last week and he turned 17. Look at the other photos of him on the site and you can see how much he's changed in just a few months!
Just wanted to show off my handsome boy :-)

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