yea! 

lbj - this is such great news. Makes all the sacrifice worth the pain. When is your visit?

Thanks for sharing your life with us.

qcr

Good to hear, lbjnltx.      I am so glad that things seem to be progressing so well for your DD.



,

peaceplease

lbj - so thankful for all the good choices your D13 is making. she is so young and you have been such a great advocate - successfully - for her. There is also gratitude that you have the resources to make this happen for her.

qcr

just talked to my BPDd-13 for our weekly social call.

they have told  her she will be ready for a home visit soon!  

we agreed that it would be awesome if she could be home for her birthday  next month.

she did express her fear to fly.  she has only flown once and that was to get to the residential treatment center...it was a bit of a rough flight and she was definitely uneasy.  i just validated that it was indeed a rough flight and that most of the people on the plane probably felt a little stressed. I also pointed out that  she made it through and landed safely on the ground.  i'm sure she will have more to say about this as the time to come home gets nearer.

she told me that the Positive Peer Culture leader promised to put in some good words for  her to be able to go off campus during our family weekend if she would work hard in Positive Peer Culture group therapy.  she says "i am working really really hard".  i am so looking forward to spending some time with her.  

lbjnltx

we will have our family therapy session on thurs.  i pray that it will be another great one!

my saying has always been "i want my real daughter back"

dh saying:  "she is still in there somewhere"

DEar LBJ:  What wonderful news!  Your friends here are so happy for you and your DD and your entire family---I especially appreciate your logging your journey for us to follow.  You give me hope that this BPD thing is not a psychological "death sentence", and that with enough energy, prayer, luck and perseverance, there can indeed sometimes be a happy ending.  Or at least some brighter days ahead.  You are giving everybody hope that things might get better for our dear ones with BPD and their families.  You are an inspiration.  May God continue to guide you, your DD, her therapists, and her wonderful horse, who is surely a part of her progress!   Love,  Swampped  

getting ready to leave for visit w/BPDd-13 at the residential treatment center.   

take good care of yourselves dear friends...

will be back monday.

don't forget to pay it forward ... check the new members board when you have time and welcome the new parents who come here looking for help.



lbjnltx

How fun, loving and inspiring!   Enjoy the rest of the visit with equal joie de vive.

LD

lbj- so happy for all of you that D13 has blossomed so. Can tell it feels wonderful to be a 'mom' for a little while. Hope saying good-bye, see you later is not too hard.

qcr  

Sounds like good healing tears to me,     certainly tears of love,

LD

thanks ld, and qcarol for your encouraging words...so happy to have someone to help me celebrate these milestones on this very long road to healthy.

the next parent "weekend" is in december...20,21 I think.  it is such a short time...not sure why as this past "weekend" was thurs-sunday.  anyway...had social call w/BPDd-13 today and her therapist told her that if she continues to do well she will get to come home w/us on the 21st of december for a family visit.  wow!  if that happens we will continue at the pace of being 3 months ahead of the normal falcon ridge schedule. 

still trying to figure out how to work this next visit...we could drive but don't know what kind of road conditions we would run into...could fly...cost is a major factor...BPDd-13 hates long road trips...if we drive we could bring her little wiener dog to keep her company on the long drive...i don't know...much to consider! 

during our family therapist session on thursday when we got there I asked BPDd-13 if she was still being "bothered" by the voices and seeing shadows...her response..."well, I think maybe I was just mishearing things and turning my head so it looked like things were moving"...don't know what to make of it...could be that the depression has lifted and elevated these symptoms...could be that the change (decrees in abilify) has alleviated these symptoms...could be that this is BPDd-13s way of getting out of a big whopper that she told...either way it was good to hear that she has a better grip on what is real.

lbjnltx

yesterday was our weekly family therapy on the phone

family therapy session #13

started the session by talking about our visit w/BPDd-13 and any concerns we had...basically none.  talked about our favorite part of the visit.  BPDd-13 was basketball in the park and going to church.  she asked therapist how she could go to church every sunday...they are going to work on that.

t said that BPDd-13 is still hearing the voices ... when it is quiet...not as often...no more shadows of late.   ?  here we go again.  therapist said pdoc wants to increase the abilify again...we just decreased it 2 months ago...don't see how that is going to address the issue as she was on the abilify (even stronger dose) when she first started seeing shadows and hearing the voices calling her name.  BPDd-13 says it is scary to her.  :'(

t asked BPDd-13 why she was so sad and quiet when she met w/the pdoc the day before.  she gives pdoc the impression that she is much more depressed than she actually is.  the nurse explained to pdoc that she had been laughing and joking just before he saw her...anyway...BPDd-13 said that she was upset by an inappropriate comment made by a male teacher in class...seeing the pdoc (a man) triggered her uncomfortable memory.  therapist had not been told of this incident even though BPDd-13 filed an official complaint w/a support staff member as soon as the class let out. 

GOOD FOR HER!  the way I see it...she recognized that the comment was inappropriate...before going to frr she would have probably enjoyed that! ,

she realized her feelings ment that her boundary had been violated...she was not afraid to stand up for herself...she acted appropriatly and filed the complaint instead of having any kind of a confrontation...GOOD GOOD GOOD !

we talked about school options when BPDd-13 comes home...she doesn't want to go to the very small private high school I found...but is willing and excited to change public schools...Good too!  therapist asked her not to throw out the option of a private education just yet...she said to BPDd-13:

"in your small town options are limited...the more option_____" and BPDd-13 finished her sentence "the more opportunities".  we are tabling the issue for now and letting BPDd-13 think about her options once more.

t also informed us that BPDd-13 will be able to have a 3 day entirely offcampus visit w/us next month in preparation for her home visit most likely at Christmas...that is a suprise to us!  hope we can work it out.  husband is concerned about taking so much time off from work and the expense of the trip, cars, hotels, food, ...  every time we go up I am afraid we will spend the $ needed to keep BPDd-13 at the residential treatment center until she is FINISHED!

we said our goodbye.

20 min. later the therapist called to tell me that she spoke w/senior staff and the male teacher is being reprimanded for his comment. I learned that the comment was not directed at my d or any of the other girls...it was just a general statement that was inappropriate in a classroom full of teen girls.

also, therapist told me that the authors of the book "i don't have to make everything all better" ...Gary and Joy Lundberg are scheduled to be the guest speakers at the family weekend in march.  this will be the official kick off for making their book one of the ones that is required reading for falcon ridge ranch.  this march family weekend will most likely (God willing) be the weekend that my d graduates from the program!  how fantastic! especially since I am working so hard to get this book out there for people to read and benefit from here at ftf.  if you haven't read it yet order it!  if you have...please answer the poll question on the book review board.  this book is the feature article on the home page.  I have asked skip to place it on the recommended reading list for ftf.

t and I agreed to schedule a conference call w/BPDd-13's pdoc when he next visits falcon ridge.  I have a difficult time communicting w/him over the phone.  that will give me some time to do some research on meds./addressing the "voices".  was reading some excerpts from a book "little girl lost" written by a BPD...she also heard voices...

when I came online, there was an email from the t.  here it is:


I just wanted to let you know that right after our phone call ****went out to equine therapy and told Carolle and Mike the phone call was the best phone call she had every had and your compliments about her progress made her year! They said they have never seen her so happy.


thanks for reading and taking this miraculous journey with me.



lbjnltx

It is really great to hear about your daughter's progress in treatment. 

Falcon Ridge is a first rate facility.  I am so glad that it is working out for your DD.