Home!

We were able to bring Mary home from the hospital on Monday afternoon! Praise the Lord! She was so happy to see her family, pets, and friends, and to sleep in her own bed again. So far, she is holding up okay. I do not think that she is completely stable. I still see some edginess in her. She is still manic, but she is a happy manic right now. I will take every minute of happy, joyful Mary that we can and worry about the crash that follows if and when it happens later. Mark was able to come home from West Virginia for the release, which was so great! She was able to go to school for the "big dig" on Tuesday and is going on a field trip with her class today. And some of the best news we received was that we do not have to take her back for PHP (partial hospitalization program) unless this week goes horribly. The doctor recognized that what we are dealing with is mostly medical, not behavioral. When Mary is stable, the behaviors are not a problem.

The new anti-anxiety medication that they started her on has the potential to make her cycle more, not less, but hopefully will at least help her deal with the obsessive anxiety that has been triggering these horrible melt downs and suicide threats. It can take up to 3 months to see the full effect of the medication, and it is possible that she will have to go up to a higher dosage to get the most benefit out of it. We are hoping that she will stay stable long enough for the medications to kick in and also that she will be able to apply some of the new coping techniques that she learned while in the hospital. For now, we are just extremely grateful for all the prayers, support, and help that everyone gave to us, and to have our daughter back under our roof.