Hi Everyone,My name is Cheryl. I have been diagnosed bipolar for the last four years. I have had the symptoms of being bipolar all of my life. When I was 13 years old I was molested by a close friend of the family and date raped at the age of 15. I always felt it was my fault, so I never told anybody. I held all the hurt inside and subsequently began to act out in my teenage years. My parents did not know what to do with me. Right after I graduated highschool I joined the Army. I have always been an overachiever. I did well in the service. It was here I met my husband. Shortly after we were married he began to drink excessively. We had two beautiful daughters and were finished with our tour in the military. We moved to Indiana to begin our new life . I had saved four years for my college tuition. My husband had gotten into the money and spent all of it that I had saved during the military tour. He was bipolar also, but had not been dignosed at this time. He abandoned the girls and me. I continued to raise the girls by myself and went to college as a single mom.I became a Registered Nurse and worked in Critical Care in open heart recovery. I moved to Arizona and married a minister. I thought my life was finally going in the right direction. He ended up being a wolf in sheeps clothing. During the divorce, he accussed me of everything you could imagine in order to gain custody of our son. It caused me to question my faith. My son finally spoke to my psych doc and formal charges wre brought against him and he is no longer able to see my son. My first husband and I have gotten back together. He has been alcohol free for about 7 years now. He has been diagnosed as bipolar and that is a daily struggle. He has gambled away all my retirement savings and almost lost our home more times than I can count.
When my oldest daughter was 14 she was also diagnosd as bipolar. She also gave birth to our granddaughter at 14. I took the time off work to homeschool her so she could finish highschool and still be at home with her daughter. She is now in college majoring in engineering.
My second daughter was raped when she was 13 years old. This was around the same time my other daughter was pregnant. She contracted a venereal disease which caused adhesions on her uterus. She required several operations to remove the adhesions. She now has endometriosis due to the infection and may not be able to have children. She is scheduled for another surgery.My son has been dignosed with ADHD and is also, bipolar.
I also have been diagnosed as an Insulin Dependant Diabetic. It has been difficult to control my glucose levels due to the stress levels I have been confronted with. I have two herniated discs in my back and have horrible joint pain. I have to take a lot of medications for the pain and to control the ups and downs of the bipolar disorder. I am also a very brittle diabetic. I have ended up in the hospital numerous times being resusitated due to a low sugar. I am not giving up. I am back in school pursuing my Masters in Nursing. I am taking one day at a time and trusting God.
Love & Peace Cheryl
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