Saturday, August 30, 2008

Day 19 on Lexapro.

8:32 pm

Today I am tired.

On a day I could have slept in, I woke a little earlier than necessary. I tried to go back to sleep, but Em was ready to rise.

Good news awaited me, though.

I was resting in bed when I received a text from E. Liz saying she was preparing a sorry-you’re-bipolar casserole just for me. My heart leapt with joy. I couldn’t believe it. A covered dish was on its way at last!

Then, one of my favorite friends from choir called. Just to see how I was doing. Again, I was thrilled. It was wonderful to know that people had been thinking of me, and that there was seemingly no fallout from the Great Bipolar Outing of 2008. From what I could gather, the reaction to Wednesday night’s speech had been nothing but supportive and loving. That, of course, is a huge relief.

While on the phone, my friend relayed a wonderful story to me. She said that she and another friend had taken over managing the youth bell choir at church. This past week had been their first meeting, and, as leaders, they had encouraged the young people to state their name and share an interesting tidbit about themselves. Finally, they came upon one girl who proudly introduced herself and added, “Hmm. An interesting thing about me? I’m bipolar!” I am going to say that I think this is one of the best things I’ve ever heard. It thrills me that there’s a kid out there who a) knows they are bipolar, and b) isn’t ashamed of it. I’m just amazed. If I had known I was bipolar at that age, I would have been thrilled about it, too. There is no telling what kind of grief could have been avoided with that knowledge under my belt.

*************

The morning went quickly and Em and I enjoyed our first round of casserole for lunch. After attempting to clean up and lolling around the house a while, I put Em down for a nap and set about to take one as well. I was successful and slept for a good two hours, which was a good thing.

This was a day I did not feel well.

My head hurt and I was so very tired. I thought this was probably a result of the panic I experienced yesterday, but I also realized at some point that I had forgotten to take my medication this morning. Oh no! Since I hadn’t gone to work, I hadn’t had any familiar routine to remind me to go for my pill case. Darn.

I think tomorrow I will tape a note to my mirror that says, “Dear Lori, please don’t forget to take me. Love, Lexapro.”