When reading this blog, it is easy to imagine a life that is ideal. But our lives have been anything but that lately! This blog was begun just days after our newest grandson arrived. It had been a difficult pregnancy for Adriana, our daughter, as she suffered extreme emotional unrest the last five months of the pregnancy, complaining of anxiety and clearly slipping into a deep depression. Her fragile condition required two hospital stays in the local psychiatric facility, one in September and another in November..
For a few days, following the birth of Benjamin in late December, Adriana did well, and seemed to be back to her old self. But her recovery was short-lived. Soon Adriana was locked back in the depression. Fearing that she was a danger to herself, her doctors called in the state examiner who put Adriana on a protective hold in the local mental health hospital once again. We have become witnesses to the devastating effects of postpartum depression, and our experience has shown how little help is available for families struggling with this problem.
Medication and talk-therapy have done little to improve our daughter's condition. Insurance coverage is very limited, adding a hefty financial burden to a young family that is already stressed to the max.
Our research in resources, medical facilities, counselors, psychiatrists...continues, as we try to find the right path to getting our daughter well again. Yesterday our plans to fly to Houston's Menninger Clinic were thwarted when a last minute phone call from the insurance company held out the hope that the insurer might extend benefits and pay for Adriana's care at an in-patient facility in her "network". (Menninger is not in her network.) Today we learned that the benefits have been exhausted and there will be no extension. This latest turn of events is unfortunate because we had waited about 10 days for a bed to become available at Menninger. Now we look ahead to the future of Adriana's care with uncertainty. Our plans will probably take us out of state, as there is no appropriate facility for postpartum depression in our area.
Because Adriana is quite overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood, a nanny has been hired to help out with the children. Meanwhile beautiful baby Benjamin is thriving and growing quickly, on the verge of smiling already, oblivious to the chaos and the storm going on all around him. We have not been blind to the blessing of a healthy baby boy, but we long for the day when we will see Adriana's smile and hear her laughter again. It is our constant prayer that God will make her well soon.
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