Kimberly was born in 1960. When she was about one month old Mom, Dad and the doctors realized she had severe health problems. She was hospitalized at that time and was so happy and sweet natured, struggling all the while for her life, that the nurses there called her "Spunky". Eventually that was what Dad and the rest of the family nicknamed her, too. No doctor at the time ever decided what exactly was wrong with her (that they told us, anyway), but she could not digest her food and her growth was temporarily stunted. It wasn't until Kim was about five that they realized she also had some borderline retardation. We believe that many of her problems, if not most, stemmed from the problems at her birth delivery (see "My Parents Together" page). The school system in Michigan put her in a "special education" program at a different elementary school than the one that Debbie and, eventually, Jacki attended. Every year of her first ten years of life we were frightened that it would be her last.
She graduated only one year late, though, in 1979. After high school she was much happier, working at the company business in the trim department of Production. She got her driving license and bought her own car (used) and joined a local bowling league.
When she turned 23, though, the real blow struck; Kim became psychotic and was finally diagnosed as schizophrenic. For those who don't know, this is NOT what people call a "split personality". She only has one personality, but she has "aural" disturbances; she hears "voices" almost continually. This is one of the principle symptoms of schizophrenia. There is no cure. There is medication that can make the symptoms less noticeable. Some people can bring there life around to a point where they have a little more contentment; but their former life is gone. Schizophrenia does not run in our family the way manic depression does, the doctors believe, in this case, it was probably due to the brain damaged incurred at her birth. Medication has helped a lot, but as anyone familiar with schizophrenia knows, it is not perfection. It quelled the "voices" in her head for about ten years; but the heavy medication "flattens" your personality and has very strong side effects. Actually psychotherapy is of little use except for the doctor being able to monitor how well the medication is working. Many families of schizophrenics are able to keep the person at home, but this is not necessarily recommended, it can come at the expense of the rest of the family. A therapist I was going to at the time recommended a school in Kentucky where Kim could live, no longer having to try to compete with her other siblings, and learning to help other people with various disabilities. Although we would have preferred something much closer, in 1987 my parents visited the school and were very excited and pleased about it. It's a wonderful "school", private, and in a beautiful country setting. Other doctors later told us we were extremely lucky to have found this school as there were not many others in the U.S. and and this school's reputation was excellent. Once Kim became aware of its existence, she begged to be allowed to go there. So, in August of 1987 Mom and Dad flew with Kim and she went to live at the school in Kentucky.
Kim comes home two or three times a year, and two or three of us kids, along with Mom, go there each spring for "Family Weekend". Her time is very structured and this is key for dealing with schizophrenia. When she comes home for visits we can tell she is very fatigued and eager to get back home to Kentucky by the end of the visit. She has, at various times, worked in the office at the school and played in the bell choir, touring with them. Right now she works at a local church daycare as an assistant and is taking computer classes. The school has many vacation trips available for the students and we arrange for her to go on as many of these as she cares to go on. She still has some other physical problems, epilepsy (which never showed up until about fifteen years ago) and joint problems. Sometimes it is very hard to find our little "Spunky" inside the schizophrenia, but she is there, still struggling to endure. She hears voices almost continually now, although she is still aware that they are not real. Schizophrenia is a lonely war fought in your mind, but it is hoped one day there will be a cure. Anyone that wants to know more about schizophrenia can get information from NAMI, the National Alliance for Mental Illness and www.schizophrenia.com. Pictures below, scroll down... |
