Wanted to give a quick update that while my mom's mood has not been balanced (she has bipolar disorder) she does sound better each time I talk to her. There is less grossness anyway. She is going to the new psychiatrist and complying with prescribed medicines. My father sounds less strung out everytime I talk with him. There was a cost to him getting the leverage to get her to take her medicine but it is small relative to the damage from her last acute mania episodes.
Your prayers, and the prayers of others, as well as the cooperative efforts of my sister, my Dad, my brother, my Dad's priest, a few of their friends, my Dad's lawyer have been successful. As I wrote in my first post on this situation, we have all been in God's Hands all along, as always. It was good we finally got Dad's cooperation to intervene this time.
Last acute mania episode had the following financial damage (the physical and emotional damage can't be measured as easily):
- approximately $474,000 net loss (sometimes my Dad says "1/2 million", sometimes $650,000) due to unscrupulous people praying on my mother's mental illness . . . only found out recently this could have been criminally prosecuted
- $34,000 truck purchase by HVAC worker that agreed to go into business with my mom---after she paid for his truck with her credit card she didn't hear from him again
- $300,000 across 3 different investment frauds
- $40,000 for bonding newly made "friends" out of jail
- $100,000 for townhome purchased to provide housing for "friends" from AA meetings
- bankruptcy
- second mortgage that took many more years of work past when my Dad should have been retired for age and chronic pain from job injuries to pay off.
This acute Mania episode should be less than $20,000:
- $7000 in legal fees (lawyer, court filings)
- $5000 in medicine
- $2000 in travel
- $? hospital bill after insurance
Much better . . . while the prayers my family has offered over the years haven't always been answered the way we would have liked when we prayed them, there is no question that God hears us, and as I always ask Mary on the 4th Sorrowful Mystery, that she is interceding for us as my parents carry the cross of my mother's mental illness. I have tremendous confidence in her motherly care and prayers.
Thank you for your prayers. Thought you might enjoy this beautiful song by JJ Heller. My other favorites from her are "What Love Really Means" and "My Savior's Love Endures" which is the Magnificat and the Glory Be set to music.
The amazing lyrics are contained in the video and also pasted below, in case you tire that many of the images are repeated many times over the course of the song, especially during the chorus.
Your Hands by JJ Heller
I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away
You would take my pain away
I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands
When you walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know you hate to see me cry
One day you will set all things right
Yeah, one day you will set all things right
When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands
Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still
Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still
When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave you
When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave
I never leave your hands
Love that song! How blessed it is that we can be comforted by music when life's trials seem to overwhelm us! Continued prayers for you Colleen!
ReplyDeleteAnne, I find music is a lot like a rainbow, and really like grace. It is a passive appreciation on my part, and just the unexpected beauty and sublime understanding that there is a message of love from God not so hidden under the surface of the beauty that captured the attention of a daughter so prone to distraction. We had a beautiful double rainbow here this past Monday. did you see it to in Wisconsin? I had to pull over and take pictures.
DeleteI'm happy to hear that things are improving a bit, Colleen. My mouth dropped at the financial losses though - that's a huge amount of money. My dad has gone on spending sprees during manic phases but never like this. I am praying for all of you.
ReplyDeleteIt would take your breath away more if you knew my Dad's hourly rate. He has never spent anything on himself. He always makes a point of saying how the money means nothing. He loves her and us so much.
DeleteColleen, I've been thinking about you so much. So happy that your mom and dad are both improving. Your dad sounds like a very, very good man. God will (is) surely blessing him in ways that may not yet be apparent. The financial loss is staggering! May God always provide what is needed.
ReplyDeleteThe song is lovely, and don't we all fell that way at times. It's so hard when prayers seem to go unanswered, but we know that God is always answering...just in His Own time and way. (I'm preaching to myself right now...re my son.)
God bless you dear friend. I pray that you will have a most blessed and peaceful weekend.
Love you,
Patricia
I do continue to pray for your Colleen..Thank you for the song...such beautiful lyric. +
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen,
ReplyDeleteStunning financial numbers...it is criminal how your mother was duped by predators. Is your mom connected at all with a mental health agency? Someone else to help monitor her symptoms? When she was spending the money, was she secretive about it? Or out in the open? Your dad is so busy with work that he may need the help. Praying for your parents and all of you!