Time Warp, Part 1

13 Apr Time Warp, Part 1

Ever felt like you were in one? A time warp? I do. Six days, 2,200 miles, two states, one massive waterfall, several Starbucks stops, way too much money in gas, one late night run to VooDoo Doughnut and we are finally home. It’s been a short trip with a long drive for a hastily arranged visit with a well-missed person …. our son.

He’s in Gladstone, Oregon about 20 miles south of downtown Portland. But in distance-speak, Portland is kind of like Los Angeles. You can say you’re in Los Angeles and actually be many miles from it and still be there.

My son has been there for two weeks now. He’s staying at a residential treatment center. I haven’t blogged about this before because there’s no obligation or need to. It’s quite personal and private, which is always a difficult thing to deal with for someone who leads a public life as a pastor. But lines must be drawn somewhere, sometime.

So, why talk about it now? Well, because it’s been a long journey, and still is. Because I’ve found myself in painful positions over the last several weeks as a father, and still am. Because I am learning that a chasm exists of information available to parents who are crossing the same churning waters. Too often feeling like a sinking whirlpool in a gigantic ocean, like the one you may have seen too, pulling the big boat with its unrelenting current after the tsunami that struck Japan.

My son is 15 years old. Almost two years ago, he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder NOS. What’s the NOS? It stands for “not otherwise specified.” I always thought Bipolar Disorder was Bipolar Disorder, but it’s not. There are actually now four different classifications of Bipolar Disorder.

Feel free to ask questions, chew on the information, or whatever. I’ll continue the story in the next post.