Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Announcement--Our Family is Growing . . .


It is April's Fools Day and I know we have tried the pregnancy gag in the past (and the joke ended up on us). However, don't read too much into that title--I just couldn't help it!

Just as we turned off the answering machine to leave for Spring Break, we received a call from Sawyer's endocrinologist giving us the results of the in-depth growth hormone test Sawyer took at the beginning of March.

They tested the levels of 7 different items. If any one of the levels is rated above a 10, the diagnosis will not apply. Sawyer's highest level was 6.7 and his lowest was 1.75. So, it's official, he is growth hormone deficient.

It takes a month for the doctor's office to apply through insurance (it's not cheap--finally, we are getting a return on our insurance premiums all these years!) Sawyer will also have an MRI to make sure there is not a dormant brain tumor, which if there was, would also grow once receiving the hormones.

From our reading, this is a safe procedure similar to the daily small prick of a diabetic test. Sawyer will take this until he stops growing. The doctor expects him to grow at least 3 inches a year until then. The worst side effect will be pain at the growth plates.

We are excited to see him catch up physically with his peers.

2 comments:

Alisha said...

Wow! That's big news. I hope Sawyer won't be claustrophobic for the MRI. I surely was . . . .

Nice try on the pregnancy gag, Heidi. I do remember that one from years gone by. :)

meghan said...

Crazy! I didn't know all of this was going on. My friend Mindy's 3 year is doing just the opposite. He has to have shots every 28 days to slow his growth down! When he was 1 his body thought it was hitting early puberty!! Hopefully all goes well. It is amazing what can be done.