October 2008

Yesterday, Kyle had another Endocrinologist appointment. At the last appointment in June, a bone scan was done to determine his bone age. The results of the scan showed that Kyle's bones are 12 1/2 years old, despite his actual age of 15. This is a good thing. Since his bones think he is younger than he actually is, this will buy him more time in which to grow. Now if you've been following the blog, you may remember in March of 2007, the bone scan done on Kyle determined his bone age to be 13 years 6 months. I'm not actually sure his bones could have gotten younger, but then again, I'm not a doctor. I mentioned to his doctor the discrepency in the two bone age scans and he chalked it up to two different people determining the results. Either way, his bones think they are younger than they actually are, which is good.

Kyle was 5'1 1/2" and weighed 115 lbs. Two inches and twelve pounds since his June appointment. The nurses fawned over him and suggested he had been eating his Wheaties. The doctor came in and reviewed the chart and pin-pointed where Kyle was on the growth curve. He is still below the 5th percentile on height, but the direction of his progress should have him above the 5th percentile by February 2009. As far as weight, he has moved from below the 5th percentile, to around the 25th percentile. He's not chubby at all, just has more mass to him. In review, in April 2007, Kyle was 4'8" and 76 lbs. He's grown 5 1/2 inches and put on 39 lbs. I call that progress.

His doctor was so pleased with the progress, he did not increase his growth hormone dosage. Next appointment, February 2009.

Picture taken December 2008.

Insurance Coverage Continues

We received another letter from our insurance today. I knew it was time for them to review the growth hormone coverage. Every six months, they review it to see if they will continue the coverage. Luckily, they approved it for another six months!

Latest Updates

On June 5, Kyle went to his Pediatrician for his 4th testosterone shot. He was 4'11 1/2 (finally added that 1/2 inch) and weighed 99 lbs. On June 19th, Kyle had a doctors appointment with his Endocrinologist and measured in at 4'11 1/2 and 103 lbs. The doctor decided to take Kyle off the testosterone since his body was now producing the correct amount. Since Kyle's February appointment, he had only grown 1/2 inch, but had put on 13 lbs. His doctor seemed pleased with Kyle's progress and he showed me the growth curve and how Kyle was making progress towards the curve, instead of parallel with it. He was not surprised at the weight gain, due to puberty kicking in and chalked it up to muscle mass. The doctor also had a bone age x-ray done to see how old his bones are. A year ago when he had a bone age scan done, his bone age was concurrent with his real age. They would like for his bone age to be younger than his real age, which would mean his body would have additional time to grow. Since he's on the medicine to prevent the growth plates from fusing, I would assume his bone age will slow down some, buying him more growth time. We'll find all this out at his next appointment, which is not until October.

Within the last month, Kyle's voice has really gotten deeper. He's definitely turning into a man. By the time school starts in August, there will be a noticable difference in Kyle's size compared to what he was when school was out in May. He's beginning to catch up to some of his friends. He's still shorter than all of them, but at least it's not such a huge difference anymore. It won't be long now when Kyle will be as tall as me. He's getting pretty close.

On a different note, Kyle is now driving. He can see over the steering wheel now, so we felt it was time for him to take Driver's Ed. He's enjoying the whole driving experience.

Kyle driving the family home from church.

Prom Update

It was time for Kyle to go pick up his prom date. They were going to go eat dinner with some other couples. Kyle was so nervous. He had never done anything like this before, and wasn't even sure what to do. He had her flower in a box in his nervous hands. We arrived a little early so we could get some pictures of the cute couple. His date wasn't quite ready, so he had to wait outside while she finished getting her makeup on. He paced back and forth outside, trying not to sweat too much in his cute little "chocolate" colored tuxedo. She was finally ready so Kyle was allowed to come inside. He handed her the wrist corsage and with a little help from her aunts, she pinned Kyle's boutineer onto his tux. After a few pictures, they left to go eat. About 2 hours later, people began to gather at the school anxiously awaiting the promenade. Two by two, couples would pull up in their vehicle of choice and the guy would walk around and help the girl out and escort her past the crowd. Kyle and his date were riding with one of his friends, another freshman, and his date. After they pulled up and Kyle's friend had escorted his date past the crowd, Kyle got out of the vehicle and walked around to open the door for his date. She stepped out and he offered his arm and she accepted, and they walked past the crowd, occasionally pausing for pictures from various cameras. That was the outward appearance of what happened. From a mother's standpoint, I saw my son get out of the vehicle and as he began to walk around to get his date, I heard a comment from someone behind me... "He can't be a freshman! He's so little!" That was disheartening from a mother's viewpoint. Here was my son, on a very special night, learning how to act like a man, and I was caught up in it also, until I overheard the comment. Back to reality. Yes, my son is different. But he deserves a chance too, just like everyone else. Immediately, though, my eyes focused on a group of girls that are in Kyle's class and they were all squealing at how cute Kyle was. That helped. I was quickly able to get past the negative comment made by the person standing close to me, who didn't realize I was the mother. I can't blame her, though. People are automatically programmed to recognize differences. I just have to remember not to take it too personally. That's something I have to constantly remind myself. It's okay to be different.

Kyle had a doctor's appointment on May 5th for his 3rd testosterone shot. He had gained one pound since his last appointment one month ago. But he had still not grown any taller since his end of February endocrinologist appointment. Still 4'll". I know I'm supposed to be patient because this is a very slow process, but COME ON!!! We live in a society of instant gratification, yet not everything has immediate results. So as I watch my son give himself a daily growth hormone injection, swallow a daily pill which prevents his growth plates from fusing, and go to the doctor to get a monthly testosterone shot, I have to constantly remind myself, and him, that this is out of our control and we just have to be patient.

On another note, Kyle likes the outdoors. And, the outdoors likes Kyle. Especially poison ivy. Kyle is very susceptible to poison ivy. Poor guy. Takes after his mother. So after a weekend of turkey hunting, he ended up with poison ivy. Normally, this would be no big deal. Just get a prescription for some oral steroids and that'll keep the PI from spreading. Simple enough. We've done it a million times. However, if you read the fine print for growth hormone usage, oral corticosteroid use can affect growth hormone secretion and should be avoided. So, Kyle's doctor prescribed a topical cream along with some Benadryl. It's now 3 days later and thankfully, the poison ivy didn't get into his system and spread.

So for now, 3 testosterone shots down, 3 to go. I think his body is being tricked into puberty.

Junior/Senior Prom

Since my last post, Kyle has been asked to his high school's junior/senior prom. That's coming up this weekend. I took him to get fitted for a tux. We did get a double take from the lady behind the counter when I informed her we were here for a tux fitting for prom. I'm sure she was wondering why someone would be taking their little brother to prom. But, as we do with everything else, we take the looks with a grain of salt and move forward. I asked his date if she would be wearing heels that night, and she said she would not be. In that case, she will be about 4 inches taller than him. They should make a pretty cute couple and I can't wait to see Kyle in a tuxedo!

On April 3rd, Kyle had his second testosterone injection. This time, the nurse gave it to him in the arm and he wasn't sore at all. I guess nurses are better at giving shots than doctors. Since his March appointment, Kyle had not grown any taller, but had put on 5 lbs. Yes, 5 lbs. So, is Kyle growing? Why yes, he is. I am guessing he will begin to grow upward very soon. Hopefully, he will still fit into his tux!

Kyle recently turned 15 years old. Where has the time gone? They say to make sure you enjoy your kids while they are little because they grow up so fast. I guess God is just giving me a little more time to enjoy Kyle while he is little.

A Day in the Life of a Short Kid

March 2008

It's a day Kyle's been waiting for for over 2 years. He finally gets his braces off!

While we were wasting time between his two orthodontist appointments, I took Kyle to lunch with me and a bunch of my co-workers. We went around the table and each of us ordered our meal. When Kyle ordered his, the waitress asked him if he wanted the kids portion or the adult portion. Kyle said, "adult" and she scribbled it on her pad and off she went to retrieve our drinks. He and his sister usually get handed the kids menus with the crayons. This stuff doesn't seem to bother Kyle. He's so used to it.

I see Kyle as my almost 15 year old son. Others see Kyle as someone who is not even close to 15. But, such is life. Some day, Kyle, some day...

His 3rd appointment of the day was with his regular doctor for the testosterone shot. The doctor said, "Drop your drawers son, this is going in your buttocks and it's gonna hurt." Well, maybe not in those words. The day after, Kyle is limping around the house praying that no one will accidentally bump him. He's pretty sore.

Well, it's time to go remind Kyle to take his daily pill and his daily shot and his daily hug...

Kyle's spring turkey, 2008.

February Follow-up Appointment

February 2008

Kyle was measured and was now 4'11" and weighed 90 lbs. He had grown 3 inches and put on 14 pounds since April 2007. The doctor was very pleased with the fact he was growing. But at age 14 years, 10 months yet still only showing very early signs of puberty, the doctor wanted to give him a jump-start. He prescribed a monthly injection of Testosterone, to be given by Kyle's regular doctor for 6 months. Once his body recognizes the testosterone in his system, it will be tricked into producing its own. In addition, the doctor also prescribed Letrozole, a tablet to be taken once a day. (Letrozole has been shown to delay the fusing of the growth plates in adolescents. This may boost the effectiveness of growth hormone, and thus Letrozole is used to treat adolescents and children with short stature.) The doctor also increased Kyle's growth hormone dosage to 2.7 MG/day, 6 days a week.

Another Letter

We received a letter from our insurance today. I knew it was time for them to review the growth hormone coverage. Initially, it had been approved for 6 months. Luckily, they approved it for another six months!

Getting Involved in High School Sports

Kyle has always loved football. He had played for the last 6 years. But this year was different. He would be going up against men. I was sad that he wasn't going to play high school football, but was also relieved. Not only the fact that he could get crushed, but I didn't want him to be the kid that other towns made fun of for being so short.

He played baseball for several years, but decided not to pursue it once his age group joined the Babe Ruth league. He would be facing pitchers that were approaching 6 feet tall. So he chose to end his baseball career. And it had nothing to do with his HGH use!

Basketball has never been much of an interest to Kyle, unlike his little sister who lives and breaths basketball. By the way, he does have a little sister who is 2 1/2 years younger than him, and she's in the 25th percentile in height, so no worries there. She is trying very hard to catch up with Kyle in height, but I don't think she's going to get there in time.

Kyle's dad was a good wrestler. Maybe that's a sport that Kyle will want to try. True, he's never wrestled before, but at least it's a sport that he can compete against kids his own size.

Wrestling it is. Kyle started wrestling practice with the big boys and was able to find his place in the 103 weight class. True, he didn't even weigh 90 lbs, so most kids he wrestled against had 10 pounds and 10 years experience on him. But, he was part of a team and that was BIG for Kyle. And for that effort he put forth, he gained a Varsity letter as a freshman, one of only 2 boys in his class to earn that honor. Soon, we will be shopping for a letterman's jacket. Good for Kyle!