Week 6/7 of Genotropin

The Holiday came and went. My son has a very large present under the tree still wrapped. He just couldn't care less about such things. That is awesome. The Genotropin shots continue into week 7. The boy has grown, there is no question about it. He has lost some of the baby look in his facial features. This isn't just wishful thinking. We traveled to family over the Christmas Holiday. They don't see him on a daily basis and they say he has grown so much. The trepidation I had about giving shots every day forever has eased with the signs of progress. I'm not looking forward to a lifetime of shots, but if the shots do what they seem to do it will be worth it for us and our son. We have blood work and a Dr. appointment coming next month. It will be two calendar months of shots on my wife's birthday. We will measure him again. We will continue to use the purely scientific method of standing the boy up against his door. I'm just amazed at the changes that have occurred in the past 7 weeks. I guess it could be a coincidence. We are on high alert for growth so we see every little bit. That is all true, but the boy went over a year without growing at all. Then he blasts up close to an inch in the first month of shots. The Genotropin seems to work. I am not paid to talk about the drug. I, simply, want to track the progress of my son on the medication. We get the medication about once a month in the mail. It comes in a big box. We live where it gets very, very hot in the summer so I hope we are home when it comes. That is to worry about later. Now we are enjoying the growth of our son. He didn't get Halloween for Christmas, but guess what? He was happy anyway. The boy is always happy, and it is contagious! Happy New Year! Better hang my close on this line!

5 weeks in.

I mentioned in my last post that we measured the boy and he had grown in the 4 weeks we had been giving the shots. It isn't scientific but the progress is there, in Sharpie, on his bedroom door. Tonight my wife and daughter are out making holiday cookies so I had to go the shot alone with the boy. It was smooth. He fake cries when he sees the shot, but that is to be expected. He didn't even feel it. I wonder if I've improved my shot giving technique or if the boy simply has a high threshold for pain. I lean toward the latter. Having been born with pulmonary hypertension and having to be on a vent for so long when he was born may make the boy unbreakable. He is one tough little hombre. It is something when you can learn from your kids. It is really something when a small boy can teach you what is what. The boy takes his shot and is back to his normal happy self within seconds. He is the happiest child I've ever been around. There is something to be said about being happy. I know he isn't unbreakable but his spirit is. My heart isn't unbreakable, it cracks every time the boy says I'm not his friend, but it can take strength from my sons spirit. I'm not really a Grinch or Scrooge but I don't really like the Holidays. They just seem so overblown and wasted. I ask my son what he wants for Christmas and his answer has been...... HALLOWEEN! He is blissfully happy all the time. No commercial product can produce the joy I see on that boys' face when he is jumping on his bed. That is the spirit of the Holidays. That is the good will we are searching for. That is my son.

Interesting development

My wife was determined to measure the boy on the 12th of every month. We started the injections on 11/12/11 so a calendar month seemed as good a way as any to gauge progress. On November 12 we measured the boy and marked the door to his bedroom with a sharpie. Yesterday we measured him again. The results were very interesting. I'll admit that having a boy stand with his back to the door isn't scientific, I get it. The measurement yesterday was almost an inch taller than the November 12 measurement. If you factor in the significant error factor you still get the idea that the boy grew in the past 4 weeks. My wife was positive that he had grown. I saw the results myself. It is exciting in that it gives me incentive to fight his crying when shot time comes. I know he may have grown without the Genotropin, but I really doubt that. He hadn't grown in over a year. It is pretty cool and exciting news. I'm not going to think he will grow an inch a month, but that would be cool. I figure if he grew an inch a month he would still be close to a foot behind other 5 year old kids on his 5th birthday. He may be behind, but closer! He has not said I'm not his friend again. He does cry when he gets the shot. Guess what? I cry a little too.

Week 4

The fourth week of Genotropin shots comes to an end tonight. My son has been a trooper and his sense of humor is priceless. Our nightly routine is to take a bath, read a story in his room with his mommy and sister, and get a shot when the story is over. I'm usually doing the dishes and I go in after I'm finished. The other night the three of them were having a great time hanging out on his bed. I walked into his room and he said "Daddy you aren't my friend". The boy doesn't like getting shots. Who would? He doesn't cry he just finds things to say that communicate his feelings. I guess I'm not his friend if I have to give him a shot every night. The routine has become just that, routine. We are getting it down. This is where the unknown comes in. Have the shots had any effect? Are we doing this right? All the second guessing and doubts are difficult to deal with. We don't have a Dr. appointment until mid January. My wife has decided that we will measure the boy on the 12th of every month. The 12th of December is coming soon. I've mentioned before that a Mother's intuition is something I wouldn't dare question, so I will gladly measure the boy Monday. I'm not expecting much. You can't really, but I'm very willing to see that he has experienced a growth "spurt". Growing even a fraction would be a spurt. Well I had better get after my boy. I'm hoping he will let me be his friend again soon.

Third Week, third post

We have been been giving .7 doses of Genotropin to our boy for three weeks now. It has become as natural as giving shots to a 4 year boy can be. He sees me with the pen and says "no, not tonight". The boy has a way of conveying sadness and pain that is hardwired to my heart. He hasn't shown any side effects. He does fall asleep holding his head. Headaches are a side effect that we were warned about. He hasn't vocalized that he has a headache, but does a 4 year old really know how to vocalize that? The medication and the giving of shots is so strange for me. I'm not "afraid" of needles. I am very uncomfortable around them. The Pfizer pen is nice enough. I just wish there was a different way of providing the medication. A tasty lollipop comes to mind! My wife says it seems that the boy is growing. I learned long ago to not argue with a woman's intuition. That goes double for a mother and her child. I hope he has grown. I will trust that my wife's innate ability is correct and the medication is working, and will continue to work. I will hang my close on this line. Love ya, Mom.