13 months of shots

Our boy has been taking shots of Genotropin for over a year. He grew 7 and a half inches in that year. He went from the 2nd percentile in height to the 83rd. That's what the genotropin was for. I can't argue that the drug did its work better than advertised. The doctors have all said that they have never had a patient that grew that much that fast. Our focus the past 6 months or so has been the development of the boy. He has grown, but his development hasn't kept pace. He is 5 and he still isn't fully potty trained. He wears a pull up at night. No big deal, but it is just a sample of how the boy may lagging in his development. He is a bright, angelic boy. Every parent would say that, and they would all be right. The boy is special and I want him to have a full, healthy life. I wanted him to grow. The genotropin did that. Now we see the Autistic symptoms and I wonder if we were selfish. Did my selfishness cause my boys challenges? It feels like they did. I feel guilty for his condition. Remember this boy coded twice after his birth and he has an abnormal MRI of his brain, but growing at a crazy fast rate had to have contributed to his Autism diagnosis, right? I'll never really know, and it doesn't really matter. We are here now and we must go forward. I took my son and his sister to the park today. He is five and his sister is seven. She will be eight in February. They played on the slide, ran, and climbed. They both had a blast. My son was going head first down the slide. He was climbing the steps without pause. He has taken Physical Therapy for months and it is obviously helping. He is much stronger. He is still very, very skinny. He was a "normal" kid on the playground. That is the first time I have felt that. He has always been behind the other kids his age but he didn't seem that way today. His sister is in gymnastics. She doesn't have any of the challenges my son has. He kept pace with her just fine. That made me feel optimistic. When we finished at the park we went to our favorite fast food place and I bought a 20 piece chicken nugget pack for the kids to share. They blew through the chicken. My son must have polished off 7 nuggets. I realize it isn't the healthiest of dinners, but that boy simply doesn't eat. He did tonight. He is starting to develop a very healthy appetite. If he can fill out and keep working at school maybe, just maybe, his challenges will be met and defeated before too long. I love my son. I feel guilty about having put him through that crazy growth spurt he went through last year. I want him to be all he wants to be. He is already my role model. I truly hope we can work around and through the autism diagnosis. We are fortunate to have an awesome collection of teachers looking after our son. They sincerely care for him. They love him. When we went to his winter program at school my son was crying because he didn't want to go back to school. His teacher had a tear in her eye. She stated that when he cries she gets very upset to. She said this as she wiped the tear from her eye, and handed my son a piece of candy. His other teachers love him, too. The new year is approaching and I know there will be more challenges for my son and his family. I'm positive that we can make it through them. I've stated this before in this little blog, but this boy reminds me of my Mom. Mom died in October of the year my son was born. I know she made a cosmic deal. I will do all I can to make sure our boy has the full life she would want him to have. I love my son and I miss my Mom. I'll hang my close on this line....................

A year of Genotropin

Our boy has completed a full year of Genotropin shots. Over the year he grew... this is real, 7 and a half inches He went from the 2nd percentile in height to the 83rd. His growth has been remarkable. Overall, the boy has run into some challenges. He was diagnosed as falling under the Autism umbrella. The consensus is he has Aspergers. He shakes his arms and he is not social at all. We had the boy tested. He is 5. My wife and I had decided that he would go to pre K for this year and enter Kindergarten next year. The testing was concluded in late August. The result of the testing is that the boy now attends a Special Kindergarten class every afternoon. He has made strides this year, that's for sure. As a parent it is very hard for me to acknowledge my sons challenges. He cannot read, and he doesn't seem all that upset by that. He doesn't like "school" stuff. He goes but he doesn't always participate. I have to recognize that my full time job is to make sure my boy has access to all programs that will help him. He will next receive occupational therapy. Honestly, I'm not sure what the OT does. I just think he should have access to the program. My son has challenges. His challenges, in turn, have become my challenges. I guess I envisioned my boy being dominant on the fields of play. I thought he would excel in the classroom like his sister. I can see that those visions were mine, and they were wrong. This boy is a dream come true. He will have to receive boosts along the way. I can see the short sightedness of my "visions" now. Together the boy and his family will over come any perceived handicaps. The question has to be asked, did genotropin contribute? I'm not a Dr. I'm a parent. A boy can't grow at that pace and not show some effects. Maybe he grew too fast and he has to get his brain around the growth. Maybe it will be a lifelong challenge for the boy and his family. It was a very fast year. It was a very eventful year. Every report was not positive. Every reaction to these reports was not classy and controlled. I hope I can grow along with my son. Here it is: I will hang my close on this line....................................

4 months, more growth

It has been a month since I posted. The boy has been receiving Genotropin for 4 months now. We measured him on the 12th of the month. His current mark is close to another inch higher than the one from last month. The same non scientific disclaimer goes. A squirmy boy with his back to the door isn't scientific. The Dr's office with its super fancy deal that folds out from the scale, well now that's the hallmark of precision. All joking aside the boy has continued to grow. He is much taller. He seems very healthy. He has actually cycled out of the illness he had when I last posted and he was sneezing today. It is allergy season so I'm hoping that is what he has. He coughed on me a month ago and I still haven't recovered. The months have flown. I'm anxious to get the blood work done to see if the levels are stabilizing. I've taken the cowards way out and I give the boy his shot after he goes to sleep most of the time. It is lame and I can't continue to do that. I have to rotate the sites of the injections. It is pretty tough to find any fat on the boy to use for the injection. He has grown. The boy that I will drop off at school tomorrow is not the same boy I dropped off in November. That "baby" boy has been replaced with a boy. He doesn't look like a baby anymore. His face is skinny, his whole self is skinny, and his features are emerging. He is handsome. He is still the funniest boy. Today, out of the blue, he sings "I feel a celebration coming on". I wonder what the boy plans on celebrating. Maybe he was just vocalizing what I feel when I see he and his sister every day. Time to hang my close on this line..C..L..O..S..E.

More growth, but a sick boy!

The boy has been very, very sick this week. He had to leave his preschool on Tuesday and that was it for the week. He spiked a fever and has an awful cough. As is customary with him we borderline panicked and he has been to the Dr. twice. I took him today. He has bronchitis or whatever the going thing is. That will get better, I hope. What stood out was that when measured today the boy was 41 inches. That is another two inches since his last appointment. He is so tall an so very skinny. We will have to fatten him up, but the fact that he has grown even more was the silver lining in the week of fever and coughing. The genotropin had nothing to do with him getting sick. He just got a flu or something. The boy continues to grow. He doesn't go back to the Dr. for two months but he will be way over 40 inches. He was over that milestone today. The medication has worked for growth. Now if only the antibiotics will anti the biotics and he will feel better. I will hang my close on this line..C..L..O..S..E..

Three months of Genotropin injections

Today marks the third month of Genotropin injections for the boy. He has grown a full two inches since November. We just measured him again. He grew. He didn't grow as much as he had in the previous months, but he did grow. His squirmy self was very hard to measure by the door. I've mentioned that he was 39 inches at his Dr. appointment. I'd guess he is closer to 40 inches now than he was then. He has grown and we are very pleased. I don't know what I expected sitting in this seat three months ago. I guess I wanted the boy to get his growth on par with others his age and then be done with the shots. Well he has grown but he isn't near average for his age. He was in the 13th percentile at the last appointment. That is way below average. His mom and I are average size. We don't have any genetic history of dwarfism in our families so 13th percentile isn't quite where he should be. He isn't normal with his blood levels of hormone. He has come way up but he still has a climb to get to normal levels. My pipe dream of giving a few months of shots and then just moving on isn't going to come to fruition, but the shots have helped. Hopefully the boy will continue to grow. He is a joy to be around. He is the cutest kid in the world. I know every dad would say that. All of them would be lying, I am telling the truth. I'll hang my close on this line....................

2 month Dr. appointment

The boy went to the Dr. the other day. The Dr. was saying he wasn't encouraged by the looks of his blood work. His HGH level was still low. His was 23 and the average is between 30 and 50. I'm not sure what the numbers are but 23 is lower than 30. The Dr. changed is tune however when he looked at the boys growth. I've stated here that I thought he had grown the width of my thumb each month. My thumb is about an inch. The Dr. reported that the boy had grown two full inches. He now stands a towering 39 inches. He blasted his way from the 2 percentile all the way up to the 13th. That is wild. He is still behind and the Dr. prescribed an INCREASE in the nightly dosage. I was surprised by the increase to .8, but I was excited by the way the boy was able to show growth. The other part of the appointment was saying that the now 39 inch boy had only put on .4 of a pound. We need to strengthen those longer bones! We were given some recommendations for his diet. Suffice to say we will be spending quite a bit of time in the dairy row. My personal favorite is "Super Milk". You take whole milk and add evaporated milk and chocolate. There is a warning to limit your intake of "Super Milk" to about 8 ounces a day. He did eat well tonight. He has a very unique way of eating ice cream sandwiches. Very unique! Overall it was a very exciting report from the Dr. Our boy has grown. He needs to put on weight. Super Milk should help that process. The nightly injections have gotten routine, the increase in dose doesn't mean anything. Maybe his appointment in April will lower his dose of Genotropin. I'm secretly hoping to increase the amount Super Milk! I will hang my close on this line.

Another week has come and gone

The boy is getting ready for a trip to the Dr. He has been taking his .7 shots of Genotropin since November 12. He has grown. He is much taller than he was in November. He is also so skinny! Not a problem, just an observation. I've mentioned that he doesn't really look like a baby anymore. He also climbed into his car seat by himself for the first time this week. I guess this all could be coincidence, but it isn't. He has grown because of the injections. The boy had to have blood work done earlier for the appointment next week. I'm guessing they will check his levels of growth hormone and thyroid. The boy has to take thyroxin in the morning and the genotropin shot at night. I'm sure he will have to take maintenance doses for...ever. I hope not. It is hard to find fat on the boy to give his shot. He has been very good about taking the shots. The ride has been very interesting. The Genotropin has done exactly what I had hoped it would do. The boy shot up close to two inches in two months. My dream would be that his levels in his blood are good and the shots are thing of the past. That is what I'm hoping for. It may be too much to ask. Remember, with this boy expect to have your expectations exceeded. I'll update as soon as I can after the appointment. I'll hang my close on this line.