Today Son #1 and I had our first visit with the pediatric endocrinologist. This step one in determining whether Son #1 actually has a growth deficiency. His growth rate has been slow for several years - sometimes dipping below the growth chart, which in itself, is not necessarily a problem as long as the child is following the same curve. However, Son #1 seems to have fallen flat.
Endocrinologists often use a slightly different growth chart than pediatricians (one that ranges 3-97%, instead of the usual 5-95%). According the the endrocrinologist's chart, Son #1 is in the bottom 1-2 percentile. He also looked at Son #1's bone age xray that my pediatrician had ordered. I like the endo doc. He really took the time to explain things. It appears that Son #1's bone-age is 11.0 years, which isn't too far off from his chronological age (he's 11 years 10 months old).
Next step is a complete blood work up, then we go back in 7 weeks to discuss the test results and to monitor Son #1's weight (he's not really expected to gain much, if any, height between now and then). I got the impression that at this point, we're collecting info to plot on charts to get a better picture of what's going on. The growth rate over time is a more important clue than his short stature/low weight. It should be an interesting journey. Wish us well...
6 comments:
Good luck. Hope it's just a slower growth progress for him, and nothing else.
We'll walk this path with you Elle...it'll turn out well for sure :)
oh please do keep us informed and I will be praying for him and you guys! glad that you are finally going to get some answers too!
Elle, good luck on this journey. We're here for you...keep us posted!
Thanks all, I'll keep you posted.
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