He's not little...He's fun sized!

It was probably a few years ago that we really started to get a little concerned with Grayson's size. I never really worried much about it. I have always had tiny kids. Even with a big ol' dad, my kids have always been below average in height and weight. Just fun sized, nothing to worry about. Besides that, because of Gray's size, he is an awesome athlete. Super fast, and really good at most everything that he tries. Why mess with that? That is until Gray himself started to get a little concerned. When you start getting made fun of for your size by 2nd graders and you are suppose to be the big 6th grader, it's time to worry. I remember a few years ago when Gray came to me and asked if he could just be tested to see if he was a "little person".  He was going to be fine with that if he was, he just wanted a definite diagnosis. I guess we better get the ball rolling...

We first started the testing process back in late July last year. The doctor did a group of tests to see what was going in the way of growth hormones, and then he ordered an x-ray to test Gray's bone age. When the results came back and were all pointing to fact that he was not going to be very tall at all (5'3" at the tallest), and that growth hormones could give him a little extra boost.  With that, the Dr needed to make sure that his body could handle the growth hormone with some of the side effects that it can cause. It can make your blood pressure drop, it can effect blood sugar, and make you very tired, and there is a good chance that your body won't even know what to do with it and so it is pointless to even take it. In order to gather the required info, we spent much of the day today up at Primary Childrens Hospital to get these tests done. It involved not having anything to eat for 12 hours prior to the tests and then not being able to eat until it was all over, and then an IV to administer the medication and draw blood every half an hour. Six blood draws in all. By the time he was done, the poor guy looked like he needed a tan! So pale. Thank goodness he got to order a big lunch before we left to make sure everything was still working. He was grateful for the entire hospital experience, just once! He will be fine with never doing it again though!

We won't get any of the results until next week. To tell you the truth, we aren't even sure what we are going to do when we get them. It is such a big decision to make. It is very costly and insurance won't cover the medication as far as we know. Maybe we can get into some kind of study or something. Gray at first said that he didn't care if he only got to be 5'3", but that is because he was concerned about how it would effect the family. As we explained to him that we would make it work, and the family wouldn't go without because of our decision, he breathed a sigh of relief. He is so tender to think of others before himself, and that makes me want to help him all the more.