HGH

Austin has always been on the small side.  I attributed that to his poor genes. =)  But it turns out he has a growth hormone deficiency.  A few weeks ago we went to see genetics for his Muscular Dystrophy (I plan to do a post on that soon).  While we were there we started talking about Austin's height and how he seems to be falling further and further behind kids his age.  They decided to go ahead and test him for a growth hormone deficiency.  They took and x-ray of his wrist to see what age his bones say he is and they drew some blood to test the levels.  The doctor called and said his growth hormone levels are low and his bones say he is a few years behind his actual age.  The treatment is daily HGH injections.  I will have to give my little guy a shot EVERY day.  That is the only part of this I am not looking forward to.  I think it will be so good for him.  To be closer in height to the kids his age.  He will never be tall, but to be average would be great. 

After speaking with the doctor today there are a few steps we have to take to make sure insurance will cover their part of the cost of these treatments.  First we have to go and see and Endocrinologist.  He is going to talk to us about the treatments and the side effects and what to expect.  After speaking with the doctor they will do a growth hormone stimulation test.  This is a 3 hour test.  They will inject the HGH and then monitor the levels in his blood every 30 min.  This is required by the insurance companies before they will cover HGH.  Once the test is done they send a letter to the insurance company with the results and give us a prescription for the drug.    I will update on the progress.  But for now we wait (AGAIN!) for them to call us and set up and appointment with Endo.