Hope and Sunshine from a Lunch Box

It has been a whirlwind week, so I wanted to post a quick update on everything that has been going on. I talked with our pediatrician Monday morning about Jacoby's low growth hormone levels that showed up in his lab work. She referred us to a pediatric endocrinologist, and I was able to get an appointment for April 26.

Meanwhile, the boys started their new school schedule this week: Tu-We-Th. The hope is to give Justin more time to study for comps and get started on the dissertation phase. Morgan seems to love this and has earned quite a reputation as the class-climber. This was also the first week that we started bringing Jacoby's meals to school. I think everyone was a little bit nervous how this would go, but as it turns out, it's been an unsual bright spot in our week! Jacoby seems to love it and all of the teachers have really jumped on board in helping us with Jacoby's new diet and they provide great detailed notes for me about how much he ate, etc. since they know I'm keeping a food diary. And they have also reported that Jacoby is showing a lot more energy and engagement in the class. For the past 6 weeks, there has been concern about Jacoby not participating in the class and kind of keeping to himself. It seems that between his new diet and having his own food at school (I've suspected that he might be worried about eating the food at school and that it might be effecting him in the class), he's already turned a small corner. He's usually one of the first ones to arrive and when I leave, he's busy helping them fill water bottles or feeding the fish.

On Tuesday, we found out that an earlier appointment opened up with the endochrinologist so yesterday Jacoby and I made the long trek down to the furthest southern regions of Denver for our first appointment. The doctor took a detailed family and medical history on Jacoby and also did a physical exam. He wanted to know a lot about mine and Justin's growth patterns from long ago when we were growing up. In the end, he felt like Jacoby was quite healthy and that his weight was excellent which was great news because that seems to indicate that despite all of the allergies he's getting the nutrition he needs to stay healthy. We were presented with two options: proceed with the growth hormone stimulation test now or wait 6 months to see if Jacoby grows at least an inch and then decide if we need the test. After more discussion the endocrinologist felt like we would probably end up doing the test one way or the other, because even if Jacoby is a late bloomer, he should still have normal levels of growth hormone (his was at 29, normal is 75-100 for his age). So, we're going ahead with the test on April 21.

There's a lot more information about the practice and the procedure here: http://www.denverpedendo.com/index.html . The growth hormone stimulation test is a 4-hour procedure where they'll insert an IV and then draw blood every 30 minutes to measure hormones, blood sugar, and I'm sure a host of other things. We met the technician who will be helping us with this, and I could tell she'd done this lots of times with little ones. We get to bring videos and all sorts of activities to keep us busy. Unfortunately, he has to be fasting from midnight until the test is finished, but I think he'll be fine and he'll only get poked once (important details for Mommy to know of course). The results from the test will tell us if Jacoby needs to be supplemented with growth hormone for awhile in order to help him reach his adult height (which they predict to be between 6' and 6'4''!). Growth hormone is very safe with minimal side effects, and the doctor felt like this would be no problem to treat.

So, between the success of home lunches/snacks at school (who knew this would be a small area of hope!), the news that his weight is good and he's absorbing food, and the doctor's confidence that our growth issues could easily be treated, I finally feel a little bit of the weight being lifted. I've really been amazed by the ways Jacoby's teachers have rallied around us and the care and concern they've shown for him. We're so thankful to have them as part of the boys' life.

Today's my last day in the office for the week, and then I'm off to have a Mommy & Boys weekend. Justin leaves on the train tonight for Omaha, NE where he'll be presenting a paper at the SBL regional conference. We're looking forward to a few art projects, getting the sand and water table set up for the season, a picnic, and lots of others adventures!