But Henry's size has caused a little concern with us and his pediatrician.
Henry has a disorder called Renal Tubular Acidosis (RTA). He was diagnosed by a blood test shortly after he turned one year old.
Basically, having RTA means that Henry's kidneys are not working properly and he has too much acid in his blood. Having this disorder can also cause stunted growth (which is why he was tested in the first place).
However, there is an easy fix. He's been taking a medication twice a day since he was one year old and has had normal blood tests ever since. RTA is typically outgrown by the age of 5 or 6, so this spring we will be taking Henry off of the medication to see how his kidney function reacts.
But Henry is still quite small. He is at the 5th percentile for both height and weight and at his 5 year checkup last week, his pediatrician suggested that we take him to a pediatric endocrinologist to see if there is something else going on or if there is something more we could be doing.
So this past Monday, I brought Henry to see Dr. Levin. To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect at this appointment.
Dr. Levin had an incredible bedside manner and was very knowledgable regarding growth issues.
She took an accurate height and weight for Henry and ordered blood tests and an x-ray of his hand (to determine his "bone age"). We will take Henry back to see Dr. Levin in 5 months to do another height and weight to see what his "growth velocity" is (his rate of growth).
Looking at Henry's medical information as well as Michael and my heights, it is projected that Henry should be around 5'9" as an adult. However, at his current rate, he will not even come close to that mark.
So what will we do?
We're not quite sure at this point. But Dr. Levin was discussing the possibility of administering growth hormones to Henry.
But administering growth hormones is a little controversial these days. There are possible side effects from the daily injections. And some professionals have mixed feelings about artificially giving the growth hormone to children. And the growth hormone injections are very costly.
So for now, we wait and see. We'll take a look at Henry's lab and x-ray results and then wait for his appointment in 5 months to see his growth velocity.
Hopefully there will be a clear choice for what actions, if any, we should take.
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| Being so brave for his blood test :) |
