Sunday, June 15, 2008

Growth Hormone Deficiency - Final Tests


Baby Neela is about to have her final test to determine if she has Growth Hormone Deficiency(GHD). It has been a long road with many doctors. I have answered tons of questions about my parenting and feeding of my child to actual blood tests and exams. Nee-Nee is quite a trooper! She has been seen by a cardiologist, nutritionist, gastroenterologist, ENT and finally the endocrinologist.
Her endocrinologist is located about 3 hours away. For the final test they will be inserting an IV and giving different hormone stimulating drugs to help "trick" her body into thinking she is asleep. This is important because the pituitary gland produces the most growth hormone while you are sleeping. During the test, which lasts 3 hours, Neela will have a total of 6 vials of blood drawn. The blood is drawn in 30 min intervals. She will also be getting a bone scan. From what I understand the bone scan is a fancy x-ray of her hand and wrist to see the growth plates. This will determine if she is just small by nature or by cause. The doctors explained that the Stimulator test is saved as a last resort. They have eliminated all other possibilities of her short stature and slow growth. It will take approximately 3 weeks before we find out the results. I am just happy to be at the end of what could be the beginning of a new baby. If the results come back with a deficiency I will need to give her a shot each day with synthetic hormones until she reaches the age where she stops growing. I am optimistic that no matter the results she will be healthy!! The doctor is pretty sure it is GHD as am I. I don't see it as a sad result but more the finality of an answer I have asked since Neela was only a few months old. "Why isn't my baby growing?"
We leave on Monday. She can not eat before the test so we will be staying the night with some great friends. Wish us luck and for a somewhat happy child. I have a huge bag of goodies to keep her entertained for 3 hours. I just hope that she can stay put that long =)
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3 comments:

Cutesie Clips said...

I am sure it will be nice to finally have a reason for everything - I hope it goes well and I hope your sweet little girl is calm and peaceful during the whole experience. I'll be thinking of you!

CraftyMamaMia said...

(((HUGS))) You all will be in my thoughts!

Delice said...

My own daughter has been through those very same tests. The people who administer the test are wonderful! They are incredible at keeping the entertainment comming. My daughter has been off of the shots for one year now and all is good:) You guys will do just fine:)