Results!

About a week after getting the testing done we received a call from Liam's pediatrician. Everything came back normal except one of his growth hormone numbers was abnormal, the other was normal (more on the normal one in the next few paragraphs.) and his bone age came back delayed at 18 months of age. At this time his pediatrician recommended we go see an endocrinologist at Children's Hospital. We both immediately looked at each other and thought, okay we can deal with this it could've been much worse but at the same time, as parents our hearts hurt to think our sweet boy had something wrong with him. We made an appointment for six weeks and then waited and prayed.

Six weeks seem to take forever but finally was the day for us to go to the endocrinologist. The nurse weighed and got Liam's height. Re-measuring him 3 times to make sure it was an accurate measurement. We waited in the room for the Dr. and after just a few minutes she walked in. She introduced herself and we got right down to business. She got a very very detailed history starting from my pregnancy. She reviewed the blooodwork and other tests and then she remeasured Liam just to make sure the nurse did it correctly, which she did. She did a physical exam as well measuring his arms, legs, head etc. and then entered his stats in her database. She said there's a slight chance he could be just a late bloomer, which she has seen, but due to his bone age in the blood work she did not think that was likely. We could wait a few months and see if he grew but her recommendation was a Stim Test. She explained to us that growth hormone is produced only at night time so hospitals used to admit children at night for the testing and try and get blood throughout the night but because it would wake up the child these tests were not accurate. The stim test would show us the peak number of growth hormone Liam's body can produce without making him overproduce it. 

She explained that we would take him to an infusion lab in the morning, fasting, and they would give him a medication called Clonidine through an IV. They would then take blood samples every 30 minutes for 1.5 hours. Because it is possible to get a false positive they then give him a different medication called Argenine and do the process of taking blood again. So all together the test is about 6 hours depending on how things go. If the results show he does not have GHD then that is that and we will be done. The more possible outcome would be that the results show he does have GHD and then he would be required to get a brain MRI to make sure there is no tumor or anything else wrong with his pituitary gland which might be causing this. We talked with her for a while and decided this would be the way we would go. We didn't discuss treatment yet. We are now waiting to get the Stim test scheduled, which involves getting Kaiser to approve it. 

One thing at a time. This is a TON of information. My mommy heart has been put through the ringer and is a bit raw right now. But the thing I'm sure of. The thing I know with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. That even when I feel like the world around me isn't stable. My God is. He is! He IS. He loves me. He loves Liam. He loves my family and cares for us much more than I ever could. He knows suffering. He knows heartache. He lived it. He knitted Liam together in my womb and made him perfect. Mistakes don't happen. This trial is to be used for HIS glory. Use this for YOUR glory God. Please use us. My prayer!