Today should have been a Monday!

Oh man work has not been fun this week. Still finding more stuff not previously done, so I can not get caught up! Between my stuff and the current stuff and the behind stuff - wow amd I over whelmed! Just taking it one day at a time! That is all I can do.

I actually wanted to share some good news Jennifer got. All her issues with Dylan and his tests. I do not think I updated you all, kind of long but wanted to share...This is from Jenna's blog: We waited for a little while for the results to be faxed from the hosptial to the doctor's office. The doctor explained to me that if any of the levels were over 10 that he was producing growth hormone. There was only one level that just made it to 10. The rest were below and his IGF levels were still pretty low. The IGF levels, from what she told me, tell the liver to produce something that will help firm bones. So, to put it bluntly, he is Growth Horomone Deficient. The good news is that its not so bad that he'll have to have treatments for the rest of his life. He just needs a little boost while he's young.I asked a bizillion questions. Will this cause problems to his organs? No. Will he start growing hair in places he shouldn't yet? No, it doensn't mess with the Testosterone Horomone. Will he have a problem with weight gain suddenly? No, we'll actually see him slim up and gain the muscle mass that he is lacking now. Will he experience any major side effect? The only side effects we should watch for is a major headache in the first week, if that happens, they change the medication. If he experiences joint or hip pain, they will change the medication.
We talked a lot and she explained it to me like this: Dylan is producing very low levels of growth horomone. He is producing some just inconsistently. The rate of his growth now, he won't hit 5'6 as an adult. The doctor figures with Josh's & my height, our children should be between 5'6" and 5'10". Dylan is looking at 5'3"/5'4" as an adult. If we did the treatments, which are given through an epi-type pen, he would get a boost and it would help him start producing the hormone in the future. Dylan is in the third percentile for his height which basically means out of 100 boys his age, he would only be taller than two of them. I am not doing this for cosmetic reasons, I decided to do this for health reasons. We have to go for an MRI of his brain today. The doctor wants to make sure that his Pituitary Gland, which is located at the front of the brain, is okay. It is going to take a while for the paperwork to process and the insurance company to agree. Since these treatments are expensive, insurance companies like to argue against the treatments. The doctor said that there is ways around this and if the insurance company says 'no' then Dylan can be part of a "study'. He'd get the same medicine but being considered a "study case" it will be paid for. So, we'll see. I have to go back November 6th, to be trained on how to give the injections. There really is nothing to it, it's like a pen with a button on it. The kids feel a little snap and that's all. The doctor talked to Dylan indivdually and explained all of it to him. He said it was okay and that he didn't have any questions. I think he is happy to know that he will soon be growing.

I got a phone call at work last Thursday from a company called RxCrossroads. They work with Dylan's Endocrinologist in Tallahassee. She referred us and they are sending Dylan a complimentary months supply of the Growth Hormone, Nordtropin. This should help us out until the prior approval is approved (or denied) by the insurance. This way we don't have to wair until November to start treatments. A nurse is going to come to our house and teach us how to use the medicine. I should receive the medicine today by FedEx. The nurse has called me and she will be here this evening. She is coming from Tallahasee so I will call her and let her know if the package arrives before she makes the 2 hour trip. The packages arrived yesterday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. There was two boxes; one box included the medication and the other box included a backpack full of supplies. I was very impressed with all the stuff that they sent. We got a box of disposable needles, a box of alcohol pads, the medicine, the medicine holder, a travel case with freezer packs, an instructional DVD, and a Red Box that you put the used needles in. The nurse from Tallahassee made it last night to teach us how to use Dylan's medication. She made it about 10 minutes after Josh got home, so he was able to be a part of it all. She went over the process, which is very simple, and watched us give him his first dose. Dylan did well and there was no tears. She was very informative and I feel so good about all of this now. We should start seeing results in 3-6 months, hopefully.