Re: Debbie - Results on GHT

[Guest guest]

Before I tell you about my own daughter, I will tell you about what

the research says. For children who are RSS, the primary variables

are age at start of GH, dosage level, and mid-parental height.

Hence, the " optimal " gain in final adult height will be a

combination of multiple factors. What is your son's target height

(add 5 " to your height, add to your husband's height, and divide by

2)? Make sure that if your son starts GH, that he goes regularly to

the peds endo, every 3 months, and that his dosage level is adjusted

upwards for every weight increase, and adjusted upwards in small

increments whenever there is a flattening of growth velocity.

Lastly, a child who starts GH at age 4 is far more likely to reach

their target height than a child who starts GH at age 10.

Oh, and one other thing that isn't listed in the literature but

something I believe, and that is consistency of shots. If you

decide to do the GHT, I believe that as a family you have to make

the commitment to stick with it. This means that the family that

skips 10% of their shots each month may see a reduction in final

adult height. If you skip 1 out of every 5 nights, well, you can

see where I am going.

So. In our situation, my daughter's " target adult height " is 5'7.5 "

tall, so quite tall. She was tracking to something like 4'9 " or

something that I can't remember now. started off GHT at age

4yrs 9 months and at a relatively low dose, which has been adjusted

regularly (and the 2 times we skipped a quarterly checkip we

regretted it because the following 3 months were her lowest growth

velocities!!!). In 4 full years of growth hormone treatment, let's

see that is about 1,400 nights, we have missed only 5 nights of

shots. Where we forgot, slept through the night, and then forgot

again in the morning. It is a pain though, don't get me wrong.

Camping trips for 5 days, where you are making sure it stays cold,

traveling on airplanes, her own sleepovers at friends' homes where

we have to drive over at night to give her her shot while she is at

their house. It is a commitment.

But I wouldn't trade anything. Not only has her height gone from

below the 3rd percentile to above the 60th percentile, but her

weight increased, her muscle tone increased, her blood pressure

dropped, and her lipid levels decreased. She also has had her very

low IGF levels rise to a more normal level (one year they were high

normal but regular normal since then).

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to make sure I covered

everything. Salem

> > >

> > > Hi Everyone

> > >

> > > I'm looking for everyone's advice. will be going to her

> > second

> > > endo visit in December at which time I believe we will be

> > discussing

> > > growth hormone with him. sometimes says things like she

> > wants

> > > to be big like so and so and I tell her that if she keeps

eating

> > good

> > > she will. I'm now feeling that I need to change what I say

because

> > > pretty soon someway somehow I'm going to have to tell her that

she

> > > needs these shots to help her. Do I need to start telling her

> > what is

> > > going on about her height? I always tell her what each doctor

is

> > for

> > > such as her cardiologist takes care of her heart and her ped

makes

> > > sure she gets better when she is sick but since we only had one

> > endo

> > > visit it doesn't come up much. I'm not certain or sure what I

> > need to

> > > say or do. I guess its a tough position for any parent

because you

> > > don't want to put so much emphasize on their size but yet how

do

> > you

> > > prepare them for having to get these shots on a daily basis? I

> > know

> > > most of the kids start growth hormone at 2 but she is going to

be

> > 5!

> > >

> > > One other quick question. When was at the ped's office

> > > yesterday for a sick appointment we put her on the scale. She

had

> > her

> > > pants, shirt and socks on but no shoes and weighed 30 3/4

pounds.

> > How

> > > much of a deduction do you think there would be for her

clothing?

> > >

> > > Thank you

> > >

> > > B

> > > 4 3/4 RSS and Kelli 2 Non RSS

> >

> >

> >

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> >