Today we had our follow up appt with the endocronologist for Jayda. We had to travel up north when I was 32 weeks pregnant to see the endo up there. Talk about close call with having Haven! Good thing she waited the extra week or else maybe we would've had a high way baby! Yikes! What a sight that would have been!
Ironically when we went up there they told us there was a endo that came down every so often to St. George. Why they didnt tell me that over the phone? I have no idea. I guess they just wanted to see me huff and puff my way into their office, pirate faced and all. I was quite the sight to behold when we went up there.I kept wiping my watery eyes and drool from my mouth with a tissue as she explained why my daughter might not be growing. By the end of the appt she asked me if I was ok and instead of growling at her like I wanted to I just said, "Its bells palsy. Story of my life."
When I went to schedule the follow-up they instead scheduled me with Dr. Murray who is the one that comes down to St. George. Originally after the first appt they wanted to put Jayda on growth hormones but our insurance denied it. When I went to the endo today she said she could appeal it if we wanted to. She said that she would benefit from it because since we took her in October she hasn't grown much at all. No surprise there. She's been wearing the same damn pants for a year already.
The problem is that insurance companies are being butt holes right now because they are pissed and don't want to cover anything if they dont have to. As a result they are finding any reason to do so even if the person needs it. So she's finding herself having to jump through hoopes she didn't used to have to jump through before. Super frustrating.
So at 3 1/2 Jayda weighs 23 1/2 lbs (she weighed 23lbs in October so she did gain some but scales are different so you never really know) and she grew 1/8 an inch and that was after re-meausuring her because she showed no growth at all. So still something but nothing spectacular.
She asked Jayda why she didn't like to eat. She just shrugged her shoulders. Then she asked, "What's your favorite foods? Do you like Mac & Cheese?" Answer: YUK! YUK! "Do you like chicken nuggets?" Answer: Lick, lick, nod, nod! "Do you like apples?" Answer: YUK YUK! "Do you like bananas?" Answer: Lick, lick, nod, nod! "Do you like carrots?" Answer: Lick, lick, nod,nod! "Do you like milk?" Answer: YUK! YUK! Dr. Murray said that was pretty normal kid eating behavior. So nothing horrible there. She did show me one of her lab results showed that she may not be producing enough growth hormones but she wasnt going to get hung up on one number.
I asked her what she thought we should do and she said we should just wait and see. We have enough time to just wait but after 7 or so it gets harder to start the shots. The best time to start them is between 3-4. And we would have to give her a shot every single day for 3-4 years! Talk about horrible! Jaydas ears perked up when we said a shot a day though. As soon as we got into the car after the appointment she said, "Mommy, I'm hungry." Dang straight we will hold those shots over her head for a year. Although she said the shots dont make them gain weight, in fact she may get leaner. The shots just makes them grow taller and some cases they dont even work!
Dr. Murray asked Jayda if she went to school and if she liked it. Jayda of course said yes. She asked her to try to write her name and she could write a "J" and then just scribbles. But she knows her letters and can count. Freaking smart for such a tiny little body. She even got up on the chair, flapped her arms and said, "I'm going to flap my wings and fly off!" And then she jumped off. So the fact that developmentally shes on point suggests that growing is just something more cosmetic. Luckily shes a girl so socially its not as damaging. But shes still young enough that kids dont call her short yet. I hope no one makes fun of her when she goes to school because I will come beat down a kid if I have to.
Then right on cue in the middle of having the lengthy convo with the dr Jayda said, "Mommy, I have to poop." It smelled kinda like poop and shes been known to poop her pants in the past so my mind went immediately to, "You.have.got.to.be.shizing. me.right.now."
Luckily she saved it til after the appointment where I had to take off everything besides her shirt because she is too short to make it over without having to take it all off. Then I had to leave the bathroom because lets face it no one wants to be stared at as they drop a duce. This is all while I had Haven in my moby wrap asleep. Needless to say, I was tired by the end of it all!
So overall, the endo thinks she is not gaining but holding her own too. She also said something interesting. She said her not growing had likely nothing to do with what shes really eating. Shes not a big believer in putting whipped cream or potatoes in everything. She said thats just "her" no matter what you do. That made me feel a lot better because sometimes I wonder if I'm just not offering her the right foods.
She also said that if she continues to grow at this rate she will be between 4"11 and 5'1, but that could easily drop. Once you get into 4'8 territory you're looking at a special license for not reaching the stearing wheel. Turns out Dr. Cains concerns actually are valid since he brings that up at every single Jayda appt.
We shall see, but I'm not about ready to shoot up my 3 year old with hormones just yet. I think we all need a break from shots.
Speaking of which I went to the pharmacy the other day and I saw a paper taped to the counter that said, "Different flavors for progesterone." There had to have been 15 flavors. There were pina colada, chocolate, strawberry, etc. They said they highly recommended chocolate. Strangest thing I'd ever seen. Sounds like a yummy treat. Progesterone and chocolate. I mean I thought progesterone made me want chocolate so why not combine them from the start?
Anyways, Jayda's a little bug but I love her. I hope we're doing the right thing waiting the year. I think we are but I sure hope in a year insurance will cover it or else we're gonna have a super short kid.
Insurance companies are the pits. They stress me out beyond belief. I am always trying to trick them into covering stuff with creative coding, and I don't feel bad one bit, because they turn down things they should cover and charge astronomical rates to regular people paying OOP, and charge a much cheaper rate for the same service to a practitioner. Makes zero sense to me, but whatever! I just hope you get her meds covered, because it will probably make the decision to use them that much easier on you.
ReplyDeleteProgesterone + chocolate..hmmm Maybe they can also throw a laxative in with that while they are at it, since neither of those things helps digestion much either. Sounds like a winner to me! lol