Re: Chat-Growth Hormones

[Guest guest]

Hillary

Don't forget 18 years ago would be about the time that they were still using

GH from cadavers and not synthetic. So even though you think " what if " you

might be glad now that you didn't.

Debby

[Guest guest]

To Hillary, Ali and all the rest who are concerned about whether or not to

try GH:

I'm back from vacation, sick as a dog with a terrible cold/sinus infection

and on my last legs. It is also the time of year when I have to be in

school every day for meetings and I have so little time that I am running on

empty. (Did I tell you all that I received a promotion? I'm now the

department head for science and social studies - and I teach reading. Go

figure. But the extra money is good!) In addition to all of that, I am

planning Max's bar mitzvah which is on September 8 and 9! I am a glutten

for punishment.

Anyway, to add my 2 cents, Hillary, I think you said something very

important in your message I just read - parents should go with their gut

feelings. There is no right or wrong decision in whether or not to use gh

on your child. You have to do what feels right for you.

That being said, Hillary, again (sorry - I don't mean to " pick " on you),

perhaps you have not been bothered as much by being smaller because you are

a female. Small females are much more easily assimilated into society.

Males, on the other hand, are expected to be large, strong and tall. I

think that if Max had been a girl, we would not have rushed in as quickly to

try gh as we did. Well, no, that may not be right, but I don't think we

would fret as we do about Max's situation.

One very, VERY important thing to consider with gh is whether or not your

child is growing on a curve. Many RSS babies start out below the curve,

seem to start to grow and then their height line flattens out. When that

happens, you have to decide on what you want to do. That is what happened

with Max. He was also so weak and had such poor muscle tone and appetite

that Dr. H. told us he would become stronger and possibly eat more. That is

what happened. And for a long time he was between the 5th and 10th

percentile for height.

You all know about the gh resistance that Max now has developed. I think if

we had known about this possibility, we would have still started the gh, but

we would have gone along with the newer theory that you can stop the gh for

a bit of time and the child will maintain his growth curve for awhile. If

this had been realized and done with Max, perhaps he would not be resistant.

His body would have had a break and would not have stopped making IGF-1. We

will never know. Do I feel regret? A little. Am I beating myself up over

this? Not a bit. We did what we thought was best and that is all. We

entered this with eyes wide open and can never look back and say, " What

if...? "

I have to tell you all that watching Max since he turned 13 in July has been

a real pleasure. There is something magic in that number. All of a sudden

he is more responsible, stands up for himself, will NOT use the children's

menu at a restaurant, and wants to be treated in a more grown-up way. I

don't know if the impending bar mitzvah has anything to do with it because

he knows that in the eyes of Jewish law he will be considered an adult. All

I know is that the change in him is remarkable.

With all of this being said, I hope I have helped a little. I am really

feeling sick and have a little bit more work to do for tomorrow's meetings,

so I will end here. If you read this far, thanks for reading.

Jodi

[Guest guest]

Jodi

I figured you must have been away, we haven't heard from you or S.

since the convention much at all.

I have a question if you don't mind, to clarify in my mind. I understand

this GH resistance Max is now experiencing is new to everyone, but you feel

that a GH holiday of sorts might have helped. Do you think starting him on

it at a later age would have been better or the breaks from GH would have

possibly prevented this? Again, I realize you might not have the answers,

but in case you do, I thought I'd ask.

Good luck at work, congrats on the promo. Our " wonderful " (gag) government

has now decided that teachers have to be continual learners. So not only

have I already done my time in University to get 2 degrees, and continually

attend workshops, we are now being mandated to take 14 courses over 5 years

(at our own time and expense) only to repeat the process again the next 5

years and so on. I am so crossed eyed angry over this. I have been trying to

get out of this house to take two courses that would get me to the highest

pay level for YEARS. I finally got my mother to agree to baby-sit and now

I'll be spending all my time on these stupid courses. Man I am mad!!!!!

Anyway, school starts one week today for us, one staff meeting on Thursday.

Oh joy oh bliss, why can't we just teach???????

Debby

Re: Chat-Growth Hormones

> To Hillary, Ali and all the rest who are concerned about whether or not to

> try GH:

>

> I'm back from vacation, sick as a dog with a terrible cold/sinus infection

> and on my last legs. It is also the time of year when I have to be in

> school every day for meetings and I have so little time that I am running

on

> empty. (Did I tell you all that I received a promotion? I'm now the

> department head for science and social studies - and I teach reading. Go

> figure. But the extra money is good!) In addition to all of that, I am

> planning Max's bar mitzvah which is on September 8 and 9! I am a glutten

> for punishment.

>

> Anyway, to add my 2 cents, Hillary, I think you said something very

> important in your message I just read - parents should go with their gut

> feelings. There is no right or wrong decision in whether or not to use gh

> on your child. You have to do what feels right for you.

>

> That being said, Hillary, again (sorry - I don't mean to " pick " on you),

> perhaps you have not been bothered as much by being smaller because you

are

> a female. Small females are much more easily assimilated into society.

> Males, on the other hand, are expected to be large, strong and tall. I

> think that if Max had been a girl, we would not have rushed in as quickly

to

> try gh as we did. Well, no, that may not be right, but I don't think we

> would fret as we do about Max's situation.

>

> One very, VERY important thing to consider with gh is whether or not your

> child is growing on a curve. Many RSS babies start out below the curve,

> seem to start to grow and then their height line flattens out. When that

> happens, you have to decide on what you want to do. That is what happened

> with Max. He was also so weak and had such poor muscle tone and appetite

> that Dr. H. told us he would become stronger and possibly eat more. That

is

> what happened. And for a long time he was between the 5th and 10th

> percentile for height.

>

> You all know about the gh resistance that Max now has developed. I think

if

> we had known about this possibility, we would have still started the gh,

but

> we would have gone along with the newer theory that you can stop the gh

for

> a bit of time and the child will maintain his growth curve for awhile. If

> this had been realized and done with Max, perhaps he would not be

resistant.

> His body would have had a break and would not have stopped making IGF-1.

We

> will never know. Do I feel regret? A little. Am I beating myself up

over

> this? Not a bit. We did what we thought was best and that is all. We

> entered this with eyes wide open and can never look back and say, " What

> if...? "

>

> I have to tell you all that watching Max since he turned 13 in July has

been

> a real pleasure. There is something magic in that number. All of a

sudden

> he is more responsible, stands up for himself, will NOT use the children's

> menu at a restaurant, and wants to be treated in a more grown-up way. I

> don't know if the impending bar mitzvah has anything to do with it because

> he knows that in the eyes of Jewish law he will be considered an adult.

All

> I know is that the change in him is remarkable.

>

> With all of this being said, I hope I have helped a little. I am really

> feeling sick and have a little bit more work to do for tomorrow's

meetings,

> so I will end here. If you read this far, thanks for reading.

>

> Jodi

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Debby,

I'm with you on the extra credit courses. We, in the US, have to take 100

hours of extra " training " every five years, I believe. Fortunately, our

school sponsors three inservice meetings a year and those count for some of

the credits. I am also applying to schools to get my degree in supervision,

so I will have those courses knocked out in no time. What a pain to go

through, though. I was secretly hoping I could take some of them online!

As for the gh resistance, I really don't know if it would have paid to wait.

I think it depends on the child. For Max, he needed the gh to help his

muscle tone and lack of hunger. Those were the deciding factors for us. It

is just my own assumption that if the " holiday " had been taken periodically,

perhaps his body would not have stopped making the IGF-1. But I will never

know the answer to that. My gut feeling is that Max would not have

maintained his growth curve. Each time he was sick, even on gh, he started

to fall off. Each time we were not great with being consistent with the

shots, he fell off a little bit. I think that Max would not have maintained

his growth curve without gh.

Oh well. I cannot look back. We made the decision. We tried everything.

Sometimes I think that what is meant to be, will just be no matter what we

do. It's okay for now. There is still some optimism. Instead of hoping

for 5'6 " , as Dr. H. once said, we are now hoping for 5'2 " . We will keep our

fingers crossed.

Jodi

[Guest guest]

Jodi- if it helps at all, my husband is about 5-2 1/2 or 5-3. He has a great

self-esteem, plays basketball and tennis and has always had friends,

girlfriends, etc. And of course- he got me! He doesn't seem to have RSS, just

short genes. I am 4-11 1/2 so our kids are really going to be giants if

they're over 5-3. Anyway, whenever I'm concerned about how Nate will handle

being so small, I think of how well my husband did and it makes me feel

better.

Liz-Mom of Nate(?RSS)and Sam-3 year old twins and Arianna-16 months

[Guest guest]

Jodi- my husband is the same way. I'm lucky if he shares his feelings with

me. Although he's very close to his brother, he doesn't talk to him either. I

guess he thinks he has to be the strong, macho, man. When I suggested that he

use the listserve or even read the messages, you would have thought I was

asking him to eat a bug! By the way, good luck with Max's bar mitzvah. In

another 10 years we'll be having a double one- I guess I'll need to start

planning it now-lol. As for right now, we're busy getting ready for the boys'

3rd birthday party. My sister is arriving from CA tomorrow and she will be

here for 5 days, so we're very excited. I am making a Blue's Clue's cake for

the party. The first time I've ever done a decorated cake, wish me luck. Hope

everyone has a good weekend,

Liz-Mom of Nate(?RSS)and Sam-3 year old twins and Arianna-16 months

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Liz. I think that we would be VERY happy if Max makes it to 5'2 " .

At this point, I'd be happy with 5'! I do see a lot of " short " men around

now that I am looking. They seem happy, have families and look quite

normal. I just know how society can be with vertically challenged men and,

as a mom, I want things to be as easy for my children as they can be.

We are so lucky that Max has the personality that he has. He is so outgoing

and appears so confident. (On the inside, however, he is really nervous,

but he is learning to handle that.) I think that , my husband, and I

are finally coming to that " acceptance " stage where we think that whatever

Max is, Max is. We just want him to be happy and healthy.

Now that I know about your husband, I will share that with mine and maybe he

will have an easier time making that transition. Unfortunately,

does not seek support from anyone other than me. I think that in many ways

it is harder for the father to accept his son's problems than it is for the

mom.

Jodi

Re: Chat-Growth Hormones

> Jodi- if it helps at all, my husband is about 5-2 1/2 or 5-3. He has a

great

> self-esteem, plays basketball and tennis and has always had friends,

> girlfriends, etc. And of course- he got me! He doesn't seem to have RSS,

just

> short genes. I am 4-11 1/2 so our kids are really going to be giants if

> they're over 5-3. Anyway, whenever I'm concerned about how Nate will

handle

> being so small, I think of how well my husband did and it makes me feel

> better.

>

> Liz-Mom of Nate(?RSS)and Sam-3 year old twins and Arianna-16 months

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Have a great party! Can you believe it has been three years already? I'm

not too up on Blue's Clues except that my niece and nephew love the show and

have many of the merchandise. She sure is a cute dog, though.

Jodi

Re: Chat-Growth Hormones

> Jodi- my husband is the same way. I'm lucky if he shares his feelings with

> me. Although he's very close to his brother, he doesn't talk to him

either. I

> guess he thinks he has to be the strong, macho, man. When I suggested that

he

> use the listserve or even read the messages, you would have thought I was

> asking him to eat a bug! By the way, good luck with Max's bar mitzvah. In

> another 10 years we'll be having a double one- I guess I'll need to start

> planning it now-lol. As for right now, we're busy getting ready for the

boys'

> 3rd birthday party. My sister is arriving from CA tomorrow and she will be

> here for 5 days, so we're very excited. I am making a Blue's Clue's cake

for

> the party. The first time I've ever done a decorated cake, wish me luck.

Hope

> everyone has a good weekend,

>

> Liz-Mom of Nate(?RSS)and Sam-3 year old twins and Arianna-16 months

>

>

>