Idio.... what?

The last few weeks have been chaotic if anything. We've had multiple doctor appointments, party planning, lack of sleep (thanks to Snookie's late night antics)... and just in general a busy life. One of the medical situations we've been dealing with is Bobcat's size. On Wednesday we received the preliminary diagnosis from the doctor.

Idiopathic Short Stature (Idiopathic Short Stature (also known as ISS) is a big name for children who are short with no known cause. Idiopathic Short Stature is a problem that can be present in both girls and boys. Many causes of short stature have been discovered over the past few years, but there are still factors that are not yet understood. ISS falls into to this latter category. Although the reasons for ISS are not yet totally understood, it is known that the administration of growth-promoting treatments may help affected children. Idiopathic Short Stature is defined as having a height significantly shorter than the normal population (i.e., shorter than 1.2% of the population of the same age and gender), a poor adult height prediction (generally defined as less than 5’4” for males and less than 4’11” for females), and no detectable cause for the short stature.)

Currently his height and weight are below the 3% mark. We took him to the endocrinologist, and they did a work up on him which included measurements, blood work, and bone maturation x-rays (hands to check growth plates). His blood work came back normal, which is good. It shows that there is no disease or illness causing the stunted growth. The bone test showed the bone age to be between 5 1/2 to 6 years (Bobcat is 7 years old). The doctor doesn't feel that this is young enough of a reading for there to be a real change in overall growth in the long term. He was hoping for a reading of around 4 years (which is where Bobcat would fit into a growth chart for a some what small child). At this point the doctor had us schedule a growth hormone stimulus test (we will be doing that on April 1st). It is a 4 hour test done in the endocrinology clinic where they give him a cocktail of drugs to induce the body to produce growth hormone, and then read the levels that his body is producing. They are looking to see if he is producing normal levels or if for some reason his body is only emitting small amounts or none which would explain the small size. Either way, they have asked us to consider growth hormone therapy. As of right now, his doctor is certain that as a full grown man he will not reach the 64 inches (5'4") mark, which qualifies him to receive growth hormone therapy. Right now we are looking into having another endocrinologist evaluate all the findings. We are pleased with our current doctor, but we want to make sure that we completely understand the situation before we proceed with any therapy (if at all)...