Tall Enough to be Five!

After a month of constant discussion about it being "almost my birthday," yesterday was finally the big day!  Jonah turned five.  We woke him in the morning with our ridiculous rendition of "Happy Birthday," after which Jonah threw back his blanket and asked, "Do I look taller?!"  We decided to go find out.  Matt brought him to the kitchen and helped him stand straight against the wall so that we could mark his growth like we did on his first day of kindergarten.  "Am I tall enough to be five?"  he asked.  We assured him that he is definitely tall enough to be five.  We left out that he is also tall enough to be three.

Two weeks ago, Jonah's endocrinologist called from Vanderbilt with his blood test results.  It turns out that Jonah does not have Idiopathic Short Stature, as originally diagnosed.  His blood work shows that he is actually growth hormone deficient.  Because of this new diagnosis, Jonah will not be starting growth hormone therapy right away, but has been scheduled for more testing.  Next week, we will head to the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt where Jonah will have a sedated MRI of his pituitary gland and another round of blood tests, this time to check his cortisol level.  Only after we have confirmed that everything else is okay, will we be able to start the therapy.

Obviously, it became necessary to finally explain to Jonah that his body was not working like the other kids' bodies.  Jonah knew that he wasn't as big as the other kids but it hasn't stopped him from growing in confidence and kindness and making friends with other kids.  We told him that there were lots of different chemicals in his body that did all sorts of things, but his body didn't have enough of the chemical that made him get bigger.  I told him that the doctor can give him some medicine to help him to grow.  He thought about it for a minute, pacing around in the grass.  Finally, he came back and asked, "Do you think that instead of that medicine, the doctor could give me a potion to make me either an alien or a robot?"

 And there it was.  I was so worried about his little self-esteem.  I was worried that he would feel badly about being different, that he was somehow broken.  I was worried that he would ask me why we're even worried about how big he is!  But, for right now, his biggest concern is having to choose between being a robot or an alien, just in case he is given the option.