A Pep Talk About Side Effects

One of the things that made the Idiopathic Short Stature diagnosis so difficult for me was feeling like it was "only" a cosmetic issue, and medication (especially an injection!! ew!!!) seemed like a dramatic intervention to correct a cosmetic problem.  Of course, our insurance company reinforced the idea that ISS is really nothing to an otherwise healthy child.  We discussed it at length with our family and doctors, and concluded that, while ISS kids usually have no other symptoms, it IS a medical issue.  ISS doesn't mean that nothing is wrong.  It means that something's wrong, they just don't know what.  The body doesn't use the GH it produces and the resulting growth failure is significant.  Jonah's growth chart showed that he wasn't just a mini-kid, but rather a kid falling farther and father off the bottom of the chart.  In terms of percentiles, he was getting shorter!  He started in the 25th percentile, dropped to the 12th and so on until he was below the first. Now he is back to the 12th percentile and holding steady.  He is still a mini-kid, but he is a kid whose growth rate is consistent instead of getting slower.

Parents whose kids receive this diagnosis are often and appropriately concerned about side effects.  Jonah was a couple months into his treatment when he randomly decided to bite some kid in his kindergarten.  Just bit him. WTH, kid?!  Don't bite your friends!! 

I immediately pictured some roid-ragey baseball player and called the doctor.  Nope. This is not a known side effect.  In fact, Norditropin side effects are rare in otherwise healthy kids and usually very mild.  They include headaches, stiffness, redness at the injection site, etc.   You can check out the Norditropin safety information here! I also learned that growth hormone therapy has been studied for over forty years, focusing on thousands of children and following them into adulthood.  Every time we see the endocrinologist at Vanderbilt, he asks Jonah about headaches, joint pain, whether or not the injection hurts and a few other questions.  They check his vitals after the weigh and measure him.  Every other visit includes blood tests and a bone age scan.  Everything is carefully monitored.

   

 Most recently, we had a nurse practitioner check his spinal alignment and think she detected signs of kyphosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine.  Some quick googling indicated that growth hormone therapy can worsen an already existing curvature of the spine, but the endocrinologist assured me that it does not cause it.  Further examination showed that his spine is perfectly fine, but the fear of side effects came crashing back into my consciousness in that moment.

Checking out his bone age scan

I know that I sound like a commercial for Norditropin and I'm just itching to get you to stick your kid.  I just want you to know that it's safe and well-studied.  Obviously, I'm not a doctor.  I'm not even a very good blogger! (One post in 2013?! Really?!)  I'm just a mother of an ISS kid who KNOWS that roughly 9 zillion people felt it necessary to tell me that I am putting my kid "at risk" over something as "inconsequential" as his height.  If you are a parent, then this phenomenon of people feeling free to share their opinions with you is nothing new!  Share away, busy-bodies of the world!!  We know that our kids deserve the best care and we don't give a crap what you think!! So There!!