Sunday, July 22, 2012

Constitutional Growth Delay

Okay, for those who follow me, you know what I have gone through this year with my oldest.

Well, about a month ago, we took my youngest in for her yearly physical and had her referred to a Developmental Pediatrician due to her ADHD screening. Well, due to the fact that she was in the 3rd percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight, her doctor also referred her to an endocrinologist to test her growth hormones.

Now, I have always lovingly joked that my youngest looks younger than she is, and with her petite features, she looks like my garden gnome. (I even made her one for Halloween one year)

2009
Last week, my hubby took the little one (who I call "Little Bit") into the doctor's office. I was nervous not being there myself, but I figured it would just be a blood test and a follow would be scheduled.

Well, I am waiting to hear something and I get a text that they are sending my youngest for an x-ray, which really confused me...

Long story short, my youngest was sent in for a bone age scan. The endocrinologist suspected that her skeleton actually thinks it's younger than it is. A bone age scan is an x-ray of the left wrist and hand, by this x-ray they can determine the height age of the child. If your child is 6 years old, and the bone age determines the height of a 4 year old, then your 6 year old has a 2 year growth delay.

Well, we got the results back. Our 6 year, 11 month old child, has a skeletal age of a 5 year old. This is apparently a significant delay and they are ordering blood work to make sure that there is nothing else going on.

This may not sound like a big deal and intellectually it's not. Even physically, not so much. The hard part is going to be the fact that she will likely start her growth spurts later than others her age.  And, you know how sensitive teen girls can be to being different, or not "developing" quickly enough.

I have learned something through this experience, though...did you know that your biological  (or bone) age determines when you start puberty? I had no idea.

1 comment:

  1. I did not know any of this! Good to know and thanks for sharing. She's adorable, BTW!

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