I have always known that Judah is special. Obviously. However, I think that when a specialist says multiple times that your baby is "special", "different", & "interesting", even to him (the specialist) that means that your baby is rrreeeaaalllyyy special. Like, on the fast track to being a medical marvel even. Well, that's what we got from the endocrinologist this morning. I took Judah in for his every-3-months follow-up and got some new information. In one sense, it's kinda like, "Ya, my baby really is fascinating & special", but in the other sense it's "Oh, my baby is actually sicker than I thought". That's where the return to "medical school" comes in. I find myself knowing information that I never wanted to know...again. Overall, Judah is still doing 
fine. Day-to-day he's healthy; his happy, content, laid back, beautiful, charming, darling little self. But his insides are so mixed up and complicated and...sick. I'll try to keep this relatively simple. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around this new information, so we'll see how I do at explaining it. 1st is Judah's growth...or lack thereof. He's 11 lb. 2 oz. & only 21 1/2 in. long. tiny. He will most likely begin getting growth hormone injections within the next 3 months. The 2nd issue is a little more sensitive in nature. There's an extremely rare adrenal disease (his endocrinologist has actually never seen a case) that effects growth, etc. in the "personal area". He believes that Judah might have this disease. It revolves around some 17 enzyme something that his body might not be producing. I don't know much else about it, because I don't know if he has it. When I know for sure, I'll ask. At any rate, he's getting some special blood work done on Wed. morning to test for this disease. If he doesn't have this disease he'll be starting testosterone injections within the next 3 months. If he does...I'm not sure what happens next. The 3rd issue deals with another part of his brain. Judah has had 2 infections - ear and lower urinary tract. Each time he was totally non-symptomatic and it was a surprise that they were there. I've had floating around in my mind the thought that that's kind of odd. Infection with no fever, nothing? We talked about that today. Long story short, the dr. believes that Judah's hypothalamus isn't working. This part of the brain is actually above the pituitary and sends signals to it; the pituitary in turn sends signals to other parts of the body dot dot dot. The hypothalamus also basically tells your body to produce a fever to fight off infection/bacteria. Judah's body is not producing fevers. Practically speaking this means that whenever a doctor finds an infection and puts him on antibiotics I also have to up his steroid dose to help his body deal with the stress of being sick. (Normally a fever would clue me in to this and I would know to "stress dose" him; however, he's not getting a fever!) Long term, though, I have no idea what something like this means. And I'm ok with that for now. All of this other information is more than enough!
fine. Day-to-day he's healthy; his happy, content, laid back, beautiful, charming, darling little self. But his insides are so mixed up and complicated and...sick. I'll try to keep this relatively simple. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around this new information, so we'll see how I do at explaining it. 1st is Judah's growth...or lack thereof. He's 11 lb. 2 oz. & only 21 1/2 in. long. tiny. He will most likely begin getting growth hormone injections within the next 3 months. The 2nd issue is a little more sensitive in nature. There's an extremely rare adrenal disease (his endocrinologist has actually never seen a case) that effects growth, etc. in the "personal area". He believes that Judah might have this disease. It revolves around some 17 enzyme something that his body might not be producing. I don't know much else about it, because I don't know if he has it. When I know for sure, I'll ask. At any rate, he's getting some special blood work done on Wed. morning to test for this disease. If he doesn't have this disease he'll be starting testosterone injections within the next 3 months. If he does...I'm not sure what happens next. The 3rd issue deals with another part of his brain. Judah has had 2 infections - ear and lower urinary tract. Each time he was totally non-symptomatic and it was a surprise that they were there. I've had floating around in my mind the thought that that's kind of odd. Infection with no fever, nothing? We talked about that today. Long story short, the dr. believes that Judah's hypothalamus isn't working. This part of the brain is actually above the pituitary and sends signals to it; the pituitary in turn sends signals to other parts of the body dot dot dot. The hypothalamus also basically tells your body to produce a fever to fight off infection/bacteria. Judah's body is not producing fevers. Practically speaking this means that whenever a doctor finds an infection and puts him on antibiotics I also have to up his steroid dose to help his body deal with the stress of being sick. (Normally a fever would clue me in to this and I would know to "stress dose" him; however, he's not getting a fever!) Long term, though, I have no idea what something like this means. And I'm ok with that for now. All of this other information is more than enough! Everything else is going well. His recovery from surgery is going pretty smoothly. He's fussy and uncomfortable sometimes, but other than that there haven't been any problems. I can't believe we go in to get the stitches removed tomorrow!!
Thanks to everyone who has prayed or prays on a regular basis for this Little Lion...HIS Little Lion. God reminded me this morning that there's nothing wrong with Judah. He is exactly the little person that God made him to be. Created in His own image, designed to fit perfectly into our family. There is pain in this life, but God doesn't make mistakes. And a perfect eternity awaits!
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