Many people wish they could be taller… and I’m one of them. Thanks to my mother’s short genes I am destined to be under runway model stature for life—and I’m fine with that. I don’t have to contend with people calling me “shrimp,” “midget” or “shorty” (at least not to my face), but some children must bear these brutal taunts on a daily basis.
I remember one of them. My classmate Bryan. He was my date for the Valentine’s Day Ball our freshman year in high school. He was one of the sharpest, funniest and thoughtful kids in the entire school. But at 5-feet 2-inches tall he stood out for not standing tall. I remember towering over him (okay, maybe not towering, but I was definitely taller) in my pink pumps the night of the big dance. If the situation made him uncomfortable he never let it show. He was as witty and wonderful as always. But the reality was that we didn’t do much slow dancing that night after a few teenage dimwits poked fun at our height difference.
By our senior year Bryan had shot up to 6-feet (his mother had taken him into the doctor and they found his diet was lacking in protein and other vital nutrients—after modifications were made to his diet he grew like a magic beanstalk). He went on to graduate with honors from Stanford University (after turning down a full ride to the Air Force Academy) and toured the world playing semi-professional soccer. I just saw him over the holidays and he is still charming, still hilarious, and still a lot taller than me.
Bryan’s story had a happy ending, but for some kids who are not able to keep up with the normal growth rate, their lives become riddled with constant visits to the doctor. Such is the case with my friend’s son. Micah is 7-years-old, but is as tall as a normal 4-year-old. Diet modifications and other treatments have not been successful for Micah and recently his parents made the agonizing decision to start him on human growth hormones with the hope of accelerating his growth. According to the pediatric endocrinologist, my friend’s son will likely undergo years of daily injections and in the end there are no guarantees.
The doctor warned my friend not to have excessive expectations for what growth hormones would do—basically they were told that the injections wouldn’t make their short son tall over night. According to the specialist, the best a patient can hope for is growing up to three inches.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of human growth hormones in 2003. Children who fall below the first percentile of a growth chart’s bell curve are typically the ideal candidates for the injections.
My friend and her husband made the decision they did in their child’s best interest. However, they have been on the receiving end of some not so friendly comments from people who obviously have not walked a mile in their shoes, and certainly not a step in Micah’s. Apparently, there are some people out there that think shortness is met with social prejudice and should be met with a social solution not a medical one. One person made the comment that Micah’s parents should be trying to change people’s minds about their son’s lack of height instead of changing his body.
It is my hope that Micah shoots up in the near future and he and his parents can get on with their lives. Even if he doesn’t sprout up like my friend Bryan goodness knows he sure has grown in other ways from this experience.
What are your feelings about kids taking growth hormones? Are you for it or against it?
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