Another Chapter in Doms Medical Life

Here comes a moms story of frustrations and bs

Dom entered the world of autism aka Aspergers Syndrome back on 2008 when he was just 2 years old. We suffered and started therapies and all the fun that went along with it. We got used to the way life was and just chugged through.

Six years later Julia was born and so was the diagnosis of ADHD for Dom. He went through 4 different ADHD cocktails until we found the right one for us, which we still deal with on a day to day basis. ADHD is a blast btw!

One year after that we realized that Dom wasnt growing and he got diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, and now we entered another medication in my poor boys body. They said that he would start growing within 3-6 months and well that never happened either.

Here we are in 2015, almost 2016 and we have a brand new exciting diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency. After several blood tests, a stay at Alb Med and a thrilling MRI which Dom was awake for over an hour we find out that we can fix his height with daily shots until he is 16!

I do realize that there are far worse things in this world than all of these medications, but is it so much to ask for a normal 9 year old's life without the medications, therapies, processing issues, hyperactivity issues and growth issues? Well I guess maybe not. Here's to a new year, a new medication and finding normalhood!!

Complicated LIfe Gets More Complicated

Disclaimer: I would like to apologize to anyone reading this who has suffered loss or has it harder than me, this is a place where I just need to vent

As many of you know out there this past year has not been a fabulous one for my dear Dom. With dealing with his Aspergers, ADHD, hypothyroidism and problems fighting for his rights to stay at the school he loves we suffered or are suffering with another blow. We have been very concerned about Dom's height, he has been on thyroid meds for the past 10 months but it hasn't been helping. He is not even 4 feet tall and is 9 years old. I contacted his endocrinologist to see what is going on. A blood test and xray later we find out that he MIGHT have growth hormone deficiency. We need to go through a 3 hour iv test in the next few weeks to determine this. But as I google and see what it involves, I would have to inject my poor boy with growth hormones every day until he is 16 years old! Ugh, the idea of this just causes my anxiety to rise and just makes me angry. Why does a sweet 9 year old always have to have the short end of the stick. Anyone who knows Dom knows how sweet and empathetic he is. He cares for his friends and family dearly but always has to deal with fighting for normalcy. Why cant he just have a "normal" childhood and deal with "normal" issues.

As I sit here I am just filled with anger and questions as to why why why. I am hoping we have definite answers soon and that Dom can grow and not have to justify his growth to his friends saying I have a problem with my thyroid over and over again.

Bring on the DRAMA

Most of you already know that my Dom was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome when he was 2 years old. When a parent hears this diagnosis you either accept the diagnosis, are against it, in denial or in the acceptance/denial stage. For about most of Dom's life i was in the acceptance/denial stage. 

Yes i realize that this is something that Dom has and will live with but that my child can do anything that other children do! We got through preschool and kindergarten and through about half of his elementary years. Academically he did ok and socially he has friends which is great for any aspie and also great for the mom who is constantly in denial by her little sunshine's disability. But by going through the years this mom was always sad to see his friends being achievers in sports and clubs and my son having to struggle or not really giving a sh&*. We tried sports and well he didn't really care for them or excel at it. We even tried karate but well he didn't really care for that either. The sensei would yell at the kids to do their kata and well Dom always did it on "Dom time", which really meant s-l-o-w-l-y, so he basically got yelled at the whole 45 minutes each week. We also did art classes which he did and kind of enjoyed but he isn't a Picasso by any means.

This past year we were asked by a friend to try a drama class by Drama Kids. At first i was like, ok, here we go, another class that i need to drag Dom to where he will be "ok" at. After his first class i asked Dom what he thought and he said, it was AMAZING, i had so much fun!!! So I immediately signed him up and we tried it out. This program is phenomenal for us and for Dom. It gave Dom self confidence, made him comfortable enough to be his true self and made him happy. Throughout the next 7 months or so Dom started acting in class and then here we were at the end of the year performance at the EGG in Albany. I was a nervous wreck! What if he froze? What if he forgot his lines? What if he cried because he forgot his lines? 

Well boy was i wrong! Dom did not forget his lines, he was funny and adorable and happy. That whole day we saw a Dom that we hadn't seen in a while. He was genuinely happy, stress free and confident. It filled my heart with so much happiness that i couldn't even sit still for one minute. This is the Dom that i have always wanted to peek out and i owe it all to Drama Kids. Cant wait for next year to be here already!!