Insulin-like Growth Factor-1

Ian's doctor called last night around 5:30. I was in the middle of changing Ian's diaper when my cell phone rang so I just grabbed the phone without looking at who it was. When our Doctor said who she was my heart immediately started to pound. She started by telling me that the x-rays of Ian's growth plate came back normal so his skeletal structure is normal. She went on to say that Ian's Growth Hormone levels were all normal as well. At this point I was thinking to myself great he has celiacs dieseas, but no that came back negative. Ok so what the heck, all of this and he really doesn't have anything wrong with him?

Apparently my brain was thinking a little to fast because at that moment is when our docotr drops the bomb. The one thing we did find in the blood work was that Ian's IGF-1 levels were only at 31 when they should be between 50 and 150 for his age. Of course I had no idea what IGF-1 was so I asked about it and all she said was that it was the Insulin-like Growth Hormone. Of course after I got off the phone with her I immediatly looked it up and this is the definition I found.

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1, better known as IGF-1 is a polypeptide protein hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin. It plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults.

Backing up a minute though my doctor did say that while Ian does show some growth it's very small and she wants us to see a Endocrynologist. She recommended the Pedatrics group at Children's hospital or a small private practice here in town. I wasn't sure which to go with so I asked her what she thought. We came to the conclusion that the small private practice would be a better fit for Ian. After the last experiecne at Childrens I'm not sure how well he would do there and I like the idea of this being a little more personal.

As I said before as soon as I was off the phone I got online and started looking up IGF-1. There really isn't a whole lot out there about this but what I have found is that it was just discoverd a few years ago and it is part of the Growth Hormones but it's also seperate. It can not be treated with the same techniques and medications as Growth Hormone Deficencies. he good news is that there are some medications out there that have been sucessful in treating this.

So first thing Monday morning I will be calling to schedule an appointment for Ian. I am praying that they can get us in fairly quickly because I do not do well with this waiting stuff. I want to know exactly where we stand and what we need to do to fix this or make it better. This waiting game is really killing me.

To the anonyomous commenter on my 3rd Percentile post thank you very much for recomending I look at The Magic Foundation. That was one of the first places I went after I talked to the doctor and it was the place that had the most information.