Hypothyroidism

Apparently it's quite common in individuals with Down syndrome. I'm just learning about it now, so any explanation you get here is is likely sketchy and vague.

Back in March, PJ's regular pediatrician ordered a blood draw to check his thyroid, as is the norm for our kids. They have to check every so often. At that time, his numbers were at the high end of "normal", just a "keep an eye on" thing.

Last week, PJ finally got to go to the DS clinic, at Duke Medical Center (one of NC's two Top 10 Hospitals in the country) where they took some more blood. Yesterday, I got an email advising me of an appointment with a Pediatric Endocrinologist for 7/29/08. So, I called to ask what it was for. I was told it was his thyroid, but the appointment secretary I spoke with didn't have any more info than that. Next I called the regular ped's to get his numbers from March. His TSH was 5.56, and his T4 was 1. Ok, I really don't still much understand what this means, but shortly after that, the Ped.Endo office called to tell me that PJ needs to be taking a daily medicine, starting immediately, so I went to pick up the RX from the local pharmacy today, and will start giving him his meds tomorrow (has to be on an empty stomach)The person who called to advise me of the need for meds told me that his TSD was now at 10.29, and T4 was at 1.15. I still don't know what this means, but I can see that something has gone way up. (way being a relative term, since I don't know if that's a large increase or not) This condition will be treated for life, but appears to be a simple fix. I'll know more after the 29th, and I hope that the only changes I see in him after being on the meds are positive, maybe growing a little? He's a real shorty. Maybe bowel regulating? Maybe sleeping better? IDK.

On other stuff about my boy, his PT is working with him on cruising the couch, and crawling. I "caught" him several times today attempting the "crawl" He's 10 months old tomorrow. He's eaten a few things with consistency, Gerber makes a snack called "puffs" about the size of a cheerio, made with real fruit, and it kind of breaks apart on first bite, hence the name "puffs" - he's hooked, and is even picking them up off his tray and getting them into his mouth (raking, not pinching - but still pretty cool) He had some lo mein the other day when mom took Becca, PJ and me to lunch at a chinese restaurant and totally dug that. Still no teeth, but I'm not worried, I've been told and have read that teeth are slow in coming very often in our babies. So, that's about it for now, just two more months till his first birthday, the time goes by SO SO SO fast. We went to the park last week, here he is, enjoying the swing.