The Endocrinologist

Today we had our first visit with the pediatric endocrinologist to discuss Colin's levels of thyroid enzymes that have been off the past 2 times he has had blood work. Hypothyroidism is a common problem in children with Down Syndrome, so it's important to check blood work every 6 months or so. When Colin's blood work was checked at birth and 6 months, his levels were normal, however when they were checked again around 14 months, they started coming back slightly off.

Unfortunately, we had a very long wait because there was apparently a misunderstanding regarding a change in our appointment time that we were unaware of, so we had to kill lots of time in the room by ripping (and eating) paper. Don't you love the island of paper he created for himself?

We can now add self-feeding paper to the list where sand already exists (who would have thought something that tastes badly would be a favorite self-feeding item).

We also killed time by playing a fun paper throwing game.



The doctor explained to us that the thyroid works cooperatively with the pituitary gland in the brain. Sometimes, in children with down syndrome, the thyroid enzymes can be off for a reason that does not imply a problem. However, in other cases, there is a trouble with the production of the enzymes and in the 1st 3 years of a child's life, brain development is very important. Therefore, it is highly recommended that Colin take a medication to help with the production of those enzymes so that in case there IS a problem, we did not wait too long to begin the medication. There are no side effects associated with the medication, so it's worth it for us to begin this process. The medication is a pill form which we will have to crush and get him to eat all of it.

At 3, if Colin's levels were easily maintained by the medication, then we will be able to take him off and see how his body reacts. So, there is the possibility that he will not have to be on this medication for life. The only downside is that we will have to check in with her every 3 months, which we did not find to be a downside since she was very good at explaining the details. She made us feel comfortable with everything for the time being.