“Puberty is consider delayed (delayed puberty) if it hasn't occurred by the age of 13 years in girls and 14 years in boys.”

When my daughter was 14 years old I started asking her birth relatives how old they were when they went through puberty. Most of them answered between eleven and thirteen. Her two sisters were both fully developed by the time they turned thirteen years old. At age 14 she had absolutely no signs that her body was going... more

My daughter was fighting me every day at shot time. She would cry, hide, scream or beg me not to give her the daily injection. Since she was growth hormone deficient it really wouldn’t hurt her to skip an injection once and a while. She was aware of that, so it didn’t make it any easier. Those of you with diabetic children need multiple techniques, to deal with multiple shots in a day.

Originally she would only take her shots in her upper arm, a few inches below her shoulder. She would switch arms daily, but repeatedly using the same... more

In my first article “What is Pituitary Dwarfism (Growth Hormone Deficiency, Panhypopituitarism?)” I was telling you about my daughter who has 100% growth hormone deficiency, also her body doesn’t produce any estrogen or progesterone, her thyroid doesn’t function properly and she struggles with anxiety and OCD. In that article we looked at the definition and causes. In this article I’d like to look at testing and treatment.

Tests given may include the following:

• A Hand x-ray can determine bone age. My daughter’s endocrinologist would check her bone age about every 6 months this way. Another indicator of bone age would be tooth development. My daughter lost her last... more

What is Pituitary Dwarfism (Growth Hormone Deficiency, Panhypopituitarism?)

My daughter has 100% growth hormone deficiency, her body also doesn’t produce any estrogen or progesterone, her thyroid doesn’t function properly and she struggles with anxiety and OCD. She came to live with us just before she turned eight years old, we adopted her when she was nine and now she is eighteen. She looks completely normal, attends college and has held a part-time job for almost 3 years. So, unless she chooses to share her medical problems with her friends or acquaintances, they wouldn’t have any idea that she struggles with these issues. She is supposed to continue using a small amount of... more