I am short 4’10” and my husband is also short 5’6” so everyone expected our daughter Carolina to be short, and I guess that is the reason why for the first years of her life I did not worry about her size. Neither did my pediatrician. I am not going to lie, I did see my kid being shorter than other kids, but I found myself thinking: “Don’t be pretentious, she is not going to be tall” or thinking I was overreacting and that I should be grateful she is healthy in all other aspects. You see so many sad stories with parents and kids with devastating diagnosis, that you feel terrible to worry about something “superficial” or “aesthetic” as height.

Long story short, kindergarten arrived, and the height issue became a permanent thought in my mind. Let’s face it kids at that age are carelessly honest, and keep asking her question like: How old are you? Why are you so small? Are you in the right class? And even excluding her from “big boys” games.

We decided to visit an Endocrinologist, even though our pediatrician did not think it was necessary. At first the Endocrinologist said that she was ok (yes, you guessed, because we are short parents). However, we insisted in having our three month appointment for a whole year until finally the doctor had enough information to realize she was not growing on a normal velocity.

We have been on Growth hormone for over four years with great results. She still is in the bottom 10%, but now you can definitely tell she belongs in her class, and nobody questions her, and the most important, I have the peace of mind, we are doing everything possible as parent to ensure her full development.

Sure, the first weeks are difficult, it sounds scary to have to inject your kid daily, but you will get to a point that is just like washing their teeth before going to bed. They will remind you about the medicine, and you will see a special light in their eyes, because they know it is working.

I wish I could tell every parent to at least fight for a year, this diagnosis is not easy, but whatever the result is, you will have not wasted precious time. In my case, the year of waiting to be approved was a year lost in potential treatment, but the following years have been less stress and more smiles on my kid’s face when she comes back from school.

It is always hard to see your child grow up with insecurities and having to wait and wait and wait for something that could potentially change their future. Therefore, it is more important to keep going with the faith that there is a chance, to keep pushing for that little smile that makes them a little more confident when walking down the school halls.

Barbara Heyser
Carolina’s proud mom

Picture on left shows Carolina (purple hearts t-shirt), her sister (striped t-shirt) and her same age girlfriend Ines (green bathing suit). Their birthdays are only 2 months apart.
Picture on right is Carolina (yellow striped t-shirt) and the same girlfriend after 5 years of treatment. Her friend is still taller but finally they look the same age.