Ch-ch-ch-changes ...

The Starlings and the Fox is changes courses a bit. One of the starlings, my little Henry, has some ongoing health and medical issues, and the time has come for us to share his struggle, and maybe get a little help.

Here's the scoop: Henry has a rare medical condition, a growth disorder that not much is known about called Severe Primary IGF-D. Henry's liver and pancreas can't process the growth hormone his brain sends out, and so we give him two injections a day of a drug called increlex. It has helped his growth and immune function so much, but since December, our insurance has denied coverage of it. We're getting help from the company that makes the medication, but that help will run out in a month or so. We're working on an appeal to the insurance company, and keeping our fingers crossed that we can make it happen in time that Henry doesn't have to go without his medicine. (It costs $4,000 a month.)

In the meantime, Henry has developed another bit of trouble, and that's with his pancreas. We just got some test results that indicate Henry's body is attacking insulin receptors in his pancreas, and eventually, all the cells that process insulin will be destroyed, which is a long way of explaining type I diabetes mellitus. The good news is that his current medication has an insulin-like action, and it's helped keep the diabetes at bay.

There's one doctor in the United States who specializes in Henry's medical condition, and he's speaking at a convention for parents and medical professionals in Chicago in July, and may be giving informal consultations to parents and children at that time. He's also doing studies on new medications that could help Henry's combined problems with diabetes and growth. It's a newly discovered growth disorder, and treatment's only been available since 2005 (the year Henry was born, how crazy is that?!).

So .... we'll be doing some fund-raising in the next couple of months to gather up the money we need to get to Chicago, pay for the convention, and get some good information about Henry. We may also be looking at paying for treatment somehow. Stay tuned if you think you could help.