A pleasant genetic appointment!

Bertrand takes his official ring bearer training VERY seriously!

Bertrand's "good news" roll continues! At today's genetic/metabolic follow-up, Bertrand was found to be "improved", much to the puzzlement and pleasure of his geneticist.

(I was over-the-moon when he declared Bertrand "stable" 6 months ago, so you can imagine my joy at hearing the word "improved"! And follow-up in TWELVE whole months!)

We discussed additional genetic testing, but decided to wait as these tests would be subsumed by the results from Bertrand's full genome sequencing being done at Duke University.

Given that Bertrand has responded well to treatment, a battery of blood tests were drawn to identify new treatment options such as supplements and hormone therapies.

Fortunately, these are not an option for Bertrand because all of his hormone blood levels have been found within NORMAL range! Including Bertrand's AFP for the first time!

• AFP 6.5 (normal range: 0-15)
• Vitamin D 80 (normal range: 30-80)
• Prolactin 15.1 (normal range: 1-16)
• TSH 2.40 (normal range: 0.7-6)
• Free T4 1.18 (normal range: 0.7-2.4)
• Cortisol 10.6 (normal range: 1-23)
• ACTH*
• IGF 1*
• IGF-BP3*

(* Signifies a pending result.)

Bertrand's weight, however, was NOT in normal range. At 39 lbs. 10 oz. he is obese, and he has to be about 10 lbs. lighter! Bertrand needs a weight loss regimen, so the dietitian, food diary, gram scale, and calorie counting are baaaaaack.

(I had a talk with Bertrand regarding the merits of crawling, because I hear that weight just flies off kids once they do, and then Mama won't have to limit his food. I'd like to believe he is taking my suggestion under consideration.)