Sorry kid, it just runs in the family

Justin has a big head. This is a fact. On one of my previous posts, Chris declared “Look at the size of that noggin!”

It was never really a cause for concern for us. After all, it’s a rare occurrence that I can find a hat that fits me – and when I do, it’s often adjusted as large as possible. I know, you wouldn’t know it from looking at me, would you? See my previous post on being an optical illusion. However, at Justin’s last checkup, the charts showed that while his weight gain was starting to tail off (like normal kids), his head growth was still proceeding apace – and he’d broken out above the 99th percentile. That’s my boy! Always the overachiever.

Our pediatrician, however, wanted to talk to a specialist, and a neurosurgeon over at Lucille Packard said he wanted to take a look at Justin. Let me tell you – one person you really don’t want to have to evaluate your child is a neurosurgeon. We approached the appointment with a bit of trepidation. A couple of weeks ago, we went in. The doctor thankfully said he didn’t think it was anything except that he inherited his enormous melon from his dad. But he wanted to do a CT scan for sure – worst case would be that Justin was developing an abnormal amount of fluid around his brain. But since his behavior was that of a normal kid his age, that seemed relatively unlikely.

The CT scan was this morning. Justin was a trooper – they basically had to put him in a straightjacket to hold him down for the scan. But it was over quickly enough, and the diagnosis? Yep, genetics. It’s really just my fault. Everything looks fine, he’s just got one big honkin’ head! Whew!  Sorry kid, hopefully you’ll grow into it (or also develop optical illusionist capabilities!)

~ by Nathan on March 21, 2007.