Interesting this insulin resistance thing. It was me, then my sister, who brought up our observations about the 13 year old boy to the parents. Learned at least one parent had been given data over the last couple of years that their kid was in the lower percentile of development. Words like unobservant, slow to react, others, come to mind.
After watching the kid at a baseball game struggle terribly, said they ought to check his endocrine system, thyroid I blurted out. The kid looked like a toxic soup. And overweight. Said appeared to be starving. You know, that insulin resistance thing.
Blow back was "How could that be possible when he is overweight?"
Christ... my response was a muted "if you have to ask, then no answer anyone gives would... etc etc etc".
Thankfully they did pursue it, was discovered things were indeed wrong, thyroid cancer, and the course is in motion to have the thyroid removed, tomorrow, 6 days after diagnosis. Learning curve has been solely about the procedure. All other ideas have been discarded as witchcraft, voodoo, in the name of medical
Science and a knife.
Going from unobservant to slow to respond to oh my god to knee jerk. Parents arguing, disagreeing, fighting, not speaking, along the way.
As Wom said, the boy will have to learn how to take care of himself one day, and do a better job. Everyone is sick in one way or another in their household with asthma, allergies, thyroid and who knows what else, celiac, and so on. One would think a light would pop on one day given all their maladies, of oh I don't know, say... nutrition, environmental, simple intellectual pursuit of WHY?
I know I need to stop obsessing about it, but it breaks my goddamn heart for this little boy. V, methinks Margaret Sanger may have at least just bitch slapped the parents into stop arguing and pay attention instead of reacting poorly when the wheels have come off. Like, ya think other things are lurking in the biological wings?
There has been absolutely 0 interest in wondering why this might have occurred. Absolutely they are scared, panicked, etc. But am dead nuts honest when saying their response is like a Vegas craps player, who discusses the odds (the numbers come from the doctor), and feels all will be well, life will go on, no problem, after thyroid removal because the odds are in their favor.
?
All I can do is affect a 1000 yard stare. Surgery may be the only recourse. My wife and I know that better than anyone. But the absolute lack of intellectual curiosity boggles.