Mary,

Thank you and I do feel blessed that I have been so lucky. There were times in my life where not everything was perfect. As a child my mother had to give me shots daily because I had a hard time absorbing the cortisol as well. Does your son take shots? I was lucky to grow to an average height of 5’9", but my little brother who has the CAH is 6’ and my older brother who doesn’t is 6’5", so yes I lost a considerable amount of height. As a infant my heart stopped beating and my parents were extremely worried that I wouldn’t make it through. Weight has been an issue for me from time to time and so have mood swings as my medication has been changed from dossage to dossage. Treatment is extremely crucial. It is extremely important to have a doctor who knows what he or she is doing. I have had doctors who have had no idea even though they claimed themselves as experts. I have had doctors throw their credentials at me, the results were no there so they meant nothing to me. I have called my endo office and have become extremely upset due to recent results. In high school I was extremely active in sports. I was in great shape around 4 percent body fat and I always had a hard time with fatigue because of CAH. I later was able to combat this with salt tablets and gatorade and things worked out rather well, but I never had the energy I would have. I want your son to be healthy. I want you son to find the best treatment and I want to help everyone who has CAH. I hope as a grow older I grow more successful and I am able to make a true difference. I did not write what I did to talk down people who are going through terrible times, but I did want to talk down people who use CAH as an excuse and make their kids feel different. God has brought people to this earth and we are all different. Things I may have excelled at had I not gotten CAH are gone and things I excell at now more than likely would have not been achived if I didn’t have CAH. I am not going to lie to you and say my life would be worse without CAH, but it is who I am. It is sometimes very tough, I’m not saying it isn’t. Mary, I hope nothing more than success and great health for you and your child. CAH is not cake, but it can be overcome. Please e-mail me at paulgottfried@gmail.com if you would like to talk any time. Thank you and have a nice day.

Paul