thescalesandnotedmyweight.Next,
hepulledouthisstethoscopeand
madesureeverythingwassounding
asitshould.Handingmebacktomy
parents,hesimplysaid,“I’llbein
touchshortly.”
Twoweekslater,DrSpencesatmy
parentsdown,offeredthema glassof
waterandbegan.“MrandMrsFul-
ton,”hesaid,levellinghisgazeover
hiselaboratewoodendesk.“Yourson
hasbeenbornwithachondroplasia.”
Mumaskeda raftofquestionsand
Dadsaidnothing.
DrSpencetoldthemachondro-
plasiaisthemostcommonformof
dwarfism.Itresultsintheshortening
ofthelongbones– thearmsandlegs- andenlargementoftheskull.He
explainedthatachondroplasiawas
notusuallydetecteduntilthethird
trimesterofpregnancyandisoften
confirmedatbirth,orlater.
Ashen-faced,myparentslistened
as DrSpence outlinedwhatthe
futurewouldholdforme.“Ianwill
probablynevergrowmuchtallerthan
fourfeet,twoinches(1.27metres),”
saidthedoctor.I endedupstealing
15 centimetresmoreandtoppedout
atfourfeet,eight inches (1.42 metres)
and a bit.READER’SDIGEST
LouiseandJillwerewaitingtomeet
me.TheyhadabsolutelynoideaI’d
beenbornwithdwarfismandthe
possibilitywouldn’thavecrossed
theirminds.Therewasnoknown
historyofit inourfamily,althoughas
I’vesincelearnedtheredoesn’thave
tobe.Whentheylookedatme,what
theysawwasanadorable,chubby
babybrother.“He’ssocute,”mysister
remarked.Mark,olderthanmeby
tenyears,hadalreadydecidedwe’d
begreatmates.
Twoweekslater,myparentswent
backtoseeDrSauer,whoconduct-
edhisroutineexamandthensug-
gestedthatmy parentsmakean
appointmentwithDrSpence,the
paediatrician,assoonaspossible.
Mumhadneverbeenabigworri-
er,buttherewassomethingabout
histonethatalarmedher.“Isthere
somethingwrong?”sheasked.
“I’mnotsure,MrsFulton,butI
thinka visittoDrSpencemightbea
goodidea.”
DrSpencecradledmeinhisarms,
carriedmetohisexaminationtable
andtookouthistapemeasure.He
checkedmybodylength,thelength
ofmyarmsandlegsandmyheadcir-
cumference.Thenhe placed me on
“MR ANDMRSFULTON,” THEDOCTORSAID,
LEVELLINGHISGAZE OVERHISWOODEN DESK.“YOUR SON HAS BEEN BORN WITH ACHONDROPLASIA”
118 Augus t 2019