Lenny Pierce
December 07, 2022 7:51 PM
Stopping the Change by Lenny Pierce
Lenny sat in the office with his parents. His feet swung nervously, the soles of his sandals kicking at the legs of his chair. He wore his hair up in a ponytail, to keep cooler in the hot summer weather outside though, in here, he was actually a little cold wearing his yellow sundress in the air conditioning. All three of them sat up straighter as the door opened and the new doctor walked in. He was the third one they'd had to see since summer break started. First there'd been his regular doctor. Then the therapist. And now the pediatric endocrinologist.He smiled politely at Mom and Dad. "Mr. and Mrs. Pierce." He smiled at Lenny. "And you must be Lenny, right?"
Lenny nodded, glad he hadn't guessed John. He'd probably already read the therapist's report. They'd talked a long time about how Lenny didn't like his first name. It was barely acceptable in conjunction with his middle name when stated as a full name 'John Lennon Pierce' but 'John Pierce' or 'John' alone would never be a name he could answer to. He wasn't sure he liked 'Lennon Pierce' or just 'Lennon' either - that felt just as foreign and Other as 'John' did - so he was always relieved when people skipped right to Lenny and he didn't have to explain that they were using the wrong name.
The doctor's focus broadened out to the three of them. "I'm Dr. Kesling. I see you contacted the clinic about getting Lenny some hormone blockers. I'm going to talk to you today about what your options are, their advantages, and their risks. After going over what Dr. Fisher discussed with you, Lenny does qualify for treatment as a non-binary patient." Lenny still wasn't totally convinced he liked the label 'non-binary' as he was pretty okay with the label of being a boy, but the pediatrician and the therapist had both talked about 'gender non-conforming' being under that umbrella, and he was very willing to agree he fit that description.
The adults talked, and Lenny tried to listen and pay attention, but it was difficult. Even Dad seemed to be having some trouble understanding and making sense of everything the doctor was saying.
"So he might be shorter and have weaker bones?" Dad asked after the doctor spoke about risks.
"Growth spurts can be affected," the doctor affirmed, "but it actually delays the growth palate closure, so he may actually be slightly taller. As for the bone density, there's not enough evidence to say one way or the other about the bones, but it is considered a possible risk. We can put him on a calcium and vitamin D supplement to help guard against that, though."
Mom nodded slowly, and looked at Lenny. "What do you think?"
"I can take calcium, that's fine. I mean, I'm doing that already because I don't get enough in my diet. And," Lenny looked pointedly between his parents, neither of which were especially tall, though neither were they exceptionally short either. "I don't think being a little taller is gonna hurt me. It's not my height that's freaking me out." Fortunately, the voice thing that happened that day with Cole had only repeated once since then.
"Alright," Dad said to the doctor, "I think we all agree those are risks we can work with. Let's go ahead with this."
"Alright. The options you have are by injection, which will need to be repeated every one, three, or six months, or by implant, which last one to two years before we replace them."
Lenny looked at his mom and dad, who were looking back at him. "I guess the shots? Since I'm not totally sure this something I want to be permanent and there's more chances to change my mind and stop it?"
Dad nodded. Mom addressed the doctor, "So if we do six month injections, we can do that now and in December? He goes to boarding school, but comes back around Christmas time for his midterm break."
"That would work."
Mom looked at him. "That works for you, Lenny?"
Lenny nodded, smiling. "That's perfect."
OOC: Research was done on various websites but this one was the one that I took the most information from.
1
Lenny Pierce
Stopping the Change
1547
1
7