Billy’s mind was set at ease, at least a little. The doctor would be able to tell him what’s wrong but what if it came out that Billy was taking hormones? Would the doctor be able to tell? What would he say? What the heck was wrong with Billy?
 

By AshleyTS

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A couple days later, Billy and his mom drove to the doctor’s office.

It had been a while since he had been to the doctors. His dad was of the mind-over-matter philosophy and, unless you were on your death bed, you trudged it out.

Billy was exceedingly nervous as to what the doctor would say. He was glad his mom was with him.

They entered the office and his mom had to fill out the usual forms that one would expect from an initial visit. Billy observed the office while she entered the insurance info, checked the boxes and all that fun stuff. Yep, pretty boring office. There were lots of magazines on the wall and end tables. It sure was clean but he kind of expected that from a doctor and that whole sterilized, healthy thing.

It seemed like this was a kid’s doctor because there were lots of toys by the back wall. There was even Playstation which seemed like a pretty cool idea. He was way too preoccupied though to even think about playing with anything.

There was another kid in there that seemed pretty nervous as well. The little boy was playing with the toys but did not seem to be enjoying himself. Who has a good time at the doctors? His mom was busy with her nose in a tabloid magazine. I guess no matter how you try to dress up the doctor’s office with bells and whistles, at the end of the day it’s still the doctor’s office.

Mom finished up the paperwork and handed it back to the receptionist and a few minutes later Billy was called in.

The nurse weighed him, measured his height and tested his blood pressure. He giggled at the pattern of animals on her scrubs. He had to pee in a cup which was mildly disturbing but necessary. He and his mom were then led to a small room which looked pretty sterile in design.

“Go ahead and undress down to your underwear and put on this gown. Dr. Fredericks will be here in a few minutes.” The nurse stated.

“Would you like me to leave while you undress?” his mom asked as she noticed the uncomfortable look on her son’s face.

“Yes”

Billy removed his clothes and placed the pale blue paper gown around his body. He then let his mother back in and sat on the bed looking thing.
 
 
Minutes passed and then a knock on the door came.

“Hello, I’m Dr Fredericks and you are?”

“Billy”

“Nice to meet you Billy. This must be Billy’s mom.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

“Well great. So Billy, what brings you here today?”

Billy stammered.

“First, we want to get a routine physical. He has had some loss in strength lately and his skin has become softer. We’re worried that there may be a lack of vitamin or a deficiency in something that a growing boy needs.” His mom answered.

“Well let’s take a look then. Your chart looks fine.”

The doctor proceeded onto Billy’s chest, heart, lungs, reflexes, eyes, ears and groin.

“I am at a disadvantage here because I did not see you prior to the loss of strength or softening of skin. You have minimal arm muscle development which puts you around the 10th percentile. That basically means that 9 out of 10 boys your age have greater muscle development than you do.”

“Well that is very worrisome Doctor because Billy has always been in very good shape.”

“How much strength have you lost Billy?”

“A lot. I feel way weaker than I used to.”

“Ok. I am going to send you to get some blood work. It’s unusual for a boy your age to lose muscle tone. Your skin is very soft as well which is also uncommon. There could be a number of reasons for these symptoms ranging from vitamin deficiency to hormonal imbalance to an upcoming growth spurt.”

“Hormonal imbalance?” Billy nervously asked thinking about the hormones he used.

“Yes, it is not uncommon in pubescent boys. If that is the case we pinpoint what the issue is and address it. Let’s wait and see what the tests show. Other than that, you are a healthy young man. Go ahead and get dressed and we’ll have Nurse Lynn get you all set.”

“Thanks Doctor.” They both replied.
 
 
Billy got dressed and they got all the paperwork needed for the clinic.

“Mom, what do you think is wrong with me?” Billy asked his mother on the way to the clinic.

“I don’t know sweetie, but the doctor seemed very positive about helping you if there is anything amiss.”

Billy couldn’t get the thought that he would be discovered out of his head. Blood test? Surely it would show the doctor that he was messing with his hormones.

Blood was drawn.
 
 
Three days later they arrived back at the doctor’s office. Once again, Billy had no desire to play with any of the games as nerves engulfed him.

Knock, knock.

“Billy, how are you feeling?” Doctor Fredericks asked.

“Fine”

“Good. Well let’s take a look at the results here. First of all, you are a healthy boy.”

Billy and his mom let out a sigh of relief. Was he off the hook?

“You do have some elevated estrogen levels however, but they are within acceptable range. We will monitor you closely for the next several months and see what happens. Like I said before, this is not uncommon among boys going through puberty. What will most likely happen is your testosterone levels will increase and all these issues you are having will dissipate.”

Billy felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. Was this just temporary? He had estrogen in his system but was it on its way out?

They thanked the doctor and set up another appointment in a month.

“Well Billy, does that put your mind at ease a bit?” Mother asked on the way home.

“Yes mom. You’re not going to tell my brothers about the whole estrogen thing are you?”

“Oh honey, I would never embarrass you like that. We will keep this between us ok?”

“Ok mom.”

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To Be Continued...