My son is a giant. He lives with gigantism. He is among fewer than a hundred in a world where large, tall and, well, gigantic can be the source of stigma, but more often, of irrepressible, rude curiosity. He works at his part time job, goes to school in one of the largest cities in the world and faces a shortened lifespan, loss of quality of life, a near future of chronic pain, and an incurable status. Science, and its latest breakthroughs (including discovery of a genetic anomaly that might lead to better prediction of pituitary tumors growing in these extraordinary and often Irish kids) cannot cure my boy.
Love, and love aplenty, is not enough, but it has found a voice in mine. I will continue to find the best doctors, the leading research and publish my book Giants Among Us, because that is what he told me he needs.
In the meantime, I do everything I can to keep him living large.
Thank you Andrew Solomon, for saying it so very very well.