17,024 Kilometres to run: Our story in words

Pre-fight 'entertainment'

So, my name is Daniel Howard and it's my honour to welcome you to my story of love, faith and rare disorders. During this story you'll laugh, hopefully cry (in a happy way though) and come to realise that God is in control of all things not seen. 

I'm going to start a few weeks before I was diagnosed with the disorder that lead me to finding my wife. I was in year 10. 2008. Previous years flew by with no change in sight, only in my dreams. I was 152 centimetres, no facial or pubic hair, my voice hadn't broken, I had no sense of smell, and watching my mates grow up around me, quite literally, was heart breaking. I think not being able to smell was the worst part about it, because then, living in a town called Cobar, NSW, if you were different, the world was against you big time. If I smelled of sweat after P.E (Physical Education/gym class) I wouldn't know about it. I would 'act' as if things were normal, that's because to me, things were normal! I'd grown up without a sense of smell. When I got diagnosed with Kallmann Syndrome, and my endocrinologist asked me if I could smell or not, it made all the sense in the world. 

I remember in 2008 coming home to Dad saying 'I NEED TO SEE A DOCTOR DAD' because being 16 and nothing happening was not normal... My doctor, who I won't name, due to being a... lady fondler, took a sample of my bloods and realised... wait a sec, you have 0.01 umol of testosterone... at 16. Red lights flashing! Warning signs! Not normal! Not normal! So Dad and I went down to Launceston, Tasmania. Being from Tassie, it was easier for us to head down there than have to go to Sydney/Shitney or Melbourne. 

It was good, just Dad and I heading down to Tassie. A lot of laughs and good, 80's music. When we got to Launny, it was my first time having an MRI. I have to be honest, I was shit scared and I cried because I'm a girl (just kidding, I was claustrophobic at the time). The instant my doctor, Joanne Campbell saw the results, she immediately said it was Kallmann Syndrome. 

What is Kallmann Syndrome? It is a genetic mutation on the X Chromosome which happens during conception. The genes Anos-1 (Anosmia - No sense of smell) and others including the hormone that releases GnRH (Gonodatropic Releasing Hormone) are not properly manufactured and basically when we get to puberty age, the GnRH that is released from the Hypothalamus to the Pituitary Gland... doesn't get released. So puberty doesn't happen, neither does anything that happens with puberty. Sperm production, testicular growth, egg production in women, height, voice change, body hair, etc. 

When I got diagnosed, Dr Lady Fondler and my Dad, Terry, gave me injections twice a week to get my body to produce testosterone. And may I just say... puberty is NOT fun. Being able to grow is, sure. But having your voice break while you give a speech on Mt Vesuvius erupting and accidentally saying 'fuck' and your history teacher advising you it's probably not what was happening during the eruption, and having your voice properly break during an excursion when you're sharing a room with 7 other guys, that part isn't  fun! Kinda wish it happened normally... but anyway, I'm a 26, almost 27 year old guy now. One thing that was MEANT to happen was I was meant to get a sperm test done whilst still on Pregnyl (my first injections) which causes sperm production. But... Dr Fondler didn't order a sperm test, so when I first started on Reandron (1000mg 4ml testosterone every quarter), any sperm that was swimming around down there was obliterated like Chernobyl. Testosterone kills sperm. So... that part comes a bit later in the story. 

So there I was at 17. Starting to be like a normal looking kinda guy. 'Moustache' growing, some kind of muscles, voice broken, nearly 20 centimeters taller than I was, pre-KS (Kallmann Syndrome)... great. But something else crept its way into my life. Loneliness. Depression. Frustration. I was very excited when I got diagnosed, because I finally knew what was wrong with me, but... was there anyone else like me? Where else were people going through what I was? A very lonely man who was very bad with women (people in general, just very socially awkward. A common trait amongst KS battlers) and was certainly not gay. My search took me to the internet, when I first joined Facebook in 2009. I forgot to mention, we ended up moving from Cobar, NSW, to Ulverstone, Tasmania in 2008 basically a month after Dad and I got back. I remember I was at my cousins' house and I joined up with Facebook to try and find people I knew. Little did I know that would be the most life changing 'Sign Up' button I'd ever click...