Daughter Going For Diagnostic Biopsy

[lob6796]

I've been convinced that regardless of her negative blood results, because of her symptoms and age, that she should be biopsied. What should I expect? She is 2, so it makes me so nervous.

[mairin]

My just turned 9 year old daughter was biopsed in March. I'm not sure if the procedure is the same for such a toddler but would presume it is.

My daughter did very well. I was able to go into the OR and be with her as she fell asleep. That was so calming for me. She drifted off to sleep easily. I met all the nurses and others. And it was comforting for my daughter to have me there. It really wasn't scary. If I hadn't been allowed to go right into the OR with her, I would have been more tense.

We were in the hospital for about 3.5 hours before the procedure. I was in the waiting area for about 20 minutes before the GI Dr. came to me. I was suprised the procedure was so quick. He didn't see visible damage, but when we got the biopsy results, she did have extensive damage.

Her recovery was okay, she was pretty nauseous afterwards. I saw her within 45 minutes after leaving her. She was eating a strawberry popsicle. Do not let your kid eat a red popsicle as if they vomit, they vomit red and you think that they have thrown up blood. Get them to choose a different type. She slept a bit, and once she finally got sick she felt much better. We went home about 3-4 hours after the biopsy. The nurses were terrific.

She experienced no side effects from the procedure.

We took part in an orientation a week before which really helped my daughter. One girl, same age, had already had an operation so was able to talk about it and really helped explain that it is all okay. I doubt that this would be useful to a 2 year old.

The hardest part was not eating or drinking since midnight as the procedure didn't happen until noon or so.

As my daughter was asympomatic, and despite 2 positive blood tests, I felt that the biopsy was essential for diagnosis. A gluten-free diet, which is an excellent indication of celiac if symptoms resolve, would not have been a diagnositic tool for us as she had no symptoms.

Good luck with your decision and I hope this info is useful.

[buffettbride]

  mairin said:

My just turned 9 year old daughter was biopsed in March. I'm not sure if the procedure is the same for such a toddler but would presume it is.

My daughter did very well. I was able to go into the OR and be with her as she fell asleep. That was so calming for me. She drifted off to sleep easily. I met all the nurses and others. And it was comforting for my daughter to have me there. It really wasn't scary. If I hadn't been allowed to go right into the OR with her, I would have been more tense.

We were in the hospital for about 3.5 hours before the procedure. I was in the waiting area for about 20 minutes before the GI Dr. came to me. I was suprised the procedure was so quick. He didn't see visible damage, but when we got the biopsy results, she did have extensive damage.

Her recovery was okay, she was pretty nauseous afterwards. I saw her within 45 minutes after leaving her. She was eating a strawberry popsicle. Do not let your kid eat a red popsicle as if they vomit, they vomit red and you think that they have thrown up blood. Get them to choose a different type. She slept a bit, and once she finally got sick she felt much better. We went home about 3-4 hours after the biopsy. The nurses were terrific.

She experienced no side effects from the procedure.

We took part in an orientation a week before which really helped my daughter. One girl, same age, had already had an operation so was able to talk about it and really helped explain that it is all okay. I doubt that this would be useful to a 2 year old.

The hardest part was not eating or drinking since midnight as the procedure didn't happen until noon or so.

As my daughter was asympomatic, and despite 2 positive blood tests, I felt that the biopsy was essential for diagnosis. A gluten-free diet, which is an excellent indication of celiac if symptoms resolve, would not have been a diagnositic tool for us as she had no symptoms.

Good luck with your decision and I hope this info is useful.

That experience practically sums up what my daughter (who is also 9) experienced for her endoscopy as well, although my daughter was mildly symptomatic.

My main suggestion would be to try and have the procedure earlier in the morning rather than later because there's no food after midnight the night before. That would make for a very cranky 2 year old!

The endoscopy was a very positive experience for us and my husband and I were able to stay with her until she fell asleep. It is a very quick procedure.

[Juliet]

My son was two years and two months old when he had his biopsy done. I wasn't able to be in the OR room, but they only took him away from us as soon as they were ready to go. They put him under very lightly, the procedure itself was done 15 minutes after they took him away, and he was back another 10 minutes after that since the moment he started opening his eyes they brought him back. They waited until he was drinking and eating before he left, especially since he did need to completely fast (no food or water) before the procedure. We got there at 8:00 a.m. and left at 10:15 a.m. It was very easy - not nearly as scary as we thought it would be.