Nervous About Endoscopy On My Daughter...looking For Support

[jenn42]

Just got back from the doc. Scheduled Endoscopy with biopsy on my daughter, she's 11. Is this procedure pretty simple? If anyone has any comforting words please share.

[Mizzo]

We had a wonderful experience. Our daughter was put to sleep with anesthia mask first so the pain and anguish of a IV was not there. She recovered immediately, enjoyed a popsicle had a light lunch in 2 hours and a minor sore throat the following day with no other problems.

It was a thousand times harder on me and my husband than it was on her.

My DD however was 6, and we did not tell her about it until we were driving to it. We had just said it was a hospital check up with a camera they were going to look down her throat with. We did not mention anything else till we got there. It worked out beautifully for us.

[StephanieL]

It was WAY harder emotionally on us than my DS. He was 3 at the time. Call the hospital and talk to the Child Life specialist. They have ideas that may help. We do the "A day in advance for each year they are old" so we started talking about it with the help of a coloring book from the hospital. It helped DS get use to the idea he was going in and showed pictures of the equipment which I know helped him. I am sure your DD being older has seen much of the equipment.

Hugs. I have said it before that THESE moments are the ones you aren't prepared for as a parent. We all hear about sleepless nights and colds but this is the tough stuff. I try and remind myself that while we have several specialist, we DON'T have an oncologist or neurologist and for that I am grateful!

[Cara in Boston]

My son had one at age 6 and had such a good time, his older brother was jealous. We were at Children's Hospital so they were all just fantastic. He was impressed with the video game selection. Also, he got to pick whatever "flavor" he wanted for the gas. He was up and about within an hour and was perfectly fine the rest of the day.

Older son (9) finally got his chance a few months later and he too LOVED the experience. He recovered very quickly also.

I had one as well and do not remember it at all. Zero. I was kind of groggy for the remainder of the day, don't remember leaving hospital with my husband, don't really recall eating lunch, etc. etc. I wasn't sore or anything, just really out of it for several hours.

I made my husband take him because I was so nervous and didn't want to see him unconscious in a hospital bed. He had stitches when he was a baby and I just about passed out when I saw him in the hospital robe in a big hospital bed, so I knew it would be best if someone else went with him. It is much harder on the moms and dads.

[xjrosie]

Mine had it at ages 14 and 9 (two of my kids). It was really easy. Same thing here - anesthesia mask to make them drowsy, then the twilight meds go through the IV. The nurse (I had the same nurse for both kids) had them laughing so they didn't notice the IV much.

The hardest part is waiting for them to finish the actual procedure. It's the longest 15 minutes, I swear. From beginning to end, I would say we were in the hospital for about an hour.

[kb27]

My 8 year old just had it done. We were actually at the hospital about 6 hours, but it all went fine. They checked him into the Children's Hospital and gave him a room there. Then he went from there down to the surgery waiting area when it was time for his procedure. Same as others mentioned - he got gas to make him drowsy and then the IV went in afterwards. After he woke up, he got to go back to his room. They kept him there until he was clearly awake and had eaten and kept it down and was ready to go home.

It was pretty easy on him, and he actually looked forward to it (mostly because he got to miss a day of school).

[Darn210]

It was easy. My daughter was 6. She was nervous but the staff was excellent at putting her at ease. They let us go back to the procedure room so we were there until she went to sleep (via gas). That was standard procedure with this (pediatric) GI but I don't think that's too common . . . you can always ask.

We were warned by the nurse not to wake her up, let her sleep off the anesthesia. She said if you wake them up "early" they'll be grumpy and have a pretty bad headache. My daughter roused a little, did a whiney-grumble-cry, we told her she was done, we were there and she went back to sleep. She got her choice of a snack when she woke up. She was on her way after she got her bearings and showed the snack was going to stay down. We could hear the nurse give the exact same instructions to the people next to us but they were in a hurry to leave. About 5 minutes after the nurse left, they woke up their daughter and she cried until they left the building. Well, I assume she cried after she left the building, too.

They also gave my daughter a little stuffed animal prior to going in and made sure she had it when she was leaving. It was a nice touch. If your daughter has a favorite stuffed animal, you might want to bring it along.

The doc also gave her a copy of the pictures he took of her "guts" She loved taking it to school to "gross out" her class. (I thought the pics were pretty interesting and not gross looking at all but I wasn't 6 at the time )

[mommida]

My daughter has been through it at least 3 times.

Pretty much the same as previous posters. Follow directions. No food after 12 midnite the night before. (I heard through the curtains a few times. The gum chewer had the procedure. The infant the mom fed a bottle to had to induce vommitting for the procedure.)

You can bring things from home that make your child happy. They do give a stuffed animal depending on the child's age. Popsicles, juice, and soda pop are offered in recovery. You can check the products for allergen concerns the day before. One time we weren't sure and brought our own. They do say there can be chance of some trapped gas in GI track.

They might eat light afterward, but my daughter wanted P.F. Chang's spicey chicken needless to say we made plans for a future PF Changs visit.

The procedures usually go youngest to oldest. See if you can take the rest of the day to rest up. Like you are going to sleep the night before?

It is like 15 to 20 minutes tops. You should get scope pictures on the spot and be told when the pathology report should be in.

[jenn42]

Thank you to everyone! I feel better already! It's nice to have a place to go like this. The support is incredible!

[divamomma]

My daughter was 4. We told her she was going for a tummy test so they could look for owies with their camera. We told her she would go to sleep. She had the IV put in and then was given the sedation drugs intravenously. I was with her in the OR while she got the IV and when they gave her the meds. She went to sleep VERY quickly. Watching that was the hardest part. Her eyes rolled around and kind of backwards and she put her hands up a few times but they put them back down for her. It was literally like 6 seconds. I started crying, knew she was out and I left. She was in the OR only about 15-20 minutes. Not long at all. Like the others said she was a bit tired after and had a sore throat later that evening but that's it. Good luck!

[faithforlife]

My son cried when he had to put the hospital gown on. That was the worst part!

[jenn42]

My DD had her Endoscopy today and it went perfect! I was so nervous and it was absolutely nothing! She did great! They gave her a teddy bear and a HUGE orange popsicle.

The unknown is so scary! Thanks to everyone for your supportive words.

[Ninja]

That's great!!

Praying for some answers for you and your DD.

~Laura

[xjrosie]

I'm glad it went well. As parents I think we tend to work ourselves up more than necessary. It's a protective feature built in to all of us

[jenn42]

Thank you everyone. This whole thing gets easier (emotionally) the more information I get, and with the help of others. Thanks so much!

[mamaupupup]

We are in your shoes too! We have twins with endoscopies scheduled for 3/20. I'm nervous too! The girls are excited to get pictures. One of the girls wanted to make sure that the string the camera is attached to can't break (who would want an errant camera floating around in them???!!!). I love the guideline of telling them a day in advance for each day they are old. Smart. I'm adding that to my list!

Good luck and thanks to all!