Upper Lower Endoscopy

[Anonymous]

I should be talking w/ Ped GI tomorrow, but just wondered others’ experiences.

I think we’ll be doing upper & lower endoscopy. When we were going to do just the lower our Ped GI said that they would use light sedation & Evan would only have to fast for 3hrs. Yesterday when talking w/ ped he said that if we do both he’ll have to go under w/ IV, etc. (don’t know about the length of time for fasting, but praying it’s 3hrs again since breastmilk is considered a clear liquid)

What was your experience? I’m not so worried about the anesth w/ IV (if this is what we need to do to get answers) but my dh is. Brodie went under w/ IV, but not until 20mo so I think that’s why dh is apprehensive (since Evan’s only 2mo).

Thanks!

erinntx2008-07-22 15:26:44

[Anonymous]

Nicholas had both when he was 4 months. The fasting was a big deal for him (it was 4 hours formula fed). The nurses could never get an IV in him, he went without. He cried a lot as the sedation was wearing off, but I hear that’s normal. My ped GI has been around forever and has done about 10,000 scopes (acording to him and his PA) so I wasn’t worried about him. I did make sure that the anesthesiologist was experienced with infants (he was).

We got some really neat pics from the scopes. Here’s the link:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10747

Our scopes showed nothing. I was bummed at first, b/c I just wanted something concrete to be wrong with him so we could fix it. Now I’m glad the scopes were clear. It reassures me that all he needed was a good dose of meds. I know that you guys are already there with the high dose Prevacid. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Erin,

Brianna had a scope…and honestly I don’t know if it was upper or just lower…it showed the whole esophagus and the intestines so I assume it was both. She didn’t have to have sedation, but I could not feed her after 2am (but I was allowed to give her pedialyte in the AM) and it was not bad for her. She didn’t like getting the sedation in the nose, but other than that it was fine. Mine did show erosion of the esophagus and I am so glad I did it because people finally started to pay attention to me about reflux with Brianna. I know Evan will be fine…please let me know when the date is set so I can pray for you guys. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Kristen- thanks for the link! I know, my guy thinks he’s dying if he hasn’t eaten in 2hrs (or less) so 3hrs is hard (but doable) – any longer will be VERY hard on all involved. Yeah, we have the high dose of meds, but Evan’s had blood in his stool since 2-3 wks old. I’ve been on TED for 3+ wks now so they think it’s not diet related. My 2yo cried a ton when anesth. wore off so I know about that. This will be @ the Children’s hospital so I assume the anesth. will be experienced w/ kids.

Emily-I think (someone correct me if I’m wrong) that our ped explained that Upper (through the mouth)= esophogus, stomach & part of the small intestine; Lower (through the rectum)= colon & rectum; sounds like Brianna had upper. I called ped GI today & should hear from him tomorrow re: scheduling so I will let you know.

[Anonymous]

Hi Erin,

It is tough having them go through procedures this young, but I am sort of really happy that you will get answers this young, too! It is really hard to keep doing the guessing game month after month and still have the blood in the stool, etc… That has got to be very frustrating.

As far as anesthesia that young, as long as you are in a children’s hospital, that is their specialty and they typically put the attending anesthesiologist on the young babies, so I would not worry. Also, I’ll bet teh procedure in total is very short even for both pieces, that he won’t be under that long. I would bet you could ask to just have a quick phone conversation with the anesthesiologist ahead of time so that you will know what to expect when you get there and that might make DH feel better. Most times I find my anxiety is more about the unknown rather than the event itself.

I really hope you get some fantastic answers soon so that Evan will be on his way to feeling better!!!!

I’ll say a prayer for you guys. Please let us know when you get it all scheduled.

Ann Marie

[Anonymous]

Update:

They are both (Upper & Lower) scheduled for next Thursday (7/31). He only has to fast for 3hrs (thank god) so hopefully we get some answers.

[Anonymous]

I am glad you were able to get in so soon! I said a prayer for ya’ll. Hugs!!!

[Author]

Posts