Endoscopy, should we or shouldn't we?

[Anonymous]

Adriana saw a new GI yesterday. We did alot of allergy blood testing. She also wants her to have an endoscopy next week. I am very nervous, she will be put completly under with gas. Also, she has been doing really well for the past 3 months as far as reflux goes. I am wondering if we should just hold off and see if she will outgrow this. The GI thinks its a possibility that she could have esophilic esophogitis(spelling is wrong) because of the family history of allergies.

What do you all think. Should I do it, wait a few months, or what? I am just about to start slowly weening her from meds and was thinking that if she starts to have trouble off of the meds I could get the endoscopy done.

My husband said “She is not getting it done” He was horrified just watching them trying to get a vein to draw her blood!!

[Anonymous]

I think you need to follow your mommy instinct. Any tests, procedures, surgeries, etc…are always scary. I am not sure what exactly the esophilic esopho…thing is. What would it mean if she is found to have that? Would she be OK for a while if she didn’t receive treatment or anything for it? If you wouldn’t be doing anything different whether she has the esophilic thing or not then you definitely could wait until you try a wean before deciding. Otherwise, if your GI recommends the test being done, maybe you should have it done now? Sorry, I’m not really much help. I’m curious to know more about the esophogitis! Good luck, I know it’s a tough decision!

[Anonymous]

Testing is very scary yet it can give you so much information. I still think that you have to do what feels right to you. I agree with Amy and go with your mommy instincts. I just want you to know that they can do biopsies to see if she does have allergies and they will know if there is damage. So there is a good side to testing but I hate having anything done to my son. It just tares my up inside so I know how you feel. This is a hard one and I think you with make the right decision.

[Anonymous]

Of course, no one can ever tell you what to do. But like Kathleen said, testing can be very valuable. I know of other kids where they thought the reflux was a bit better, but when they did the scope they did find EE. Having that information has been invaluable for that child’s treatment. Good luck deciding. I’m so glad that we did the scope, and if Hailey doesn’t outgrow it soon, we’re going to have another one at age 3.

[Anonymous]

When Carson had his biopsies done, I was able to be with him until minutes before he was asleep. They let me walk to the door and then took him and I could watch through the window. The anesthesiologist was RIGHT THERE and they held up a spinning toy while letting him breath the gas. It went so well. They debated as to putting an IV in (in case of trouble due to his reflux) but I assured them he had nothing to eat for the X hours they said, so they didn’t put an IV in. IF they would have had to put an IV in, they would have done it AFTER he was sleeping. The worse time was coming out of the anesthesia. He cried and cried – they gave him Tylenol and he slept for another hour and woke up happy.

IF YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS, get all you can get done at once. Have them do a celiac spru test also (biopsy from the intestine) and, we had tubes put it. Carson hadn’t had many ear infections, but fluid, so we had PE tubes put in. He had several biopsies done. If they could have pulled his wisdom teeth at that time, I would have had them do that also!!

I figured, if we are doing this, we are going to do it ONCE, so guys, get everything done that you need to get done AT THE SAME TIME. We didn’t have any bad news, but the good news helped direct what to do next.

It is a big decision.

[Anonymous]

As everyone else has said, you have to go with your instinct. Looking back, I wish that we’d had an endoscopy done on Kaelyn early on. She seemed to be doing well. Then we discovered all of her allergies. Testing early on might have saved her all of the discomfort that she went through while we were trying to figure out what was going on.

[Anonymous]

Hey

This is so interesting b/c we were also faced justa couple weeks ago of whether or not to okay an endoscopy for Kate. For right now, we decided to wait but I agree with everyone else to go with your gut. Your intuition as her mommy is more valuable than anyone with a degree. It’s so hard b/c when your sweet baby has been through so much you hate to just add one more thing to that but like everyone else said(what a copycat, right? I can’t help it. They’re smart!!)it can be so helpful b/c we can’t really see what’s going on inside, you know? I know you’ll make the right choice and if you do go ahead with the procedure, I’ll be thinking of you all and I’m sure Adriana will be in awesome, capable hands.

[Anonymous]

Jenny, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to piggy back onto your thread. We are going through the same thing right now with Dagney, so I feel your anguish right now. Dagney just had a failed wean attempt, she was almost perfect while on the 30mg for a long time, so we attempted the wean at just about 9 months, and we got down to 22.5mg/day ok, but when we went to 15mg, she started having some problems again. Now the GI wants to do an endoscopy because they say she shouldn’t need this much prevacid at this age. I had assumed they’d just say to re-try a wean at 12 months, but I was wrong.

I did talk to the GI nurse briefly, but I was so upset/confused, that I really don’t now what she said, I’ll have to call them back and discuss it some more with them. I would really appreciate any input anyone can give me on it, and any experiences you’ve had with it. Am I being naive in thinking waiting and trying another wean in a couple of months would be ok, or are they not up to date on the research? I don’t want to not get my lo treatment she needs, but then I really hate the idea of putting her under anesthesia if it’s not absolutely necessary.

What will the endoscopy show? What exactly is EE? What would that mean to her? What other things could the endoscopy diagnose? And what would it mean if something else was going on and we didn’t have the endoscopy right away?

Our Pediatrician seemed to think the endoscopy was needed, saying she shouldn’t need so much prevacid at this age, but he also suggested checking out an allergist, who can help rule out any allergies hopefully prior to the endoscopy. I also wanted to try to get a 2nd opinion from a different GI, and I was actually able to get another appointment (there was a cancellation) for MONDAY! Hopefully they’ll either be able to give me more info, or possibly propose a different route to take.

Also, is there some other less evasive procedure, or one that does not require them to put her under anesthesia which can tell the same or similar information??

I’m so sorry to nose in on your thread, Jenny, but since our little girls are facing the same thing, I thought it was best not to have 2 different threads.

dfb052007-07-09 22:18:20

[Anonymous]

Denise I have the same questions as you. I decided to attempt to wean her first, then if she does bad we will do the endoscopy. But all the information I could get ahead of time would help.

Does anyone know if we could just do allergy skin prick testing and forget the endoscopy? I have read that treatment for EE is to avoid the foods she is allergic to.

Does an endoscopy (biopsy) show what she is allergic to?

Thanks for all the info you have given, I appreciate all of you!!

[Anonymous]

No, the biopsies don’t show what she’s allergic to. It can show EE or celiac, or some other forms of allergies, I believe, but not specific foods.

[Anonymous]

We actually had Gabby’s endoscopy done at 9 months. She was also doing fine for a long time but everything got more severe around that time. It showed inflammation but not much more. She had no allergy cells and no EE. It allowed us to get Gabby’s dosage up to 30 mg. It was a short procedure and she was back to us within 45 minutes. I was VERY scared, but it turned up alright. Gabby was only out of sorts right after the procedure but went home and did just fine. Hope this helps.

Kathy

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Kathy, that does help. My biggest fear is the anesthesia, not really the procedure itself.

I spoke with the GI nurse today, who cleared a few things up for me–she said they send down a camera to look at things and also do biopsies of the duadanum, esophagis, and stomach. She said that she’s concerned that Dagney still needs such a high dose of Prevacid at this age, but she doesn’t think it’s any additional allergies. (She didn’t say, though, what she did think it was…) I’m thinking now that we may go forward with it, but we’re planning on meeting with the GI beforehand to see if maybe we can work another treatment plan out–like trying a 2nd wean at 12 months, or if any other procedure can be done instead.

[Anonymous]

I am really worried about the anesthesia too. My mom is allergic to it and got so swollen that my dad could not recognize her. That scares me because Adriana is so young!!

[Anonymous]

Jenny, I have no advice here. My little guy is about the same age, and we were just thinking about starting a med. wean ourselves. I’m not sure what I would do if he started to get worse???? Keep us posted on what you decide and how it goes either way.

And, I just have to say that Adriana is ADORABLE!! I love her new picture.

[Anonymous]

I would talk to the doctor about your anesthesia concerns. My mom and sister both have major problems with it, but the ENT said that the kind that they used for her ear surgery was different from the “typical” kind, so he thought that she’d be fine. And she was!

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