Nic's Gastroscopy

I took Nicholas in for his gastroscopy on Dec 17th. Like the last 2 times he's been in for surgery, they took his vitals, had me put him in jail striped pjs (the blue ones are sized for a 6 year old and Nic is almost too big for the shirt. LOL He's a MOOSE!) The nurse put the EMLA cream on the back of both his hands and covered them with the plastic bandages (Tegaderm, I think is what they are called) and send us back out to the playroom/waiting room to wait for his name to be called.

As usual, the day ward was running late and Nic was taking in almost an hour after he was scheduled to be taken in. I held him while they poked his hand for the saline block/IV port and as they pushed the sleepy meds. I don't care how "prepared" you are for it, when your child goes dead limp in your arms and their eyes roll back in their heads, it is DISTURBING. I held it together though because I knew that this one was a minor thing.

About an hour later, the nurses called me into the recovery area and I sat with Nic until he woke up. He was nicely sleeping and would NOT wake up. He was happy to be off in Dreamland. However, when he finally decided to grace us with is consciousness, he was up and ready to roll. He quickly polished off a glass of apple juice and slowly savoured an orange Popsicle. The nurse told us to get him up and walking so we did 3 circuits of the recovery area and then they released him.

All in all, he came through it like a pro. According to the doctor, his upper GI (esophagus, stomach and duodenum) is healthy and pristine. He couldn't find the source of all the bleeding that has been happening on and off since August. Nicholas isn't bleeding right now so I'm going to leave it alone to see if it starts up again. If it does, the doctor will order a colonoscopy or a swallowed capsule that will take pictures all the way through the digestive tract. Neither one seems like a fun time for a 3 year old. At least I know that they'd knock him out for the colonoscopy. The prep for that is horrible and being semi-conscious for it isn't a picnic either.

Go ahead, ask me how I know. LOL