4 year old having a colonoscopy? I'm VERY nervous...?

Question

My 4 year old daughter goes in next week for a colonoscopy. They are thinking that she has what are called polyps. I had never heard of them before and have only had time to do a small amount of research and reading about them. I just wanted to know if anyone was familiar with the procedure or with polyps in general. What can I expect? Any info will help! I'm very nervous for her...

No cancer runs in our family-either side. However, my daugher's diet is very ummm...limited, for lack of a better word. She never ate as a baby. Instead she would just throw everything up on me. I ended up nursing her for 18 months total and she finally started to eat a few things shortly after she turned one! She never showed interest in food and would never reach out for things on my plate or in my hand. I can probably count on one hand how many times I have ever heard her say that she is hungry. The doctors have never been concerned since she is otherwise VERY healthy. The always said she would eat when she was ready. Now, at age 4 she eats about 10 things and will not eat ANYTHING else. Smells (like when we are cooking) bother her and she has to leave the room. I try my hardest to make every bit count and we are religious about our daily vitamin and supplement her diet with Pediasure drinks and bars. I was starting to wonder if maybe her diet had something to do with this...

Answer 1

I've never heard of anyone that young having one but the worse part of the whole procedure is drinking that stuff the day before and cleansing out the colon.

Answer 2

Your daughter will be fine. Usually, they give an anesthetic so she will likely not feel anything. What the gastroenterologist will do is take a biopsy of a polyp (if one exists) and then test it. Trust me, this is a good procedure, even if it sounds daunting. It's a day-surgery procedure, meaning she'll be in there for maybe an hour or two. After the procedure, the doctor will tell you just about everything. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Test results will usually follow a few days to a week after that.

Just remember that she can't eat anything for the day up to the procedure in order to clear out her system, but feel free to pamper her after she wakes up.

Answer 3

It can be very nerve wracking to watch your child do something like this, but it is ok. Let your daughter know that she will be ok. I had to have one done several years ago, and it went very smoothly. Make sure that she takes the medication beforehand the way the doctor says to, that will avoid the risk of having to do it again. She will be put under so that she doesn't feel anything, and when she wakes up she will never know what happened. Try and make it more of a game for her, to see how many things she can remember from books or TV in the room before she falls asleep. DO NOT LET HER SEE HOW NERVOUS YOU ARE!!! This will only up her anxiety about the whole thing. Polyps are nothing to be too concerned about, so let the doctor do what s/he needs to do, and let them explain the situation. People get over nervous about things they don't really know about. Your daughter will not die, or be injured in any way. Like I said, make a game of it for her, and you will ease not only your anxiety, but also your daughters.

Good luck!!

Answer 4

they r not going to hurt your daghter. it is an extra tissu that grows inside your body. if u leave it untreated for about 3 years(your daughter by the sound of it has not had it for evn a year) it can turn into cancer. it is NOT cancer to begin with. has anyone in your family evr had cancer? that might be thew reason. dose your daughter eat a lot of fatty foods? or it cpuld just be a freak thing.good luck.

Answer 5

my mom just had one yesterday. she is totally fine. she said the procedure was super easy and she is not good at all with medical stuff...my dad has had one before and they found polyps but as far as i know he is fine...no cancer