Caroline Goes to the Hospital

Oh boy, what a tough morning! Caroline had two appointments scheduled at UVA hospital to have an ultrasound and a fluoroscopy of her kidneys and bladder. A few weeks ago Caroline had a UTI, which prompted her pediatrician to recommend that we have the tests done in order to rule out the possibility of a reflux condition that would predispose Caroline to getting UTIs. It is a condition that she would hopefully outgrow, if present, but one we needed to know about to ensure that any infections were caught early in order to avoid damage to her kidneys.

So, off to UVA we went this morning, hopeful that the tests would rule out any problems. I knew the ultrasound wouldn't be a big deal. The biggest issue with that test would be to keep her still. As expected, the ultrasound went smoothly.

The fluoroscopy was another story. We knew they would be catheterizing Caroline in order to inject dye into her bladder. This seemed bad enough, but then she'd have to lay still for the x-ray to be taken. When the nurse took us back to the x-ray room, she showed us the "cradle" in which Caroline would need to be strapped. It looked like a torture device. I wanted to take Caroline and run. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, so we got her changed into her hospital gown as instructed. Despite the circumstances, I must say that Caroline looked pretty darn cute in that gown.

At that point, the real fun began. The nurses took Caroline, strapped her into the cradle, and put in the catheter. It was really hard to watch, and Caroline's crying didn't make it any easier. Paul and I stayed in the room for as long as we could, but once the radiologist was ready to take the x-rays, we stepped out into the hall. This was the most difficult part for us. I could hear Caroline screaming like a banshee, but there was nothing I could do about it. I cried quite a bit myself while I waited for the door to open and the doctor to let us back in. There's just no way to explain how hard it is to hear your child crying out of fear when there's nothing you can do to comfort her. Luckily, the x-ray took less than 10 minutes. Before I knew it, Caroline was back in my arms and relatively calm again.

The radiologist was able to tell us right away that Caroline's kidneys looked perfect and that there was no evidence of her having the reflux condition.
Whew!! What a relief! We are so thrilled that Caroline is just fine. She was pretty tuckered out by the whole experience and went straight to bed once we got home.
Here are pics of her in her gown and the scary looking x-ray machine.