Has Anyone Had a Boy Need a VCGU? Nervous Mom!!

my daughter also had kidney/bladder reflux and has had 2 vcug's and will need another one next year. To be honest it is not the most pleasent experience but just do what you can to keep him comforted. I don't know if it is necessarily painful, but probably a bit scary for the child. The good news is about 5 minutes after they were done, my daughter was totally fine and got a present from the staff at Childrens....she was then happy as a clam. Kids are more resillent then us adults! He'll be okay!

My son had it done when he was only 8 weeks old. I think that it may have been more painful for me than it was him. Prepare yourself for the image. I am happy that he had the procedure, though it was determined that my son did not have reflux.

Hi M.,
My daughter was diagnosed with kidney reflux when she was 3 months old (she was born 10.2.07). It was detected from a kidney infection she had developed. We had the VCGU done at Children's Memorial Hospital. They were amazing with her. I highly recommended them - they work specifically with children so they are experts in how to deal with them gently and lovingly and how to do the test on such a little person. My daughter cried when they put the catheter in her for the test. After that she was calm and not crying for the insertion of the dye and the remainder of the test. I know it will be different for a boy but be brave. I think it helped that my husband and I both remained calm and held her. We watched her kidneys on the screen in the room and could see the reflux. Yes, I feel it was necessary to have the test done. She has been on a prophylatic antibiotic ever since and has not had anymore kidney infections. She will have another VCUG when she is 15 months old to see if her ureters grew and the reflux has stopped.
Be strong. You will all get through this!

I had this procedure done when I was 9 or 10 years old, and I remember it clearly... including that the only uncomfortable (not painful) part was having the catheter inserted. That was it. At 10 months, your son will probably be more freaked by just the "theater" of it all, but he shouldn't be in pain. If it hasn't already happened, make sure that you keep YOUR reactions very neutral, because up being freaked out will only make him moreso. Hard to do, I know!

My son has had this procedure done several times. During my first ultrasound, we found out that one of his kidneys was enlarged. So, when he was 4 months old, we took him to Children's for some tests and found out that he had reflux (he also had ureteropelvic junction obstruction, but that is another story). They did the VCUG at 4 months, 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, with the condition lessening each time. At 5, he did not show any more signs and will not need any more tests! He was on a small dose of antibiotics to prevent UTI, which he took every day until he was 5. He is now 6, perfectly healthy, and not on any meds.

So, about the procedure itself... it was not pleasant to watch because they had to strap him down when he was a baby. At age 3, he did not understand what was going on, so he pretty much let them do it, although he cried or whined the whole time. At age 5, he refused to cooperate (even though the technician was very patient and willing to try anything, even a DVD) and we had to go back and do it under sedation (they gave him a drink which calmed him down and everything went well). They explained to me that the procedure is not painful, just uncomfortable. One thing I found out the last time we went is that you could ask in advance to have a person come who is specialized in entertaining/calming kids down for unpleasant situations - I forget the title they gave that person.

In situations like this, I just tell myself that it will be a few minutes of unpleasantness and then it's over... you can get through it! Good luck.

hi M.. my little guy has reflux. it was diagnosed inutero so he had his first VCUG at 2 weeks. i wont' lie, it's hard to watch. they have to strap him down so they can get the cathider in. from what i understand, it's more uncomfortable than painful and of course they are just confused and scared. he is now 9 months old and has been on a daily maintenance antibiotic to stave off UTIs and will be until his first birthday when they will do another VCUG to see if the situation has corrected itself. i am more worried about that one because of course he's more aware. all the research and talking to doctors i have done has said it's necessary. it's the best way to diagnose and find out the severity of the reflux. once they know they can find the best treatment options so the kidneys don't suffer any damage that could be more serious later in life. my son's is a low grade, only 1 on a scale to 5, and he's never had a UTI because they caught it early and treated quickly. i'm not looking forward to the next test but it goes pretty quickly, about 10 minutes, so i'm just planning on putting on a brave face for him and comforting him as much as possible during and after. when all is said and done it will probably end up being harder for you than him. i don't know if this helps at all. you and he will be fine. please let me know how it goes.
all the best,
J.

Hey M.,
I would check out the possibility of having your son do a kidney cleanse. It might be less invasive and/or painful. Also, check out the body ecology website. www.bodyecology.com and join the messageboard. There are lots of great ways to heal the body- especially through diet and the use of pro-biotics which you can make at home. I'm learning slowly that I don't have to run off to the doctor every time my chid gets sick. With the help of this site, I've been gaining more confidence with regards to healing myself and my family through the foods that I prepare. There is alot of great support to be had! Check it out!
blessings,
J.

Hi M. - I do not have a son that required a VCUG so I cannot offer experience there but both of my daughters have had them and I just wanted to give you a *hug* because it is hard to watch our babies go through something like that.

We first found out my youngest daughter had reflux when she was 4 months old - she had her first VCUG then and two more to follow before the problem corrected itself. She had to take Bactrium nightly for two years until things got better. We were lucky to avoid surgery but relieved that she is OK now.

I am sure they explained the test to you - but it requires a catheter to be inserted, then they fill the bladder with dye and x-ray how the bladder empties ... The x-ray is almost like a movie and you can watch it.

Are you going to childrens?

Your son is so young that he will be able to be held down and should not try to stop the urine flow - this last May my baby did not want to pee on the table because she was potty training.

He will be ok - and this is the only way to detect the reflux so you have to do it ... I pray everything goes well and that he either does not have the reflux or it is on a very small scale!

GOOD LUCK!

Hi M.,

My son had a VCUG done when he was 4 months old. He had a UTI at 10 weeks so they had us do it to see if there was any reflux issues. We had it done at Childrens. We had the option of putting him under for the procedure but we opted not to do that. It is not painful, just uncomfortable and hard b/c you have to hold them down and they get pretty upset by being restrained. We made one mistake when we did it and that was that we tried to give him a bottle during the procedure to calm him down. He got very worked up (upset) and vomited it all back up and so they had to do a chest xray to make sure he had not aspirated into his lungs. It all ended up being fine and the people at Childrens are EXCELLENT. If you have further questions, feel free to contact me.