The VCUG Revisited

Yesterday was my 6th VCUG as a mom.  I have blogged about this twice before.  I have been dreading taking my son for this test since last year when the x-ray showed stage two reflux in both kidneys.  Because the test is barbaric and I have no idea what an alternative for it would be.

My middle child finally succeeded in breaking my heart for real. His experience is posted here.  Now, he was two and a half on that day and he still remembers it and he gave his brother a big hug yesterday after it was over.  Then he turned to me and said, "The worst part of that day was that you were working with the doctor Mom. You weren't trying to help me."  Mother. Heart. Broken.  I cried real tears after they went to bed because at age four that was incredibly insightful and that is the way it looked from his perspective.  I did tell him that that test was the only way a doctor could get a picture of his kidneys and bladder to make sure nothing was wrong, but then he said, "I could have told them nothing was wrong."  Anyway, bladder x-rays are always going to be the buzz word he can use to trigger mommy guilt with me.  Ugh.

As I was dreading this last week more than a root canal or a visit from a Jehovah's Witness, my phone rang.  It was a woman from the hospital's "Child Life" team.  I had never heard of it before.  She started to tell me about the procedure but I told her I could write a book on it.  So  then she told me about her program and explained that if I wanted her to, she could help me keep my toddler calm during his VCUG and were there any particular songs, games, and cartoon characters that he preferred?  If I hadn't been in the grocery store trying to find the blue yogurts with the strawberries on them in the back of the aisle I would have fallen over.  Someone at the hospital was paid to keep my child calm and happy during the procedure?

She met us in the x-ray room after he was in his little scrub suit.  She had bubbles, Mickey Mouse books, and Thomas the Train stickers.  After the catheter was in, he quit crying and started popping bubbles and talking about Thomas.  The procedure did indeed take thirty minutes instead of the two hours it took when my middle son screamed his head off.  Could I have been the one blowing the bubbles?  Yes, if I didn't have to hold his hands, rub his head, and watch the x-ray so I could ask the doctor questions later.  An extra sweet person is always a blessing.

Instead of having reflux in both kidneys it is now down to one.  Yes, he will still need to take his preventive antibiotics and I told the radiology team, "See you next year!" as we left.  But if they still have a child life team, it will be a lot less of a wretched experience.

In a bad economy, everything is downsized and cut.  Keeping children safe and happy when they are scared and confused is not a place to do it.  If I ever need a new career I'm looking into this.