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JIA juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Want to learn about the causes, types and treatment for JIA.
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Procedure Videos
Want to learn about what happens under general anesthetic?
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What happens in a Nerve Conduction Study. Watch below!
What happens in a Pulmonary Function test!
What happens when you get an IV (cannula)?
Paulina’s Tips for Bloodwork
Cystoscopy
What is a Cystoscopy?
A Cystoscopy is a test that takes pictures of your bladder and urethra, the tube that carries your urine (pee) from the bladder to outside your body. The doctor uses a tiny camera and a light to look around and take pictures of inside your bladder to see how it is working. The cystoscope is like a telescope, helping the doctor to look at your bladder and urethra. This test is called a Cystoscopy because cysto means bladder and scopy means scope (to look for something). The scope is a tiny camera with a light that looks around and takes pictures.
Important Words
- Bladder – holds your urine until you go to the bathroom, it is like a sac
- Kidneys ? filter all the waste (the stuff the body does not need) from your blood
- Urethra ? the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body
Why do I need to have a Cystoscopy?
The doctor needs to see inside your bladder and urethra to see how it is working and to find out what they need to do to help you. An X-Ray cannot see inside these body parts, so a Cystoscopy has to be done. You may be having a hard time peeing or have been getting infections, so the doctor needs to find out what is happening with your bladder.
What does a Cystoscopy look like?
A Cystoscopy has a tiny video camera (scope) and a light at the end of a small very flexible tube. The light helps the doctor to see inside your body. The video camera can take a video or pictures of inside your bladder and urethra. These pictures will help the doctor to see what is happening inside your bladder. There is also a bed where you will lie down.
What happens when I have a Cystoscopy?
If you are staying in the hospital a porter will come to bring you to the special room to have the Cystoscopy. If you are coming from home, you and your family will go to the area where you will have the Cystoscopy. A nurse will greet you and explain what will happen.
The nurse will give you a gown to wear, this looks like a backward housecoat, you may already be wearing one. The nurse will help you to get on the bed.
The nurse will put a blanket over you to help keep you warm and make sure you are covered. For this test, you will be sleeping. It is a special kind of sleep where you will not feel, hear or see anything while the doctor does the test. A small mask will be placed over your nose and mouth, this will give you special sleep air medicine that will make you fall asleep. Remember this is a different sleep from what you do at home, you will not feel, hear or see anything while you are sleeping.
While you are asleep the doctor will use the cystoscope to look in your bladder and urethra. The doctor will gently slide a scope into your urethra and into your bladder through your private area on your body. Remember, you will be sleeping so you will not feel anything happening.
After the doctor has finished taking the pictures he needs, the scope will be taken out and you will be brought to the recovery room. The recovery room is where you will start to wake up. You will be able to rest a while; you may still feel a little sleepy. The doctor may ask you to pee. Sometimes after having a cystoscope, when you pee you may feel a little burning and may see some red in your pee, this is just a little blood. This is NORMAL and will go away. You can help it to go away by drinking a lot of water.
What will the Cystoscopy feel like?
- During the test you will not feel, hear or see anything because you will be sleeping because of the special sleep medicine.
- When you wake up, you may feel a little tired from the sleep medicine you had.
- After the test, when you have to pee, you may feel a little burning and see some red in your pee, this is a little blood. This is NORMAL and will go away in a few days. Remember that you can help it to go away by drinking lots of water.
Preparing for the test
Your nurse will give you the information you need to help you get ready to have your Cystoscopy.
You will be told that you will not be able to eat or drink anything before the test, because you will be having sleep medicine. If you have food in your stomach when you get the sleep medicine you may feel sick and throw up.
Sometimes before the test, the doctors will ask you to pee in a special cup with a lid. Your pee can also give the doctors information about how your bladder is working.
Remember
If you have any questions about the test, always ask!
This content has been reviewed and approved by health care team members at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. All content is for educational purposes only. For further information, please speak with your health care team.
Lumber Puncture
What is a Lumbar Puncture?
A lumbar puncture is a special test used to look at the fluid that is in your spine. This fluid is called CSF or Cerebrospinal Fluid.
This clear fluid flows around your brain and your spine. It can give the doctor information about how your body is working and what they need to do to help you.
Your spine is made up of many small bones. If you make a fist and look at your knuckles, the bones in your knuckles look like the bones in your spine. Just like there are gaps between your knuckles there are also gaps between the bones in your spine. The CSF is found in the gap between the bones of your spine.
Why do I need to have a Lumbar Puncture?
You are having a lumbar puncture because the doctor needs to check your cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to find out what is making you feel sick and how they can help you.
What happens when I have a Lumbar Puncture?
A porter will come to bring you to the special room to have the lumbar puncture. A nurse will greet you and explain what will happen. Sometimes this test can happen in your hospital room. Some boys and girls get a special sleepy medicine before the test starts. The doctor will give you a special mask to breathe through. It may be a little smelly, but it helps you fall asleep. If you are asleep during your lumbar puncture, you will not hear, see or feel any part of the test. When you wake up, it will be all done. Your back may feel a little sore afterwards.
If you do not have the sleepy medicine for your lumbar puncture, someone like your mom or dad may be able to stay in the room with you (this decision is up to your doctor). The nurse will help you get up on the bed and tell you how to lie down for the test. Usually you will be lying down on your side, with your knees curled up to your chest. This position helps to make the gaps between the bones in your spine wider to help the doctor get the CSF that he needs.
When it is time for the test, the doctor will first use special soap to clean the area on your back where the test will be done. Then the area will be covered with specially cleaned towels (sterile towels). This helps to keep germs away from your body.
Many hospitals have special creams (often called Emla cream) that you can put on top of your skin on your back where the test will be done. This is so that you will not feel too much of the pinch from the needle, but will feel pressure.
The doctor will then take a skinny needle and put it into the space between the bones on your spine. The doctor will collect a little CSF from your spine.
It is important to remember to stay still while you are having the test, this will make it easier and not as long. It may also help you relax by taking deep breathes.
When the doctor is finished, he will cover up the area with a dressing (Band-Aid). You may be sore in this area for a little while, especially after the numbing or freezing wears off. Sometimes after having this test, you may get a headache; the doctor may tell you to lie down for a while after the test to rest so that you do not get a headache.
What will the Lumbar Puncture feel like?
* The special soap used to clean your back may feel cold and wet.
* If you are not asleep for the test, you might feel some pain or pressure when the doctor puts the needle in to collect the fluid, sometimes it may have to move a bit and you may feel this as well.
* If you are awake for the test, it may get uncomfortable staying in the same position on your side.
* It is very important to stay still during the test if you are not asleep.
* After the test, your lower back may be sore for a while
* You may get a headache after having the test, so it is important for you to rest and lie down for a while after the test.
Preparing for the test
Your nurse will give you the information you need to help you get ready to have your lumbar puncture. Sometimes you may be given special sleep medicine for the test. This means that you would be asleep for the test, and not feel, hear or see anything. Or they may give you some special medicine to help you relax and make you feel sleepy. Ask your nurse or doctor if you will be asleep for the test.
When it is time for the test, remember to relax, breathe and stay still.
Remember
If you have any questions about the test, always ask!
This content has been reviewed and approved by health care team members at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. All content is for educational purposes only. For further information, please speak with your health care team.
Renal Scan
What is a Renal Scan?
A Renal Scan is a special test used to look at your kidneys. It checks your kidneys size, shape and how they are working. The scan?s pictures are taken with the help of a special medicine that makes parts inside your body bright and clear. This medicine is called a radioisotope.
This test is called a Renal Scan because Renal means kidneys and Scan means to take a picture. Altogether, that means that pictures of your kidneys will be taken.
Why do I need to have a Renal Scan?
You are having a renal scan because the doctor needs to see how your kidneys are working. The renal scan will see things in inside your body that an X-Ray cannot see.
What does a Renal Scan look like?
When you go to have the renal scan, you will see a bed (also called a table). There is also a large machine in the room that takes pictures of your kidneys to show their size, shape and how they work. The machine is called a gamma camera. This is a special camera that is used to take the pictures of your kidneys.
What happens when I have a Renal Scan?
A porter will come and bring you to the area where you will have the renal scan. A technologist (the person who will take the pictures) will greet you and explain what will happen. You will be given a gown to wear, this looks like a backward housecoat, you may already be wearing one.
You will go into the room where the renal scan machine is. Before you have the scan you will be given a special medicine called radioisotope. This medicine will act like a highlighter to make your kidneys bright. This will help the doctor to see your kidneys better.
This medicine has to go into your vein. That means that you will have a small poke from a needle to get the IV into your arm or hand. The IV is actually a very small thin flexible plastic straw called a catheter. The IV goes into your vein and is used to help give your body medicine.
After you get the medicine, you may have to wait a little while before the pictures are taken. When it is time to take the pictures, the technologist will help you get on the bed and will tell you how to lie down so that the best pictures can be taken.
In the room, there is a camera and a computer. The camera is called a gamma camera. It is a special camera that sees the medicine in your kidneys that makes them bright; it will take pictures of your kidneys for the doctors to see. The camera is very big and will come close to your body but it will not touch you. Sometimes the scan can last from 30-60 minutes. When you are done, you are able to go back to your room.
What will it feel like?
- The camera will not hurt you
- It will not touch your body
- You will feel a poke from the needle that gives you the special medicine to make your kidneys bright
- The bed (table) may feel cold and hard
- It is important for you to lie very still and relax so that the pictures are not fuzzy
- It may help you to pass the time if you think about your favourite things
Preparing for the test
Your nurse will give you the information you need to help you get ready to have your renal scan. You may have to drink a lot of water before the test. All you have to do for the scan is to remember that you will have to lie still.
Remember
If you have any questions about the test, always ask!
This content has been reviewed and approved by health care team members at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. All content is for educational purposes only. For further information, please speak with your health care team.
VCUG
What is a VCUG?
VCUG is the short form for Voiding Cystourethrogram. A VCUG is a test that takes X-Ray pictures of your bladder, and the tubes that connect your bladder and your kidneys (ureters and urethra).
- Bladder – holds your urine (pee) until you go to the bathroom, it is like a sac
- Kidneys – filter all the waste (the stuff our bodies do not need) from your blood
- Ureters – the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder
- Urethra – the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body
This test is called a Voiding Cystourethrogram because voiding means peeing,
Cysto means bladder, Urethr means the tubes connected to your bladder (urethra and ureters), and Gram means recording what is shown (taking a picture). Altogether, that means that X-Rays are taken to show how your pee moves through the tubes that are connected to your bladder and kidney.
Why do I need to have a VCUG?
The doctor needs to look inside your body to see how your bladder, kidneys, ureters and urethra is working. An X-Ray is used to take the pictures. You may have been getting infections, so the doctor needs to find out what is happening with your bladder.
What does a VCUG look like?
When you go to have a VCUG, you will see a special bed where you will be lying down. There will be an X-Ray machine and a TV screen. The TV screen lets the x-ray technologist, doctors, and nurses see how your bladder and ureters are working.
There will be a tall pole that has a bottle with clear fluid in it, this fluid is called contrast. Contrast is like a highlighter, it highlights areas of your body to make them bright and stand out so that the doctors can see everything really clear on the pictures.
A catheter is used, which is a small thin bendy tube. This is used to put the contrast into your bladder.
What happens when I have a VCUG?
If you are staying in the hospital a porter will come to bring you to the special room to have the VCUG. If you are coming from home, you and your family will go to the special room to have a VCUG. A nurse or x-ray technologist will greet you and explain what will happen.
The nurse or x-ray technologist will give you a gown to wear, this looks like a backward housecoat, you may already be wearing one. You will be asked to take off your underwear so that it does not get wet. The nurse or x-ray technologist will help you to get up on the bed. The nurse or x-ray technologist will ask you to bend your legs and bring your feet up close to your body like frog legs.
The nurse or x-ray technologist will put a blanket over your legs to keep you warm and make sure you are covered. The nurse or x-ray technologist will then clean your private area between your legs with a special soap to make it very clean. This may feel wet and very cold.
The nurse or x-ray technologist will then gently slide a catheter (a small thin tube) into your bladder. The tube will be taped with soft tape to the side of your leg to help keep it in place so it will not fall out. When the catheter is going in, it may feel a little funny, you may feel a pinch or it may hurt a little. This is the hardest part, once the catheter is in your bladder the test can start.
Remember to take in deep breaths; this will help to relax you. When you are relaxed, your whole body is relaxed including all your body parts. If your body is relaxed, the small tube will slide into your bladder easier.
There will be a pole with a bottle hanging from it close to the bed. The bottle has liquid in it called contrast. The contrast highlights the areas that the doctors need to look at, it makes the areas show up bright in the pictures. The contrast will move through the tube and fill your bladder. If you are able to see the TV, you will be able to see your bladder filling up.
Once your bladder is full, you may feel like you have to go pee, but it is very important to hold it, until the nurse or x-ray technologist tells you that it is time to pee. If you are having a hard time holding your pee, let the staff person know. The nurse or x-ray technologist will then tell you to pee on the bed. This may seem funny, but this is a special bed that you are allowed to pee on. When you start to pee, the X-Ray will start taking pictures of your bladder to see how it is working.
While the pictures are being taken, the lights in the room will be turned down. This will make the pictures clear. You may also hear a noise like a hum from the machine taking the pictures. When the pictures are being taken, it is important to remember to lay still. This will help to make the pictures clear and not fuzzy.
Once all the pictures have been taken, the x-ray technologist will remove the small tube and give you towels for you to clean up, and you will be able to go back to your room if you are staying in the hospital or go home. The next few times you pee after the test, you may feel a little sore, but it will go away soon.
What will the VCUG feel like?
? When the nurse or x-ray technologist cleans your private area between your legs with a special soap to make it very clean, it may feel wet and very cold
? When the nurse or x-ray technologist gently slides the catheter (a small thin tube) into your bladder it may feel a little funny, you may feel a pinch or it may hurt a little. This is the hardest part, once that is over the test can start
? When the contrast starts going into your bladder you may feel like you have to pee, but it is very important to hold it, until the nurse or x-ray technologist tells you that it is time to pee. If you are having a hard time holding your pee, let the nurse or x-ray technologist know
? When the nurse or x-ray technologist tells you to pee on the bed, it may feel warm and a little sticky from the contrast that was put into your bladder.
Preparing for the test
Your nurse will give you the information you need to help you get ready to have your VCUG. Your mom or dad can go into the room with you.
When it is time for the test, remember to relax and take deep breaths.
Remember
If you have any questions about the test, always ask!
This content has been reviewed and approved by health care team members at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. All content is for educational purposes only. For further information, please speak with your health care team.
NG Tube
What is a NG?
NG is the short way of saying nasogastric tube. Naso means nose and gastric means stomach. So a NG goes into your nose and down into your stomach. The NG is actually a long, very bendy flexible tube. It will be taped to your nose and cheek.
Why do I need to have a NG?
Sometimes you will have a NG if you have to take special medicine that you are having a difficult time drinking by mouth. Other times, you may have a NG to help you get the food and nutrients that you body needs, especially if you are not eating or are unable to eat. A NG tube may also be used to drain extra fluid or air from your stomach.
What does a NG look like?
The NG is a long, very bendy flexible tube. It may be attached to a bag that hangs from a pole. The pole is the same pole used to hang an IV (intravenous) bag. The bag contains food or medicine depending on what you need. There may be a small computer attached to the NG, the computer controls how fast or slow the medicine or food moves into your stomach. The computer will beep when the medicine or food is almost done, or if the battery is low, it beeps even if there is a bend in the plastic tube. The beep tells the nurses to come and check your NG. If the NG is being used for draining fluid from your stomach, then it may be connected to a machine on the wall that will help remove the extra stomach fluid. If this is the type of NG you have, you may hear a noise like a gurgling sound when the NG is working.
What happens when I have a NG?
A nurse will come to you to insert the NG. He/she will measure the length the NG has to be by measuring from the tip of your nose to your ear, and then down to your stomach area. The nurse marks the tube to know how far it has to go in to reach your stomach.
The tip of the NG will be covered in a clear jelly, this helps to make it slippery. The nurse will then start sliding it into your nose, and move it gently down your throat and into your stomach. The nurse may ask you to drink water and swallow as it is happening, this can help it to go down easier.
Once it is in place the nurse will check to make sure that it is in the right place. Also, the nurse will use a small strip of paper to check to make sure that the fluid from the tube is stomach fluid. The paper will change colour with the fluid that lets the nurse know that it is stomach fluid, which means that the tube is in the right spot.
Once it is in the right place, the nurse will use soft tape to hold the NG tube in place. The tape will be on your cheek and maybe on your nose.
What will the NG feel like?
? It will feel uncomfortable when it is going into your nose.
? You may feel like you have to throw up or gag when it is going in.
? You may feel like you have something stuck in your throat after the tube is in for the first little while until you get used to the tube being there.
Preparing for the test
There is nothing that you need to do to prepare a NG. You do not have to go anywhere to have the test done; your nurse will come into your room to do it.
Remember
If you have any questions about the test, always ask! You can have your parents and/or child life specialist with you during the procedure to help you.
Test