My husband and I just found out that our 18 month old may have cystic fibrosis. The ent who has been dealing with his problems is the one suspecting this. I was told the test is difficult to do, can anyone tell me a little more about it than that? We are very nervous about putting him through more than he has already been, but we realize at this point it is a must. He has every symptom I have read about and this does seem to fit everything that has gone on with him. Any info about the test and diagnosis time would be greatly appreciated. thanks
how is the test?
- Thread starter westy
- Start date
I think you mean a sweat test. Don't worry, for your son it will be nice and easy! I was 14 when I had mine done so I am not sure if its a little bit different for a baby, but I will tell you what they did to me. First they put 2 stickers with wires on my arm (sorry I was only 14 and it was years ago so I don't remember anything technical so this will be a dumbed down version <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif" border="0">) This was painless of course, just felt like a sticker on my arm. They then wrapped my arm up which again was painless. They then told me to sit real still (this may be the "hard" part for a little kid or infant) I can't remember how long I sat there, but basically they just want your arm to sweat (hence sweat test) After you have let your arm sweat enough they unwrap your arm and remove the stickers and it is done! Thats the perspective from a kids point of view which the only thing that was important to me at the time was no needles and no pain! I think the difficult part is that it MUST be done correctly because it can easily be done wrong. The say you should get it at a CF center to ensure the most accurate results. Also, if it is positive you can then get a blood test to find the mutation, this will also confirm the sweat test. I hope someone can explain it better than me, but I just wanted to let you know your son will not be put through anything horrible or painful.Emily
My daughter had her sweat test done at 18 months also. It was not hard at all. After getting the stuff on her arm we just walked around for about 20 min. with her in a coat to try and get her hot enough to sweat. It might be helpful to ask the hospital if they do it the same way as the cf center. Ours didn't and we needed to do it again the way the center wanted it done. Don't worry, it is painless. The results come back very quickly. We knew within a couple hours.
Our daughter was 8 weeks old. They put the stickers on her arm, wrapped her in blankets to make her sweat as much as possible and then removed the stickers. It is painless and you shouldn't worry at all. It will seem easy compared to what you seem to have gone through already.Good luck and I hope you are able to resolve his problems one way or another.
My 2 year old daughter had the sweat test - she cried (not hysterically) through it, but as soon as they turned it off she was fine. I think it's harder on the parents than the children. Thank goodness our daughters came back negative and I pray for you and you little one to get the same results as us.
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