anewton@watcgl.UUCP (Adele Newton) (10/30/85)
My four year old son is having surgery to fix his undescended testicles this coming Monday (November 4). I am worried about various and sundry things (like the dangers of general anaesthetic, the possibility of complications, etc, etc, ad nauseum). Has anyone out there had experience with this surgery with their sons? Can anyone give me an idea of how long it will be before he recovers fully? My doctors (family practitioner and urologist) both say "it won't take long, kids are pretty resiliant." My husband and I both plan take time off next week to stay home with him. Should a week do it? Thanks in advance for any wise words or advice anyone can provide.
csl@iwsam.UUCP (Roger H. Hortin) (11/01/85)
In article <2738@watcgl.UUCP>, anewton@watcgl.UUCP (Adele Newton) writes: > My four year old son is having surgery to fix his undescended testicles > this coming Monday (November 4). I am worried about various and sundry > things (like the dangers of general anaesthetic, the possibility of > complications, etc, etc, ad nauseum). Has anyone out there had > experience with this surgery with their sons? Can anyone give me > an idea of how long it will be before he recovers fully? My doctors > (family practitioner and urologist) both say "it won't take long, > kids are pretty resiliant." My husband and I both plan take > time off next week to stay home with him. Should a week do it? > > Thanks in advance for any wise words or advice anyone can provide. My son had an operation at age two for ONE undescended testicle, so my information may be only HALF right. But it may be of interest to others. My son was born with one undescended testicle. Naturally, his mother and I were quite concerned until we found out that it was not abnormal for such things to happen. In fact, many times the testicle(s) will descend by themselves within a few years. Our urologist suggested we wait until he was around 2 in case the testicle descended on its own. It did not and we went ahead with the surgery. The surgery required general anaesthesia and lasted approximately 35 minutes. When he awoke, and the anaesthesia wore off, he was NOT happy, as one might expect. We had to wait until he urinated before we left the hospital (this was outpatient surgery) to make sure things were still functioning properly. Once home, he slept a great deal (helped by the pain pills he had to take). Although we tried to limit them, they were needed as he was very uncomfortable with the stitches and the inability to move without pain. He more or less just layed on the couch or in his bed for two days. On the third day, he felt like walking around a little and the pain was starting to subside. By the fifth day following surgery, he was able to actually RUN outside without complaining (much) about his stiches and soreness. Within two weeks, the surgery seemed like past history. I was amazed at just how resiliant kids were. I think I would not be RUNNING after 5 days following such surgery. Our urologist suggested to take care of the surgery by age 2 so that the scars would be small and well hidden as he grew. He is now 3 and 1/2 years old and the scars are barely noticeable. Even though the undescended testicle is somewhat smaller that the other, the urologist says it should function normally. I hope this sheds some light on the subject. I would be interested in hearing how your son's surgery comes out. Remember, he WILL be upset after surgery, so be prepared with anything to keep his mind off the discomfort.
anewton@watcgl.UUCP (Adele Newton) (11/18/85)
Thank you to all of you who mailed me or posted articles to the net about surgery for undescended testicles. David had his surgery two weeks ago today and seems to have fully recovered. He was very sick (throwing up and in alot of pain) when he came out of the anaesthetic. That lasted about twelve hours. They gave him demerol for pain followed by a gravol suppository for the nausea. He was very upset by all of this - he screamed at the nurses to get out of his room. (That's my son!) My husband stayed with David through the night after surgery. He was uncomfortable and was made more so by nurses who were trying to get him to urinate. When I returned to the hospital the following morning, the nurses told me that would have to insert a catheter if he didn't pee. I explained this to him - he peed within five minutes. He had had enough of people poking, cutting, needling and prying at his groin by then! We took him home that morning. He spent the day in bed. The urologist told us he could walk as normal but to avoid horseplay. He was bandaged from his navel down and around to his rear end. The dressings stayed for a week - the doctor removed them. David was finally able to walk without pain after about four days. Prior to that, it hurt to stand or walk after sitting or lying down for a long time. The neighbours probably thought we were torturing him whenever we helped him get up in the morning or from a nap. I have to admit that he healed much sooner than I would have expected. I'm sure an adult male would still be walking very gingerly. David was back at school one week after surgery. It was great to hear from parents who had gone through this type of surgery with their children. Doctors kept telling me it was routine surgery. Surgery is never routine, particularly when it's your child who is having it done.