Undescended Testicles and Surgery

L.,
This is from another perspective . . . my husband is 55 and we have three grown children (never a problem getting pregnant) and he had the undescended testicle operation when he was very young. All in all, what he remembers is mostly what he was told and his health and fertility were never compromised.

My son was also born with an undescended testicle. At one year old they went in found it, pulled it down were it was suppose to be and attached it to the scrotum, repaired an umbilical & groan hernia & put tubes in his ears. He did not seem to be in any unusual discomfort from any of this. We put him in his regular size diaper and followed the doctors instructions.

I am afraid this may be too late..But footzonology has worked for undescended testicles..one of my friends who zones has a 3 yo grandson with one and after 3 zones it came down..just a thought..

I don't like saying that I'm an expert on this, however, I am. My 6 year old has had 4-5 surgeries, 2 of them outpatient and one of them for an undecended testicle. When my son was almost 3 months old, he had to have a gastric feeding tube put in him (he was on a ventilator for longer than 6 weeks and couldn't suck). He was 1 1/2 years old when he had his undecended testicle surgery, so I'll talk about both.

Pre-Surgery: The Surgical Center should be sending you instructions as far as, don't give him anything to eat or drink for 5-7 hours before surgery (I can't remember the time frame, it may be less time for a 5 month old). By not giving him anything to eat, whatever amount of hours the Dr. says before surgery, will not make him as sick when he wakes up from surgery. My son threw up when he had his final surgery when he was 4 1/2-he ate and drank something (big brother forgot, and gave him some juice and string cheese while I was in the shower, with my last words "don't let him eat or drink anything!") When he woke up, he threw up, making his recovery from surgery more messy.

When he Wakes Up: He will wake up groggy & sleepy. He should already be on some pain medications. It will take an hour or so for him to wake up, but he will be sleepy for a few hours. The best thing Not To Do-is do not pick him up right away. Stay close to him, hold his hand, kiss and stroke his head, talk to him softly, try to cradle him without moving him from the bed. When he is waking up, he is dizzy and the room may be spinning for him-and the best thing to do is to let him lay there until he wakes up more (30 min to maybe an hour). Also, because he is having surgery on his groin, KEEP HIS LEGS STILL OR TOGETHER for as long as possible. Watch him, he may want you to pick him up, and if he screams, put him down, and continue to comfort him by having him lay on the bed, with you talking to him, etc. The hardest part is the first 30 minutes afterwards, because you want to pick him up, comfort him and hold him.

After He Wakes Up A Bit: This is about an hour after he's out of surgery. You or your husband should be holding him by now, carefully. The hospital will make sure he is able to drink, and be alert before you leave the hospital (it's outpatient, right?). He will be groggy or sleepy.

When You Go Home: Because of where his incision is, you shouldn't have to buy a bigger diaper, but all babies are different. It may be a good idea to have his regular diapers, as well as one that is 1 size up. Have him wear little sweat pants and a t-shirt- no onesie that snaps near his crotch, no denim, something soft and loose. Depending on where his incision is, use your best judgement. Have a small towel (like a hand towel) with you or on him incase he throws up. The Dr. will probably prescribe pain killers (tylenol with codine or something), get his filled at the hospital or on your way home.

In The Car: I'm assuming that your husband is going with you, if not, have your 12 year old daughter go with you. Someone should be in the back seat with your little one when you are going home. He will be awake (or not, everyone is different). If he is awake, he may still be groggy or disoriented. It's also good to have someone talk with him, be there in case he throws up. When you get him in his car seat, adjust the straps a little so they aren't tight around his crotch area, this is just for this one time. I know some mothers will disagree on compromising safety by loosening his straps, but, this baby has just had surgery, and you don't want any pressure in this sensitive area.

When You Get Home: Hold him, let him sleep, and love on him-it's been a long day for him. Continue to keep his legs still, he may do this himself. Do not put him in a swing, vibrating bouncy chair, or anything that requires things inbetween his legs for several days. If you need to put him down so you can get things done, put him in his car seat.

My now 6 year old had his undecended testi surgery when he was 1 1/2 years old. I took cues from him as far as what he wanted and needed. He was very active and would swing his leg over the couch or ottoman to climb up on it, he did this once when he was home for not even 30 minutes and he screamed for 5 minutes. He walked, but he didn't like too. He kept his legs still, for the first day, and then as it healed, he progressivly got better. I gave him 1 dose of the pain killers that was sent home from the hospital, otherwise, he didn't complain about pain, he was just sore.
I do not work in the medical industry, I'm just a Mom who has been down a long medical road with my son.
Good Luck, feel free to e-mail me with any more questions. I don't have any experience with helmets, I think they are cute, and you should go ahead and put stickers on it to make it more cute. :-)

SAHM of 2 great boys ages 12 and 6 years. Married to the most patient husband and best Dad in the world.

Hi, L.!

I'm glad Surgery went well! I just wanted to let you know that my girlfriend, Jodi has two kids and both her daughter and son were born early and her daughter wore a helmet for a couple months and did just fine:) The only issue is that it started to stink after a while and was hard to keep clean. Her son will now have to wear it as his soft head is not round because he lays on the same spot while sleeping. She has gone through it once and knows it is no big deal. It may take a day or two to get used to, but I just wanted to let you know how it went with my friends kids. Her daughter, now two and half is doing great! Take care!

Hi L., I totally understand and am sympathizing with you.

My son had the exact issue with the undescended testicle (and the docs didn't know if it was "alive" and undescended or if it was "dead" and twisted off somewhere in the abdominal cavity). My baby had his surgery when he was 14 mos old (the docs wanted to wait til after he was a year old - apparently if there are no other risks, it's good to wait til after a year to put them under anesthesia) and it was the most nerve-wracking thing ever! I don't know HOW your son is having his done, but my son's was laparascopically, which was a great way because his "little guy" (or the region) did not hurt at all.
Coming out of anesthesia was difficult, only because he was definitely wanting me and whiny and still soooooooo sleepy but the nurses had to stay close by and monitor him for a good hour or two.
All in all, it was tough but not as tough as I had imagined it would be.
I truly hope your guys' experience is uneventful in a good way and that they find the little testicle!
You're in my prayers today....don't know if he had the surgery yet or not (did he end up having it on the 22nd???)

Sympathizing with you,
K.

P.S. They found my son's, it was "dead" and twisted off. The prognosis for a healthy and fertile life is still just as good as if he had two! Great news! (They said we/he just has to 'guard that little guy with his life'! :)

L., don't worry. My son was 6 weeks early when he was born and one of his issues was the undescended testicle. He had surgery when he was 9 months old. It was pretty quick. Honestly, the worst part was just watching the anesthesia wear off because we didn't know if he was in pain or nauseaus or just feeling bad. He just wanted his mommy so they brought us back to the recory room. I will say he looked really pale and miserable and the next couple days he wasn't in the best mood but listen to the doctors and make sure you give them the pain medicine around the clock for the first couple days. His 2 little incisions really didn't seem to bother him much. I think his problem was more sick to his stomach. It will be over before you know it and just cuddle with your little one. It's not fun but not half as bad as you think. I was pretty surprised myself. I didn't change his diaper size. All i had to do was leave the incsisons alone and put some neosporin on them at each diaper change. So be prepared for him to be a bit crabby but it's not bad! And to make you feel better, my friend's son had it done and after his surgery he was running around like nothing had happended! good luck!

My son had a flat head too. He was rated a 9 on the scale of 1-10 severeity. His jaws were beginning shift. He wore the helmet. Never seemed to know/care that it was on. He wore it the 23.5 hours with no problem. I took it off during feedings because the strap would get so messy, and during bath time. His head would get really sweaty so when I took it off I would wipe it out with a cotton ball dipped in alcohol. He just turned 11 and has a beautiful head!

Good Luck!
T. M

My son had the same surgery at 2 yrs old (he's now 15). He was born a preemie at 26weeks. They did the surgery and found that his left testicle never developed. He came out of surgery very easy but was very sleepy. His recovery was not bad, but I think a bigger size diaper would probably be a good idea for your lil guy. Actually we had my son rechecked 6months ago just to be positive because his new dr. thought he felt it up there (probably the same thing his original dr. thought) but after the sonogram they found his results to be accurate from years past. But his dr. said he's still able to have children & can have an implant when he's older if he chooses. Hope all goes well with your lil guy!

I will pray for your son,you,and your family!!I know the Lord will take care of your little boy,he has diffently taken care of my little girl,she is blind in one of her eyes and on the left side of her brain has fluid on it.The Lord works miracles,and I will add your family into my prayers.God Bless you

My son had this surgery when he was six years old and he was sore the first day but the day after he was fine. Your little man will be okay. Hang in there.

L.,
It is understandable that you are nervous facing the surgery for your son but it so much better to get it taken care of as a child rather than wait and face mqajor problems later. My son had hernia surgery as a 4 month old and did just fine, yours will too. USe your regular size diaper just not too tight. Good luck.

Wow! I just read your original post, and I'm so shocked to hear the similarities in our situations. I have twin sons 12 mos old, both of which have graduated from their DOC bands (orthotic helmets)for plagio and brachycephaly. My youngest (by a minute :) ) also had surgery for an undescended testicle and hernia repair. I feel that it may be a lot for you to handle at once with the helmet and the surgery recovery at the same time. I don't say this to scare you, but having dealt with both separately I have concerns. There is going to be an adjustment period with the helmet where you will need to be checking for any red spots on his head and lots of sweating for the first couple of weeks. Neither of my sons were in a lot of discomfort and both slept really well from the start, but it is an adjustment for you as well...getting used to the cleaning, etc. If you plan on painting you should also do this the first day so it won't interfere with the required wear time. As for the surgery, I went in with very little expectation of what was going to happen. He was very graugy the first day since he came home on hydrocodone doses. He also ate very little. The next day, I could tell he was trying to do more, but it was painful for him so we kinda just held him carefully so as not to put any pressure on the area and so he wouldn't try to crawl, etc. There was some significant swelling and bruising at first, but today (2 mos later) the scar has healed very nicely and should be barely visible by the time he is older. I would maybe talk to your orthotist about moving the fitting up a week to allow for recovery time...just an idea so you can focus on one big thing at a time. Also, my son had to be more than 9 mos before they would do the procedure...is that not the same for you? Please let me emphasize that I do not wish to scare you or add stress in any way, but the more information you have the better...also, there is a great support group on yahoo for plagiocephaly that I am a member of...there are so many tips and great ideas posted to help you along the process...the best of luck to you and your family...
S.
katy, tx

My son had the undescended testicle surgery and was fine that day. We had to travel three hours and were really worried about how uncomfortable he would be on the ride home. He woke up from the anesthesia just fine, but was groggy the rest of the day and slept almost six hours after, then all through the night. The next day he was fine. As for the helmet, you can get character stickers of Bob the builder and call it his construction helmet. He is only 5 mos old and won't care what he looks like. As MOM, all you should be concerned about is that it is making him even more perfect than he already is...if that is possible!

I am sure the DR will tell you this, but even when the testicle is found and brought back down, there is an increased risk of testicular cancer. The rates are even higher if they can't find the testicle, as it can metastasize up in the abdominal cavity and not be found right away. Just keep this in mind and have him regularly evaluated from teen years on!

Can the surgery wait? I had a friend who's son had the same thing. Both hadn't dropped. They did a surgery when he was about 6 years old. They tied a button to them. She said it didn't seem to bother him at all.

Can you get a second opinion for the surgery & the helmet? I would do as much research on your own as possible.

Good Luck to you!

I just wanted to let you know I know what you are feeling. My son was born with a "torked Testicle". The pediatrician noticed it during his initial exam after birth, but wasn't 100% positive. When we had to change pediatricians, the new Dr. decided it was in fact torked and it needed to be removed liek your Dr said so it wont for a tumor later in life. He also wanted the other testicle be secured better. That was when he was a very active 4 year old.
I want to assure you within 3 days of the surgery I was fighting him to remain still so his little body could heal. I was reassured he will be able to father children.

My son had the same surgery and I'm glad everything worked out well for you guys. A little bit of advice I'm sure you were given by the dr. We were told to pull down the skin and put vaseline on it once a day for a year. If we didn't it would lesion itself back and the circ would have to be redone. Well, we slacked a little in that dept and when he went in for a follow up the dr had to pull it down since it was already starting to reattach. The vaseline is done religiously now!! I'm glad everything is great and the 2 weeks after is hard to keep them down and not as active as they are used to.

My son hd this surgery at 10 months and he did great. He was very disoriented and fussy when he first woke up from anesthesia but once we git him home he was fine. He was crawling all over the place as if nothing had happened. Our surgeon was Dr. Ewalt and he was great. He actually carried our son into the operating room himself which made us feel so much more calm about separating from him. Good luck!

L. - My son whom is now 16 years old had that surgery when he was one year old. His DR at that time wanted to wait until he turned a year in hopes that it would drop and also he would be a little older. They brought it down and he was and is fine.

B. B.

Hi L.,
I know what you are going through, been there. My son had a undescended testicle as well, he is 5 now and the testicle is still there(did not retract). We were told to have the surgery as well, his testicle was there and was brought down. The anxiety of the surgery is normal and to be expected. However, kids bounce back so fast. My son was fine the next day. The hardest part was them taking him back to surgery without me or my husband, my son was about 13 months old so a little older than yours. Normally they wait until their 1st birthday to see if it will drop on its own so I'm not sure why they are doing the surgery so early, maybe because the Urologist has not seen the other testicle and they want to make sure everything is ok. When my son came out of surgery he was very droggy and crying from coming out of the anesthesia, it about broke my heart but after he seen us and the anesthesia wore off he was ok. He will need motrin or tylenol the first 24 hrs and may sleep alot but he should be fine!!Of course we had to give him extra loving attention!! =)

We did not have to change much to our routine, no extra size diapers or anything. He will have a bandage over the small incision( my sons incision was right about his groin lower part of the stomach and it was a very small cut). The stitches should fall out on there own after a week or so. Everything will be fine, I will say a prayer for you all, it sounds a lot worse than it really is. And undescended testicles are more common than people realize so this happens to little guys alot. If you have more questions I will respond!! ok so I just realize that the surgery already happened, so post and let us know how it went and if you experienced the same as i did!!!

Hang in there,

L.

My son had this done when he was 3 yrs old. They told is if they can bring it down they would or if not they would remove. It was all over with in about 30 minutes. They were able to bring it down and used a rubber band and taped it to his leg to hold it in place. The cord attached was a little short so anchoring it down allowed it to grow. The first day about 4 hours later they got my son up to walk. The first time is sore, however, I learned that children heal much faster than adults. To our amazement our son the next day was up walking and believe it or not the third day he was running and playing. One thing at St Judes Children Hospital that they did say that if they had to remove the one that they would put a false one in it place so that when he got older that he would look like any other child. Hope this helps

I just wanted to tell you that my son had the same thing. His doctor chose to wait till puberty to see if it dropped down on its own, it didn't and at 13 he had the surgery. Its hard to say how painful it was because he was circumsized at that same time. He was up and walking around with pain killers soon after surgery. He is 21 now and all is well, I am sure it will be fine for your little one too. Try to stay calm about the surgery, he will be fine. I know how you feel though, any surgery is scary when its your baby going through it. My son has a seizure disorder so I know the fear and pain of doctors and surgeries.
P.

Be sure to get him on probiotics right away and keep him on them for several months and any time he is on medication especially antibiotics. The antibiotics introduce fungus into his body which will be there the rest of his life and need to be controlled by probiotics and other herbs such as wild oregano oil, olive leaf, coloidal silver, pau d' arco. God be with you.

My son had surgery for an undescended testicle when he was 9 months old and i was also very scared but everything went fine. he cried a lot when he woke up for anesthesia but that was because he was overtired. when we brought him home it was like he never had surgery at all! he was happy and crawling and playing. i imagine he had very little pain considering what a good mood he was in. i used his normal diaper size with no problem. good luck to you and your son.

Hi L.

I hope things turned out well for your little man. I myself went through a simular situation with my son Josh at 9 months of age he had a hydrocele which caused the testicle not to drop we did the surgery. He woke up afterwards just kind of fussy but nothing awful. However just 2 1/2 years ago he had a hernia same testicle we had that corrected and everything is good now. Wishing you the best of luck.

M.

I just saw thin but wanted to say my son had the same problem but the doctors didn't decide to send him to a urologist until he was 4. And at 4 years old he had surgury, they had to remove his testicle and I was told if they hadn't it could have lead to cancer. But he recovered real quick no pain and was playing nonstop after surgury. I know he's older but I thought this might help to know. I hope your son is doing good.

My son who is now nearly 21 had the surgery for an undescended testicle when he was two. The physician was able to tack down the other testicle.
For my son, the major problem was fear of the mask which was put on his face for the gas used to put him to sleep. I had not known they would use gas, so had not prepared him for the mask.
I hope you were better warned and could make preparations by at least showing him the mask, although at 5 months he may have less fear.
Hope all went well.
J. Y.

My poor husband, had HIS surgery at the age of 12- it was the most painful thing for him for weeks. 40 years ago they waited to see if the testicle dropped- can you believe it? Glad all seems well for your little guy, tho.

K.

Hi L.,
My little boy had this surgery done when he was 10 months old. He did really well with it and didn't show many signs that it bothered him at all. You can barely even see the scars. One thing to be aware of is that many times there is also a hernia when a testicle doesn't decend (at least that is what our doctor told us. They also repaired this at the time of his surgery. It is actually a good thing that your son is so young because he isn't crawling around yet.

Good luck!
K.

HI L., I just saw this post and wanted to respond, everyone who has had this surgery is dead on. The time you will hate most is after the surgery. My son had this at 4 months and did great we could not go in when they put him under because he was still to young and no seperation issues. The older they are the better the chance you get to go in while they put them under. We had no problems after, he nursed fine and had no side effects! One thing though make sure they are going to check the other testicle. There is a good chance they will have to tact that one as well. Our doctor was great and was very specific with us. His other testicle was also in the wrong positon but still attached. Glad they checked and fixed it now. From now until they are adults they just have to be careful with certain sports and wear a cup. They can also get a prostetic at the age of 14.

I wish you guys well (it will all be great)

L., my apologies for not seeing this sooner. How did the surgery go? My little man had his testicle surgery (remove one that was atrophied, tether the other side) a week after his first birthday - much harder on me than him! Had a 6AM surgery, home by 10:30 or so, he learned to CLIMB INTO HIS BLOCKS TABLE (a 12 inch high table where blocks go down a chute then you can take the top off to retrieve them from the bin below the tabletop) that very afternoon with no ill effects whatsoever. Yes, it was painful for me to see the purple and yellow swelling as it healed, but he was clearly not to be contained. We were told to put away any ride-on toys and watch for infection at the incision sites, but that was about it.
If there's no infection, your son will probably be feeling little to no pain in that area (since he can't tal, we don't really know, do we?). Kids are very resilient - they bounce back quickly.

L., this is the first I saw this question because I was on vacation when you posted it. Be glad that your doctor found the undescended testicle right away. I noticed that my son had a problem around 6 months and all the doctors told me that it still had time to drop. Well, right before his third birthday (11-23) on 09-12-07 he had to go into surgery for his testicles. It turned out that his one was retractable and his other came through the muscle like normal but took a turn and stuck to the muscle wall. His would have never came down. I am very happy the doctors took action with you sooner! I hope your little guy is doing great since his surgery a few days ago. My little guy doesn't even remember except he sees his scar and asks what happened. Good Luck with your little one!

.

Don't worry L. .. all will be fine. My son had the surgery at 16 months of age. He went through like w little champ and was up and moving the next day. I was extremly nervous because he is my first and only child. So I was a little relunctant at first. He will be 5years of age on next month and hasn't had any problems since.

My oldest son had this surgery. We went through Childrens Memorial. Where are you going? a helmet was not needed I wonder why that is? Seriously he is 6 now and I want to say he was uncomfortable for about a week. They got me right after surgery and he was awake when I went in. Who is your urologist?

We did not have to go the next size up in diapers or anything. he jsut wanted to be cuddled etc. He was 18 months when we had teh surgery.

PM if you want more info.

I know its tough and scary I wsa terrified!! My son had 2 surgeries as a baby, the testicle drop and a frenelectomy (for tongue tie) CRAZY!

F.
www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/faithjones

Nothing is harder than worrying about kids!

This is more common of a problem than you know..and good for you for dealng with it insted of having him grow up that way!

He'll enjoy the extra attention that comes with surgery.You have you big helper daughter and hubby to hold you all together.

Hi, I know this is way beyond the fact and I am thrilled all went well and you were wise to have it done. You were also prudent to select a Urologist and not a General Surgeon. Anyway, my son, now 35, also had an undescended testicle.(left) My husband was in the Navy at the time and the medical care was marginal. The Dr.'s decided to "wait and see" and when Adam was about two it did come down. However, when he was 25 he had testicular cancer of the left testicle. While doing research we learned that there is a connection between an undescended testicle as a baby and cancer later, especially if the testicle is "dead". Thankfully, he endured the surgery and chemo OK and he has had no reoccurance. It was a very scary time for us. We learned that testicular cancer usually affects men between the ages of 17 and 26. When I wrote he went through this OK I mean that he survived. He suffered terribly...hair loss,nausea,pain and to this day he has some lasting affects from the chemo but he's is just thrilled to be alive. He is a high school teacher of World History and Philosophy and going for his masters degrree! Denise

I realize your request was a while ago, but I'm wondering if you have had him checked by a chiropractor for his head. They can do gentle manipulation, and it's alot less hassle/pain than a helmet. Also try having him sleep in different positions, other than back (get a wedge for side sleeping, and tummy is fine too for naps when you are nearby) Babies get bent all out of shape coming through the birth process, and a baby friendly chiropractor can do wonders. Good luck.

I am so sorry and I hope you are sure of possiblities and confident that you are not to blame. This is becoming more common in the U.S. you will see if you read the book Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn. It is absolutly not our fault. You can find her website and contact her or her colleages.

L.,
One of my identical twin boys had this exact surgery when he was seven months old. He came through with flying colors. The worst part was coming out of anesthesia...he just "bucked" his little body around and cried. The nurses said that is normal for a baby coming out of it. He wouldn't nurse or take his pacifier...we just had to hold him until he settled down. His skin was BRIGHT red which is another normal side effect. We only had to give him one dose of pain meds as he was in good spirits by the next day. He pretty much slept the rest of the day of the surgery. Besides not kicking his legs or rolling around for a couple of days his temperment was normal. Babies are much more resilient than we give them credit for. It is definitely much scarier for the parents...watching your baby being taken behind surgery doors without you. But I am sure he'll do great. I know EXACTLY how you are feeling and, although, I hope I don't have to ever put him through surgery again, I have to say it went very well.

Hi,

Hi, am from Sweden and my brother's son had this done as well at the same age. It took about an hour. He woke up and a few hours later he was home. I talked to them that same day and their son was happy in the background eating. I thik he will get used to the helmet really fast. My daugter got type 1 diabetes at 4 years of age and after two days she had no problem with the shots. I think the little ones are happy as long as we are happy.

Have a great day,

P.

Hi L., I just wanted to know how did your son do on his surgery ? I hope all is ok now.

About his flat head, my 3 mth old son also has this. His pediatrician just advised us to keep him on his sides a lot and tummy time too. We see his head is getting rounder now , one side is rounding off nicely. But I wonder if your son will get a helmet, can you please let me know how he does wearing it almost all day long ! Poor thing. His doctor mentioned to us the helmet, but she said he won't need it. I'm worried that he will need it ?

any info will be great ! Thanks in advance.

A.,
mommy of two beautiful twins, Alexander & Sarah 3 mths.