5 Month Old to Have Surgery...

Hi A.,

does your son have to have the surgery right away? My son who is 4 years old was born w/2 hernias, an umbilical and an inguinal and we only recently had his surgery completed in November. The surgery is pretty routine they say, and the kids recover very quickly. My son had his done at St. Peter's in New Brunswick. They were great.

My son had that surgery at age 1 1/2. It is a minor surgery that he will be put under for. You will be able to go home the day of the surgery if there aren't any complications. The Hydrocele is a sac of water surrounding the testicle in the sac. They remove the water and fix the hernia all in one shot. My son had a hell of a time with the anesthesia though and had to stay longer in the hospital. He had a reaction and had stridor and croup. But the surgery went fine!
Just be prepared for the reaction of coming out of the anesthesia. Most children react violently to that. He will be screaming and crying and you will not be able to comfort him for a bit. It passes and then everything is fine.

My 6 year old had an umbilical hernia and hydrocele at birth. A hydrocele is where there is an open area between the abdomin and the testicular sac therefore fluid can build up in the sac. You may notice that sometimes it's very large, and other times it isn't. The fluid moves back and forth. Is his hernia an umbilical hernia? I could feel the space around my sons belly button if I pushed a little. This eventually resolved on it's own. If it's not severe I would not have the surgery done. We never did. If your sons doctor insists that he needs surgery you might want to get a second opinion. It's really too early to rush to correct it unless it's causing a problem. Even if it is causing a problem and it isn't severe you could probably put off the surgery for at least a few months until you feel better about it. My son had eye surgery at 8 months. I didn't worry and it was even done by military doctors. A good reason to worry in my book. LOL He came out just fine. Feel free to contact me if you have anymore questions about this. I'll see what I can remember from when my son was little. :)

Hi A.~ My son Ryan had to have surgery at 3 months old. he had an achilles tendon release on both legs due to being born clubfooted. I was terrified about his surgery. But He did so much better than i could have ever imagined. The hard parts were not being able to feed him prior to surgery and watching them take him away. (I sobbed) But when the surgery was over they brough me in to recovery, where he got 1:1 care until he was brought back into a room. He had his surgery at Children's hospital in Buffalo and I can't say enough how wonderful they were. The whole thing was a lot harder on me then it was on him. I know Children's (if that is where he is having it) has a great child life department that you could contact for a presurgery tour, they will run through everything with you and it makes it easier to know what to expect. Make sure you eat before you get there because they will not let you have food in room because they children can not eat. I know a baby won't care but it is a rule and you'll be sorry if you don't. They will probably do the surgery outpatient, so you will need to work with your baby to drink after the surgery so you can be released. We all survived Ryan's surgery and you will too! Hang in there ok? It will turn out a lot better.

I feel for you...a hydrocele means the sachasn't fallen in the scrotum area/fluid filled. Nothing serious and more than likely it will fall on it's own as my sons did. We were told that about my son Anthony who by the way had open heart surgery at 3 days old and although is doing well considering, we live at hospitals and drs. My first piece of advice would be to do the best you can to try and stay relaxed. Your baby feeds off of your feelings so if you "seem" ok then he too will feel that. I'm not saying that this is going to be easy for you. It will be harder on you than on him. You as the mom need to hold it together so that your child(ren) learn that although things might not be comfortable/things may hurt a little, you are there and everything will be ok. My son, now 3, always knows what is going to happen in advance(in terms he can understand). There really isn't much to say since he is young and will not remember this anyway, but say some prayers, cry to family and friends but stay strong for your kids. Best of luck!!!!!

I have a neice who was born with a hernia.When she was about 2 she had her surgery.They took out 3 hernias from above her belly button.She did go threw alot and it even got infectted.She had to go back to the hospital and they found that they had stiched part of her belly wrong so they cut her again and drained the infection. But now she is fine!I would have to say listen to the doctor tell them about my neice and how you are scared!But I would get it done when the doctor thinks its time because in the long run it will be better for your baby!He dont no how to itch yet so that helps for healing and he might cry because it itch or hurts but there is meds. for that that the doctor can give u.When he gets older he wont remember it and wont have to go threw all that pain!GOOD LUCK TO U AND YOUR BABY!!!!!

My son also had a hydorseal of his left testicle. It's just a little pocket of water that got trapped inside the skin. But my doc said that if it didn't go away on his own by the time he was 1 then he'd need surgery. It was gone by the time he was 9 mos. Does your son really need hernia surgery? What does he have a hernia of? I'd get a second opinion.