Last night while my husband was giving our six year old son a shower, he noticed a large swollen area in his groin. My husband took him to the urgent care right away. They said he has a hernia and will need surgery. My son already has an appointment on Friday with the surgeon. Mostly I am worried about surgery. Does anyone have a child who has gone through this? To top everthing off I am over 39 weeks pregnant and about to give birth! I am so worried I won't be able to be there with him. How long can it be postponed? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!
Thanks for the advice. The surgeon's office called and moved our appointment up to this morning. He says the surgery can wait until after the baby is born. Which is a relief. Now I can concentrate on one thing at a time. Thanks for all the advice I think my pain and worry will be worse than his :)
my little bro had to have it done when he was about a year. It was done quickly and I think most of the pain was my mother's in worrying so much. Perhaps now would be the best time to get it done so you can recover together.
on another note, my uncle postponed hernia surgery for awhile, and it became a bigger deal and was more complicated. The sooner the better.
My girlfriend's 3 year old just went thru it. He was in and out and home chilling on the couch that afternoon no worse for wear! He will do fine!
I know infants can get hernias that often resolve themselves. I know it's scary but i'm sure the Drs will help you, It sounds like your husband is there for you to lean on and maybe some other family too. I'm guessing they will be able to work with your due date somewhat, and that in all likelyhood it is something that can easily be fixed. hugs!
Hi my daughter went through this last year !!! Please don't postpone it . The longer he has it the more he's at risk. The surgery is very simple , my daughter was out in 20 min . Now a year later so is doing fine.
my son had it when he was 4, his testicle swelled up like a tennis ball! it was a hernia, though it sounds like yours is in a slightly different area. my husband had it when he was 6 too, both sides of his groin. i had a herniated belly button repaired too. its a quick surgery for the most part. the hardest part of it, besides seeing him right before he went under, which was upsetting, but the toughest part was keeping him in bed afterward, he was up and bouncing around in no time. i would follow your docs advice, if they think it needs to be done asap even considering your upcoming baby, i would do it. many hernias are not urgent, but some really are, it can strangulate. when i brought michael to the doc, he sent me right to the emergency room. i would be sure you have a good doc and then follow thier advice. best of luck to you all.
Get another opinion. I have not a child with a hernia repair, but I had one (surgery) 5 months after my hernia was noticed.
I got a hernia in the 7th month of my 3rd pregnancy and it was NOT urgent. So I had it fixed when the baby was 3 months old and my mom could come down and help me for a few days.
If your son has not complained of pain in that area and has not been vomiting/ had GI problems, it can probably wait until a better time.
Don't panic, yet! I am a surgical nurse and I can tell you from experience that sometimes they are not urgent. Depending on (excuse the wording) what is stuck in there and how easily they can stick it back in, they may or may not be able to delay surgery. My friend's son had one and they were able to delay it for six months. They just taught her what to do when that happened by reducing it (or "stuffing it back in" lol). Others do need to be done right away, but if it was dangerously urgent, they would have had you in to see a surgeon sooner than Friday (i.e. the ER that night).
More than likely he has had it for a while and you just didn't know it, unless he had an injury that caused it recently.
Relax until Friday and see what they say about it, before you worry yourself into labor! ;) The surgery is done on an outpatient basis and easy to recover from.
