HEADED INTO SURGERY

Words cannot begin to express the fear that has fogged my brain over the past week. 

When the ER doctor told me, "Your son has a hernia, and no matter what he will need surgery," I literally had to have the nurse explain it to me a second time to help me comprehend.

This all happened last Sunday, when I was changing my 6 week old baby boy's diaper. I noticed his left testicle seemed unusually larger than normal. My motherly instinct told me this is DEFINITELY wrong, but he wasn't in any pain that I could see so I just kept an eye on it. Not to mention I've only had girls, so this is my first time dealing with boy parts.

By the end of the day this large lump started to get tighter and bigger, so I contacted a girlfriend of mine and told her about my concern who told me to call the doctor. Knowing now what it is, I feel absolutely HORRIBLE for waiting an entire day before calling the doctor. Major mom guilt still going on over here... The triage nurse told me to go immediately into the ER.

When I checked in, I was seen by the doctor right away who confirmed my baby boy has a hernia. As I understand it, a hernia is a weak spot usually around or near the abdominal muscles that allows your small intestine to protrude through. In my son's case, his weak spot was the tissues between the groin and the abdomen, which pushed through to his scrotal sac. The ER doctor told me this is extremely common in boys, and in many cases the hernia can be pushed back into the correct spot. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for us. 

After doing an ultrasound it was decided that our only option is to undergo surgery in order to correct the hernia. Can you imagine being told your not-even two month old child has to go into surgery, be put under anesthesia and have some sort of "baby epidural" be put in to help with the pain??? I think I was so shocked by how fast everything unraveled that I didn't even shed one tear until 48 hours after he was diagnosed.

So here we are, less than one week from when we discovered this hernia, about to go into surgery. The doctors say this procedure will take about 30-45 minutes, and let me tell you I will be a hot mess come surgery day. I know my baby boy will be just fine and that he is in wonderful hands with the pediatric surgeon's over at Phoenix Children's Hospital. The whole thing still scares me to death.

The reason I'm sharing this whole story with you is because I want to help any other parents out there quickly diagnose and get the help they need if their child goes through anything similar. Knowledge is power and when it comes to parenting, we all need to share the wealth of information and experiences. Please wish my son luck, say a little prayer, or keep him in your thoughts this Friday. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on my little man's recovery!

If you would like more information on infant hernia's you can click here.