When Austin was about 3-4 our family doctor recommended that we go to see a Urologist. His testicles had a hard time coming down into his scrotum. This causes issues because it is not healthy for the testicle because it will get to hot and lead to difficulty having kids and increased risk of cancer. When we saw the Urologist he indicated that he did not think we needed surgery, but we should watch it because typically as kids get older that tends to work itself out. However, about a year ago we took Austin back to the Urologist and he examined Austin and determined that Austin did need surgery. Shantel then took Caleb into the Urologist as well because she felt like he had the same issue. In the end, the doctor indicated that they both needed surgery. We decided to wait for the surgery until November when it was cold because they would not be able to ride bikes or swim for 2 weeks after the surgery. In November, they cancelled the surgery due to a surge in COVID-19. In January, they cancelled the surgery on us again due to a COVID-19 and RSV. We rescheduled in February, but then Shantel ended up going to Hawaii and we moved it back to March. Then in March we had it scheduled and ready and Caleb tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the pre-surgery check. So once again, it was pushed back. We scheduled it again for the end of March and then Caleb got a cough and we had to move it again. We finally got it scheduled for May 19th.
We did not give the boys a ton of information about the surgery beforehand, just so they would not worry. However, we did go and buy a ton of treats and snacks for the boys for after the surgery. There was a whole box of surgery stuff. The boys were really excited, so every time the surgery got moved the boys, and Austin in particular, so so so sad. It was really hard for him. We finally got to May and were healthy and ready to go.
The surgery is called in Orchipexy and is designed to tack the testicle down so that it does not pull back up in the body. The surgery is an outpatient surgery, so the boys would be able to go home after an hour or so and would just need to rest at home and would not be able to bike or swim for two weeks.
Just a few days before the surgery we took them to the doctor to just double check that they still needed the surgery and the doctor confirmed they both needed it on both testicles for both boys.
The morning of the surgery ended up much for frantic that we had anticipated. They had called us the day before and told us that our surgery would be at 11:30 am. Jenna had said that she would watch Lydia and Lucy for a couple days for the surgery. Since it was not until 11:30, we decided that Shantel would just drop the girls off that morning. However, we got a call at 7 am asking if we could move our appointment time up to 8:30 am. That would not really work, but while we were talking about it, they called again and told us our appointment would be 9:30 am and we did not really have a choice, that was the time unless we wanted to reschedule. Fortunately Brooke Young had volunteered the day before to watch the kids (which we told he we did not need) and Shantel called her because we basically had to rush to get the boys dressed and in the car and drop off the girls with the Young's. Thank goodness for good neighbors and friends.
We got to the hospital and got registered.
Once we got to the pre-surgery rooms, there was a lot going on. They split Austin and Shantel into one room and then across the hall they sent Caleb and I. They had 5-10 different nurses/people in and out to check vitals, get us a gown and do everything to get prepped. I helped Caleb get in his gown and get him all cleaned while Shantel took Austin. Then they brought us together for just about 5 minutes to let the boys pick the smell they wanted for the Anesthesia. It was full Anesthesia so they would be complete out.
Caleb went first to surgery. He was just super ready and happy to follow the doctor without any hesitancy.
Meanwhile, Austin got to lay in bed and watch a paw patrol while he wanted.
Once the doctor finished it Caleb he let us know that the surgery went well and that Caleb was in a post surgery recovery room. That meant it was Austin's turn. He doesn't not usually have a stuffed animal that he loves and has to have with him, but he picked on of his favorites to bring to the hospital and he held on tight to it, you could tell he was a little more nervous about the surgery. (Probably because he understood a little more what was happening). He went off with the doctor.
Then we just waited for both boys to come back.
Caleb got back and was really out of it. You could tell he did not know exactly what was going on and he was also very nauseas. He threw up a couple of times right away. Then he threw up again when we got him dressed and were leaving. He had over an hour to recover and really needed all of it, he was pretty weak and tired. It was a good feeling to be able to stay with him and hold his hand and help him know that we would take care of him.
Austin came out of surgery and was much more chipper. He was obviously still weak, but he did not really have any recovery time in the room, he pretty much just got up and got dressed. Then we used big wagons to pull them down to the car.
The surgery for both boys went really well and the doctor was pleased. With Austin they ended up only needing to do one incision, but Caleb had to have two incisions. We of course were very prayerful and gave both boys a blessing the night before the surgery. We were so grateful it went well and hope that it will help their bodies work well.
We took it easy the next few days and both of them recovered really well. Austin really only needed medicine for about a day and Caleb only for 2 or 3 days. We watched a lot of shows and just hung out and let them eat lots of treats and snacks.
On Saturday (the surgery was on Thursday), Shantel went up to Wyoming with Lydia for branding and we stayed behind so the boys could recover. They loved getting more time to watch Paw Patrol.
They also really wanted Cheetos as a snack, so I packed them in the car and they made their first trip out post surgery for Cheetos. Austin also decided he really wanted Tuna for lunch, we grabbed that as well and they were happy kids.
After the first few days, the hardest part was keeping the boys from being too active. They recovered great and we even let Austin go to his baseball game about a week after the surgery because he was doing well. So by about a week they were both doing really great and feeling great.
As a note: We had a follow up visit about 6 weeks later, and the boys are doing great and the doctor was happy with the surgery. We are grateful that it went so well and they recovered really great.
No comments:
Post a Comment