Inguinal Hernia

Hi!
I know What your going though My son had the samething at 6 mounth old hydrocele and inguinal hernia, it is very scary because you cann't fix it!! but do the surgey now when he is young it could cause other damage if you wait. my son had to go back a second time whitch is very unusual he still had a small hydrocele and almost lost his right testical thank goodness he didn't. But small children bounce back better then adults and he;ll never know he went thought it only we will know the worry we sat thought untill it was done and over with. Good luck I would say don't worry but thats a mothers job!

Hi,
my son will be 5yrs old on monday and he just had surgery for the same exact thing this past monday. it is very common and these surgeries are done every day. I wouldn't worry about it. The first hour after he woke up from surgery he was in pain and they gave him some pain meds through his IV, but after that he was fine and he walked out of the hospital the same morning! (the surgery was at 730am and we were out of there by 11am) he did take it slow for the first 2 days, basically was a couch potato, and then he was back to his old self. we go back for the follow up visit on monday to see how he's healing, but to see him - you would never know he just had surgery. hope this helps and good luck!

My son had the surgery at 1 1/2 and we were more worried than anything- the surgery was quick and once he woke up he was fine and up walking around- he is almost 4 now and there is no scarring or anything.

My daughter was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia(very common) and a hernia in her lower right abdomen before she turned 1. My doctors took a wait and see approach and we watched for symptoms that the hernia was becoming a problem. She is going to be 4 in 2 weeks. The umbilical hernia is completely healed and her other hernia is almost completely gone, they can barely feel it. It looks like both have healed on their own without surgery. She has other health issues which made us reluctant to do surgery unless absolutely necessary. The hernias never bothered her in any way either. But believe me, I know how scary it can be.

i know many who have had this surgery, a few were children and babies. very simple procedure and common as well. get it done, it's important.

Hi A.: My son was just diagnosed with the same and I am seeing a peds surgeon in a couple of weeks. I am freaking out as well. My son is older but no matter what the age its still worries us moms. Best of Luck!

Hi A.,

I can certainly understand your worry..no one wants their baby to have surgery. My now 4 year old had surgery when he was three to repair an epigastric and umbilical hernia. We went to Dr. Milissa McKee and Yale and she was amazing! There was no recovery time after and he was up and playing as soon as we got home that same day...obviously we were supposed to keep him still, but he is a three year old boy! Anyway, I was more worried about the intestines getting caught in the hernia than I was about the surgery. It is so quick and easy. Good luck to you!!

L.

My son had it done at a month. No problem at all. It is
a very simple procedure. However, you will worry
anyway. Try to stay calm. It is frightening when a little one needs surgery, but babies are amazing.
I have seen little ones home after open heart surgery
in four days!!!!!!!Good luck.

Hi,
My son had an inguinal hernia and it was a simple surgery to fix it. It was out patient and he healed right away. He was older than your son but people do get that simple surgery at very young ages. We were at New York Hospital and it was really fine.
Best luck,
A.

hi A., my son had surgery at 5 years old to repair a hydrocele and inguinal hernia. you should see a pediatric urologist. they knew he had the hydrocele, his testicle was huge, and when they did the surgery for that, they found the hernia, which they told me beforehand there was a good chance of them finding. surgery is the only option to fix it, and the way they explained it to me, it can be risky to not fix it, it can be life threatening if it strangulates. michaels surgery was done at schnieders childrens hospital, they were absolutely wonderful. our pediatric urologist is the surgeon who did it, he is in new hyde park, or thereabouts, i can give you his # if you like. the whole thing was terrifying for us, its very upsetting, but for him it really wasnt such a big deal. he got upset the last second before he went under, didnt like the smell of the gas, but before that he thought the whole thing was really cool, we approached it like - look at all this cool scientist stuff, etc. as far as your little one goes, just stay cool and calm and he should also. its a quick surgery, ours was about 45 min, seemed forever at the time. they can be pretty miserable when they wake up, but they recover so quickly its ridiculous. the hardest part is getting them to take it easy afterward, i dont know how you would do that with an infant, maybe it will be easier. try not to worry too much, its very common. i can tell you its no big deal... in the scheme of things it really isnt, compared to what lots of people deal with, but it is upsetting, it just is, what can you do? best of luck to you, it will be ok.

Hi A.,
I know that being told your baby needs surgey is a very hard thing to hear. My daughter had an umbilical hernia that needed to be corrected with surgery. She was just under a year old and I was scared to death. The hardest part was watching her go under anesthesia, but the surgery was quick and after she initially woke up she was absolutely fine. She was running around and playing when we got home, which was only a few hours later. She is now almost 4 years old and has no effects from the surgery and she has no idea what happened. It is scary that they are so young and having surgery, but it is also good because the pain won't be as bad and they will not remember what happened. Good luck and I wish you both the best!

Hi A.,
My son too had an inguinal hernia. I noticed it right before he turned 2. I took him right to the doctor who confirmed it and she sent me right to the surgeon (he's out of Morristown Memorial-not sure where you are). At our appointment, we were given only one choice: surgery. I was a wreck, but the chances that it slipped were too great. He also had hydroseal (not sure if your son has that too). He was operated on in May of 08. It was so unbelievable how quickly he bounced back. The doctor said it was worse than he suspected. He told him to take it easy for a few days and no roughing with his older brother. Needless to say, he tried to climb onto the bathroom counter when we got home. You never would have guessed that 2 hours prior he was being operated on. Your son will be fine. You just have to be strong for him. I know that he is just a baby, but they can sense your emotions. Good luck. We are tracking a new hernia with our guy. He has an umbilicus hernia (which just presented itself). He will be just fine!