Just Looking for Another Who Has Been Through This....

My son had to go through the same thing when he was just under 6 months, I was a total mess; he was just fine. No problems, no complications. He was a little sore for a few days, as you can imagine, but acted like his normal little self after a really good nap. Good luck!

M.

I don't know much about your situation, or re-circumcision in general, but I do know that when boys are born they don't have to be circumcised it's just an option, on that is on the decrease in popularity as it is an unnecessary procedure for baby boys. So maybe doing nothing is an option, I really don't know your situation, maybe it's not an option for your son, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
Either way I hope all goes well.

M.,

Our son had his initial circumcision at the age of 6 months. We had hoped to have it done shortly after birth, but there were complications. . . . Long story, short, I was just as nervous, but he did just fine. I feel your fear, but your son will be just fine. Keep in mind that he is young, and likely won't remember any of this a week from now. Trust me, your kids are stronger, wiser and more heroic than most adults. Good luck!

Scoop him up and run for the hills. Don't do it. I know so many men who had this done to them as babies who have really suffered for it. They describe things such as loss of sensation, and sense of violation, that something was "taken from them," and even pain. This is not a necessary "surgery." It is a culturally acceptable form of genital mutilation. If you are doing it for religious reasons, I suggest you wait until your son is old enough to make that choice for himself. This is just my opinion, but it is something I have talked to people about and thought a lot about over the years. I would really encourage you to take some time and listen to your true instincts about it, as well as doing some more research. It's a really big choice to make for somebody else, for a very personal part of their body. ~S.

My son had to have surgery for an undescended testicle when he was 14 months old. I was really worried about having him put under, but everything went really smoothly. I can not tell you how many hours I spent praying for him before and during the surgery! I kept reminding myself that the anesthesiologists do this all the time and they know what they are doing. It's in our nature as mom's to worry, but I'm sure he'll be just fine. :)

M. -
I haven't been through the exact same thing, but my son wasn't able to have a regular circumcision as a newborn. We had to wait and have a surgical circumcision at 6 months old. It was a nervous wreck about the anesthetic, too. The night before I didn't sleep at all. I wanted to call it off. I kept thinking this is my mommy instict and I should listen to it. Then I realized that what's best for my son is to get it over with while he's young and not put him through it once he's older. The process was super quick. My hubby and I went to get breakfast in the hospital cafe. By the time we got back the surgeon had already come out to see us. (We felt like the worst parents because we weren't there.) He is now 19 months old and we're so glad to know that he can handle surgery well. Currently, we're facing the fact that he needs ear tubes and the thought isn't quite so scary. As long as you feel comfortable with the doctor and your son is in good health - no sniffles or coughs - I am sure everything will be fine. Best wishes for your sons quick recovery and for your peace of mind.
-L.

Hi M.,
I don't personally have experience with this, but my best friend's son had this done. He was a little younger that your's, but the surgery went fantastic and she was so glad she did it. She was really worried about putting him under too, but he was up and laughing later on that same day.

Hi M., I completely understand your being nervous you're a mom, it's your job. As an operating room nurse the best advice I can give you is to make sure you meet the anesthesia staff that will be taking care of your son and ask them as many questions as you need to in order to be more at ease. If it helps, this is a pretty common surgery so everyone taking care of your son should have a lot of experience taking care of little guys. I hope this helped. Good luck, make sure you have children's Tylenol and vaseline at home for after.

Hi M.,
My name is L. and my son is currently 12 years old, soon to be 13 in a few weeks. 11 years ago (when he was approaching his 2nd birthday) I had begun to notice a peculiar odor in his diaper over the course of one week or so and just attempted to give him larger doses of water. One night, my husband and I were awakened by him crying almost uncontrollably, but not very loudly. We went into his room and he was burning up and we immediately called 911. I met my husband at the ER and we were told our son had a virus, but they wanted to check him over. As they asked if we had any recent concerns and when I explained about the smell, they wanted to test for bladder troubles. They administered a test by inserting a catheter with fluid-filled dye in it and did an MRI to see how it flowed into his bladder. It showed that the size of the hole from his circumcision was not big enough to let the proper amount of urine to flow through and was backing up and forming an infection. He spent a few days in the hospital on antibiotics and had outpatient surgery soon after he was discharged from the hospital. He really didn't seem to be in extreme discomfort and the treatment and medication did not appear to have an adverse affect on him. We never noticed anything after that and we all came through the experience with flying colors, though I must mention....I had to take him for the procedure because my husband was unable to bear the thought of what had to occur.

I know it's scary, but your son will be okay. My middle child was a preemie and his circumcision was delayed until he was 18 months. Most hospitals are very kind, allowing you to stay with your child until they fall asleep and calling you in to the recovery room as soon as your child is awake. He will likely not remember any of it; it's probably way more traumatic for you than for him!

I don't know your exact circumstance, but my son when he was younger, seemed to be under circumcised, and I asked the doctor if we should do something about it...they told me that whether a child is under or over circumcised as a baby, they grow into it, and their body rights itself on its own. My son is 5 now, and like the dr said, everything has grown into porportion. But if it is something that really needs to be done, do it now before he gets old enough to remember! best of luck to you, A.

My son had to wait for his cicumsision until he was six months old. I know the feeling...dread. I don't know what hospital you're going to, but the one we went to had a "tweety and sylvester" gown for him to wear and the staff was just great. He was out of there in just a few hours and, he's nine years old now and doing great. I do know how you feel though...anesthesia for little ones (actually, for anyone) can be very scary.

Our prayers are with you all.

A

Hi!
My name is M.. Our son, Chase had to have one of his testicles descended down into his scrotum surgically. It's amazing how quickly they bounce back. He was almost 2 at the time and he healed w/in 2 days. My husband and I were VERY scared about him going under as well, but all went so smoothe. Your son will do just fine, I'm certain. Which hospital?

We went through this with our son as well. He was 4 when we had his done. He was fine, and actually recovered very quickly.

Our sone is now 11.

re-circing really isn't necessary. If the remaining forskin has readheared it will come loose on it's own by the time he's 5. Surgery is not necessary, unless the readhearance is causing infection (and I mean pussy nasty painful infection, not just a little redness that goes away on it's own)

We made the choice to have our son done after we adopted him from Russia. He was 7 months old when it happened. I remember crying and thinking "what have I done?" But when we got home and he was his normal self...it was ok. It was much harder on me than on him! God takes good care of our children.

Our son had this done (re-done) when he was just over a year old. It was hard to see him wake up from the anesthesia, he was inconsolable, not because of pain, but I think he was really disoriented. The anesthesiologist gave him a 'caudal' which is a shot of medicine into the spinal fluid which numbed his body from the hips down. He was cranky for a few days after surgery, and I think that it hurt him when he peed because every so often he would start crying for no aparent reason. They did give us some pain medicine to use (tylenol with codeine) but that made him kind of groggy and even crankier. Thankfully it heals quickly, and he didn't remember a thing (although he was a bit younger than what your little guy is). Over all, not a bad experience.

Hi M., I know exactly what you are feeling . . . my son Nicolas had it done for the first time at 2 yrs old. I thought the whole circumcision procedure was cruel at the time he was born so I didn't have it done. Then my sons pediatrician advised the skin was not pulling away like it should so we went ahead and had it done. He was given a general anesthetic and as he dosed off the doctor cradled him in his arms and took him into the operating room. It was the longest hour and 1/2 of my life, but we trusted that God and the Angels would watch over him during the procedure and everything turned out fine.
P.s. make sure you ask that the Anesthesiologist remain in the room the whole time. Nico is a healthy 11yr old now. Signed, Former worried Mommy!

My sister's son had to have her son circumsised for the first time when he was 2. She regrets having it done. I'd be very angry at the doctor who did it the first time. Did he do it wrong? I'd look into some sort of consequences for that.

Dear M.,
I did this recently with my little guy. I was with him while he fell asleep in the O.R. (a little tough but best for him) and the nurse got me when he started to stir. I was holding him when he woke up, then he slept for a while before we went home. He was sleepy that day and was doing great the next day. It was harder for me than for him. I hope yours goes well.

We had to put our son under when he was just over a year old for exploratory surgery to find one of his testicles. I cried the whole time (a couple of hours) and then found they couldn't salvage it but did tether the other to prevent further complications with his remaining testicle. He was groggy for a couple of hours and was not allowed to ride his scooter for a month. Later in the afternoon of his surgery, he learned to climb into his Lego table (about a 16 inch straddle). He was just fine.
Kids are very resilient, much more than us. I tore me up to see stitches on both sides, but he had no problems whatsoever.

Not much advice, but just wanted to say sorry you and your son have to go through that. I do have a friend whose son had to do the same, at about two. I know it is unfortunatly not uncommon. Best of luck!

Hi M.,

My son went through this also at around 8 months and it is scary. My biggest worry also was him being put under especially because my son was a 29-week preemie and we didn't know if his lungs were able to handle the anesthesia, etc. I slept with him for nights before and cried constantly, worried sick. I had the greatest fear of losing him especially after we both almost died during my pregnancy.
But when we got to the hospital that morning, everyone was so wonderful! They explained how/what and why things were going to happen. They comforted my son (and me) and treated him well. I don't know where you are going but we were at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. Our Dr. (who I can't remember his name) was one of the top 2 in the state.
Everything went well but bring an extra shirt because mine puked all over me in Recovery! :)
To ease your mind, make sure you ask all of your questions and get all of the answers. Being informed helped me.
Just think positive and snuggle!

You are in my thoughts and prayers. Everything will be fine!

M.,

My son had tubes put in at 10 months and then had a hernia surgery (45 mintues) when he was 14 months; I can empathize! It is so hard to see your little one go under for any length of time.

We had our sons surgery done at Beaumont Royal Oak and every one there was wonderful. They eased my stress tremendously. What helped me was stricking up a conversation with a couple in the waiting room, the surgery flew by. I prayed a lot too.

I have a friend whose son had to be re-circumcisized at 2 as well and they do not regret the decision.

I wish you the best of luck, I know it is difficult. You will make it through this and your little man needs to see you strong because he is old enough to pick up on you being scared.

Please give us an update.

Hi M.,

My son, 2.5, just had his first circumcision on March 10. He did fantastic and wasn't in much pain at all. Hopefully you are using Dr. Polley--wonderful pediatric surgeon; he also has a wonderful assistant. We had such a good experience. Good luck!

B. B
mom to 2 (4, 2.5)

Hi M.,

I don't know how much advice I can offer, but my heart goes out to you! My son (now 2.5 years old) could not be circumcised when he was a baby; he had a condition called chordees (sp?), where the skin around his scrotum was too tight. They had to wait until he was a year old before they could do the circumcision, and yes, he had to go under for the surgery.

I don't know why your son has to have a re-circumcision, but if he has to have one, then he has to have one. It IS heartbreaking--I won't lie. We had ours done at St. John Hospital in Detroit. They had a very nice pediatric surgery area, where the room was filled with toys and the kids could play while being prepared for surgery. I feel bad because I cannot remember exactly what they gave my son, but they gave him some sort of "happy medicine" that made him feel "buzzed" so he would not be afraid when they took him away from me and when they put the anesthetic mask over his face. That really did work. But when he came BACK to me when the surgery was done, he was freaking out and crying so hard, that I started to cry too!! But once he was back in my arms, he was just fine.

You are right--your will not remember this, and he will heal quickly both physically and emotionally. Kids are good like that! But I know how you feel about wanting to scoop him up and run for the hills--that's what being a mom is all about!! Your son will be just fine. Just make sure you spoil him like crazy when it's all done!! Do you have somebody close by (like a mom or mother-in-law or other family member) who can possibly take your youngest son for a day or two? If so, I would take advantage of that so you can really give Bradley some great, uninterrupted cuddling time!

Hi M.!
My name is J.Tucker and I have been through exactly what you are facing now. When my twin boys were born, the doctors' were not able to fully circumcise the elder, and the younger had to go a specialist because of 'curvature', as they so delicately put it. The appointment for the specialist was scheduled when my sons' were about 1 1/2, and I was nevous about them going under and the effects that the medication would have on them. (By this time I was told that the elder of my sons would have to have the rest of the skin removed).
The doctor was really professional and answered all 100 of my questions! LOL! The surgery went really well, my sons didn't loose their appetites, because of the medication after the surgery, they did sleep a lot more and for maybe the first 2 or 3 days they had a slight temp. Both were sent home with a cathator inserted in thier penises' and the doctor told me to 'double-diaper' them. The first diaper would have a slit cut into it so that the cathator could go through it and their genitals could still be covered; the other diaper was so that the urine coming from the cathator would have someplace to go! Everytime I changed them I had to apply vaseline, to make sure their little man parts were kept from drying out or becoming infected from the cathator. But all in all, my sons' were themselves. They still ran around the house playing and laughing. 2 weeks after the surgery, we went back to the doctor to have the cathator's removed. And they did not have to get put back to sleep! Also, I was allowed to hold my sons' while they were being 'gassed' at the inital point of the surgery. It was comforting to me to see how everything was done, the amount of medication my boys were being given, and just being there with them, holding them was comforting for all of us because it wasn't easy to keep the mask on their faces.

I hope this helps, sorry it is so long!
Good luck with everything!

God Bless