Hydrocele

What started as an ordinary day on Friday quickly changed. Have I told you that is one of the biggest things that I hate about Spina Bifida?
 Our day started the same as all other days, where we run around the house like crazy getting ourselves and the boys ready and getting the four of us out the door before 7:30. I dropped the boys off at daycare and went on to work. A half hour after I got to work I got a call from Kristy saying that Grayden was acting somewhat fussy, had a low grade fever, and his right testicle was swollen.  As soon as I got off the phone I started texting my SB mama friends about what they thought this could be and asking their opinion of who I should call. Was this a situatuation where I should skip the pediatrician and go immetialy to the specialist or was I overeacting. The consensus was that I should call his pediatrician to start and then go from there. We were able to get an appointment by 10:30.

As soon as we got to the doctors and as I took Grayden`s diaper off to show the doctor, I could immediately see what Kristy was talking about. The doctor took one look and did some palpation and determined it was a hernia. She described this to me as being part of his bowels coming down into the scrotom. She said it was not an emergency because she could easily push it back up, but she said that he would need it operated on to correct it. She also said that it was not neccesairly related to the Spina Bifida and that this is somewhat common for premature infants and especially males. So basically Grayden has three strikes against him if you include SB as a risk factor as well. She then made us an appointment with his urologist for the following Tuesday and sent us on our way. So of course I immediately start feeling guilty, like somehow I could have prevented this. Is this happening because I am not keeping his bowels soft enough? Why didnt I notice this sooner? etc, etc, etc.

Once we got home, I changed Grayden`s diaper again and he started screaming like he was in pain. I decided I was not comfortable waiting until Tuesday to speak with the Urologist so I called and begged them to squeeze us in and much to my surprise they did. I may have exaggerated just a bit to get what I wanted, but I really dont care.

The Urologist took one look at Grayden and stated that he believed that what he was seeing was actually a hydrocele. He e/plained that this was the most mild form of hernia. It basically means that extra fluid is somehow leaking into the scrotum and surrounding the testicle. Because Grayden has a shunt that drains extra cerebral spinal fluid into his abdomen the pressure more than likely caused a leak. He agreed that it would need to be surgically corrected. So we scheduled surgery for October 3rd.

So, as you know by now, I hate not being armed with knowledge to make the best decision possible. It is somewhat sorry to say, but I second guess things a lot, especially doctors. So I started googling as soon as I got home, which I probably should not do, because I`m pretty sure they put worst case scenarios in the top of the search. So needless to say, when the doctor asked me Friday, when I didn`t even really know what a hydrocele was, if I had any questions, I didn`t have many. But now I have tons!

I hate the idea that my little Gray will have to undergo yet another procedure. This will mean sedation for this surgery and then again in a month for the MRI in November when we are back inPhilly for ourf 12 Month follow up.

Grrrrr.

On a positive note, we had our Spina Bifida family over for a dinner party on Saturday night. There were 14 of us total and we were missing some of the clan, but we had a great time. Austin and I were again reminded of how lucky we are to have such an amazing group of people to travel with on this journey. Sometimes its just so nice not to have to say anything and to know that they just get it.