Ds (5mo) has an undescended testicle...

[SpottyTeacakes]

He was born at 35+4 and they only mentioned it to us two weeks later at discharge. At his six week check the GP said if it hasn't descended by eight months he would have to get a referral and have an operation

I was quite optimistic but eight months is quickly approaching and there's no sign of it descending! I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of this, the thought of him having an operation (even a small one) is horrible!

The testicle is definitely there and easily located by the doctor.

Bump....

DS had this and had the op aged 2.5.

Our GP wouldn't refer him until 1yr, then he was monitored for a while. The missing testical was fairly high in his groin so no chance of it descending by itself.

The op itself was ok. It was really hard to starve him before the op. It was done at Addenbrookes as a day case and the staff all tried really hard to make it as easy as possible. I took DS into the anesthetic room and held him while they out him to sleep with gas. The operation took about an hour. Waking up was hard because he was really upset but not really with it either - the nurses told me that children don't remember that part afterwards,it's worse for the parents. Then we had to stay on the children's ward until he had a wee, which took a few hours!

Afterwards I was really shocked at the bruising in his groin area. There was a tiny incision just below the nappy waistband and another in the scrotum. 1.5 yrs on I can't see any obvious scars. The surgeon told me they did a slightly uneven incision in the scrotum so that when he's older the scar wouldn't show as much as a straight one!!

It took a couple of weeks for the bruising to go. He was uncomfortable being carried for a bit. The first day after the op he moved quite delicately but after that he didn't seem to notice. We had follow up appts for the first year, if the testical is still in place after 1yr it is likely to stay in place. We also got info about self checking for when DS is older. Boys who have had undescended testicals need to learn what feels normal to them as it will feel different to a boy who didn't have the op, they need to be aware of changes etc.

Hope your DS's missing bit descends naturally ...

My ds had this op at 0ne year old.
All much more straightforward than I thought. Home same day, everything in position.
There was bruising and he was prescribed calpol and ibroprofen for a few days.
I had been stressed before hand and so relieved when all over.
Try not to worry too much and hope all goes well; sure it will.
.

Oh thanks that's really helpful there have been times when it seems visible but he shoots back up again just as quickly!

My ds never did have visible one. We were told if found may not be viable and made clear to us that boys are fine with one and can get falsie after puberty if bothers them.
However, as said testicle found and ok which was a nice surprise.
My ds recovered quickly and biggest problem was to stop him doing splits/ anything that might hurt as boisterous!

My DH had one that wasn't repaired until he was 3. I think it was fairly standard then to leave it until then before repair. However, after we'd been trying to conceive for a long time it was discovered that he has a very low sperm count. The urologist is fairly sure that this is because of the delay in treatment, the cells that make sperm were destroyed by his own immune system. I think this is the reason why the operation is done at an earlier age now. It's something to bear in mind if you do choose to delay the op. Our only hope of conception now is IVF with ICSI.

Sorry to hear that mrsden I won't be delaying it if doctors think he needs it.

My DH had this too and also had an op to fix it, but it wasn't until he was an older child, he can remember having it done (this was back in the seventies).

We did have problems conceiving and the only reason the doctor could come up with was his low sperm count.

We got there in the end, did IVF/ICSI but conceived naturally. So there is hope!

Anyway, it sounds like getting it fixed sooner rather than later does make a difference. Good luck OP!

If it's appearing and disappearing they may monitor it for a while and determine whether it is growing so it is a good idea to remember / record when you do / don't see it, ie first think in the morning, bath time etc. if you are seeing it every day, if it doesn't stay down for long they will err on the side of caution. The testicles grow in the abdomen and descends, late in gestation, through a tube that then closes, if this tube does not close, the testicle may ascend and not spend long enough in the scrotum to grow. The op to repair is straightforward and the only after effects were trying to stop a small active boy from running, jumping, climbing etc, we watched a lot of tv that week!!!

Just wanted to say my DH had this and had op when he was seven. We haven't experienced problems conceiving so feel quite lucky having read above posts.

Hope all goes ok!

That's good advice misty thanks, we usually see it after a bath. Dp does his bath so I will ask him to see if it's every day I feel much more reassured after reading these.