Any experience of having op to "drop" testicles, aged 4?

[Sparrowlegs248]

Ds testicles aren't dropped. I have repeatedly mentioned this to HV , Drs at other appointments and at specific appointments. Referred to hospital, no appointments available. Went back again and going to bypass local hospital and be referred directly to the hospital where the surgery takes place.

I've googled, obviously, and it seems that surgery ideally happens between 6 and 12 months. I'm unsure why I've been robbed off for this long, and been made to feel like I was making an unnecessary fuss.

Reassurance needed really.

It's also just occurred to me that I will have to watch him go under GA. Any advice on coping with that?

No experience, but bumping for you. Hope someone comes along soon with some advice/information.

DS 2 had an undescended testicle. His first op was at 18 months and second at 2. In the first they basically dislodged it and brought it down and the second stitched into place. Watching him go under was hard but he bounced back very quickly.

I hope you get it all resolved.

This runs in our family, we have various family members over two generations that have experienced this.

It's a quick procedure. They are a bit sore for a while then back to normal. Important it's done before they reach puberty. The boys in our families were done at 4,6,6 and an urgent extra one at 14 years! All are ok.

Best wishes.

@thecalmorchid were they recently? I was really worried when I saw it was ideally done at 6 to 12 months, although I think watching him go under may be easier now than as a baby.

I am far from an expert, but a close family member had this operation at the age of 4 (although this was decades ago) and is completely fine now, in case it makes you feel any better. Undergoing repeated GAs at a very young age also carries its own risks; whilst of course it would be hard to watch your child to go though it, I understand that some doctors now recommend delaying non-urgent surgery until the age of 4. I have no idea whether this is why they're not rushing? Either way, I appreciate it's not easy - I hope they start to get themselves organised and give you some proper information soon.

@Nottalotta the last operation was about 10 years ago, three family members all born with this within 9 years of each other. One was back in the 1980's.

So nothing really recently. I was always told that as long as it was before puberty it would be ok.

My son was born with an undescended testicle. He had the operation to lower when he was 2.5 (although was originally scheduled to have it when he'd just turned 2 but it was delayed because of various reasons).

With regards to the GA he just looked very drowsy/drunk for a few seconds and then went to sleep. It wasn't nice to watch but didn't last long so I wouldn't worry about that. Within a couple of hours of the operation he started running around although certain movements did hurt him. I would say he was back to normal within less than a week.

I don't want to worry you but I would put my foot down and insist that he has the operation. My son's surgeon said that if the testicle stays up inside the body the heat could cause cancer.

@user1471457757 yes that's what I've read. And I wonder why, when I've mentioned it so many times, that we've got to this stage. Although the GP had us in straight away when I called again. And bypassed the first referral so hope things move quickly now.

Did he have an injection for the GA?

My DBro had this done. He must have been about 4 or 5 at the time as I remember him going into hospital as one of my earliest childhood memories. This was nearly 40 years ago though.

Yes, two of my family members. It's not a complicated surgery but recovery takes a couple of weeks. It needs to be done since they can become infertile if not.
The scars are smallish and fade over time quite a lot.
The only thing- watch out on infections after surgery.
Nurses quick to say is post-surgery fever but if it goes for more than 24h question it.

He had some numbing cream put on half an hour before surgery so he couldn't feel it at all when they gave him the injection. It took probably less than thirty seconds for him to be completely out of it.

We saw the surgeon a couple of times when he was a baby. She wanted to wait to see if it would drop by itself but it didn't so he had to have the surgery.

Thank you, I'm hoping they will just crack on with it now.

@gigiga are they just sore for a couple of weeks ? Assuming he wouldn't be off school for that long?

ok I tried to NC and it was so complicated I gave up.
my DS was born with this. we chose for him to have 2 ops before he started school. so although it was "hi lighted" before then. he had it done when he was about 3.
I have to say it was Hard, the bruising made DH cry. but 2 ops(they were done separately)later all good and 20 odd years later all is fine.

@Nottalotta
Ok, so the first was off school for 2+ weeks and the 2nd for almost a month (due to the infection I mentioned). On top of that, I presume you are looking at staying at the hospital for a few days post op.

I suspect you are looking at 2-2+ weeks off school 🙁.

I don't know if u ever needed stitches after giving birth, I imagine the pain is probably similar as when they drying out...
Probably not the best idea to take him to school where he needs sitting and probably will run around...
In my experience, they were really uncomfortable but each case is different.

Good luck

@Nottalotta
Just reading the original post.
How old is your son? My experiences are with 4 and 6 yo.

The reason why our doctor did not want to perform a surgery is that in some cases, it's not clear whether it will be fixed alone, or that the diagnose is not 100% sure.

Obv, the sooner is done, the better recovery.

He's 4 @gigiga. I'm not so worried about his time off school at his age, just wondering about time off work. I guess recovery can vary a lot a upthread a couple of people said about their sons recovering very quickly. Thank you, it's useful to know it could be a lengthier process.