Topics Discussed This Month
hernia surgery
advice from the preemie-l discussion board       http://home.vicnet.net.au/~garyh/preemie_forum
Karin asks, "Andrew is going in for Hernia surgery on April 27th. At this time they will also be fixing his circumcision area that was done incorrectly. I am getting extrememly nervous as the date approaches.
Here are my questions......(this has been scheduled for so long and we don't see our Dr. again until the day of the surgery!)
How did your preemie make out with anesthesia?
They say it will be day surgery but I have my doubts...did your child have to stay over night? And if so did you stay with them?
Will they have to intubate him or will he be breathing on his own?
Any other advice or input would be greatly appreciated!"

Rose answers, "My 10 y/o former preemie had hernia surgery at age 2. Her hernia just popped out one day while she was giggling and we had surgery on it about a month later. It was also a day surgery and she did just fine. There was no ventilator or anything like that. She did throw up a bit later in the day after surgery but we took her home about 8 o'clock at night. By 36 hours later she was almost running through the house taking funny little short steps. I don't think they know they ought to be in pain, they just get up and go. "

Nancy responds, "My daughter (a 28 weeker) didn't have hernia surgery but had surgery for bilateral club feet when she was 11 months old.
I could be wrong about this, but I think they intubate if your child is under general anesthesia. Claire's surgery lasted 6 1/2 hours, and she did great. No problems being intubated, and no problems with the anesthesia.
It took her about a week to get back to her normal happy self, but then again, her's was a completely different surgery than what Andrew is having. (She had to spend 3 days in the hospital.)
Good luck -- the waiting for it to happen is always worse than the actual event!"

Cheryl writes, "Been there and Lucas was only 4 lbs when he was operated on for a double hernia *and* to drop one of his testicles.
Lucas's surgery from start to finish was about 2 1/2 hours. He was given an epidural so he was awake and breathing on his own the whole time. If a general is used they usually have to intubate. I know how scary that would be but Andrew is such a big boy now, I'm certain he won't need it after surgery.
I stayed with Lucas until late that night as he was still in NICU. He was given Demerol for pain and by the next day he only needed Tylenol. All of the nurses told us that hernia surgery for children is quite minor...even though we know darn well it's not...after all this is *my* child. Anyways, apparently, the kids recover sooo darn fast that they're running around in no time at all."

Jamie advises, "Boy do I know where you're headed. My Nicholas (27 wkr, now 3) had a double whammy surgery last July. We repaired two hernias and re-inserted ear tubes at the same time. The Urologist suggested that we plan for a week of recuperation (surgery was on Monday). Surgery was at 7:30 a.m., we were home at 10:00 a.m., and he was JUMPING off the fireplace, hollering for hot dogs by noon. I'm not kidding. We went to see "George of the Jungle" (appropriate, huh?) the next day, and by Wednesday, we were back to the playground and pool. I realize that everyone's recovery is not this simple, however, I was/am amazed at how well he/we did. This was Nicholas' fourth surgery, and being the over-compensating preemie mom that I am, I had stockpiled enough groceries for two weeks, and taken an extra week from work. Good Luck with the surgery, I hope your results are as good as ours. It's been nine months, and you seriously can't even see where the 2 inch incision was (the doc put it in his groin fold). Probably the piece of advice I'd give is, let him recover at his own pace, even if that's faster than planned. It took me much longer to recover than him."
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