Surgery went well. Scheduled at 1pm, he finally went back around 3pm. Before the surgery he was seen by the ENT doctor prior to intubation, but while under anesthesia. What the ENT found was just some small cysts that have developed below the vocal cords. He said that, most likely, the cysts will go away on their own, but he will check back to see them again.
The surgery probably began around 4pm. About 5pm we got an update that one side of the bilateral inguinal hernia was almost complete. About 3.5 hours later we got another call to say that the procedure was complete. It made for a long evening. We met with the surgeon after surgery. Her response was that on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being most difficult, this procedure was a 20. It was very complex and large for such a small baby. The right side was not as bad as the left. The hernia was so bad that it was pulling the bladder down along with the large intestines. Also, what she found, was that his testicle was floating and entangled a bit on the left side. Everything needed to be put back into place and then the muscle needed a lot of repair. Because of how weak the muscle tissue is, the surgeon believes Baby GL has a good chance of the hernia reoccurring so she'll be keeping track of him as he grows.
One other thing found was that Baby GL has a condition called hypospadias. Hypospadias is a condition in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside of the penis, instead of the tip. Due to this condition he will not be having a circumcision. The foreskin is needed to do the repair. It doesn't affect his abilities to urinate, which any nurse will verify. That has definitely never been an issue, in fact he needed larger diapers to hold it all.
Baby GL is still intubated from surgery. He will remain intubated until the morning just so he can be relaxed and if he needs morphine or other pain meds it will be better for him to be on the ventilator. He will also be off feedings for at least 24 hours. As for comfort, I like to believe he's comfortable. He does have a bandage inside his diaper as a pressure dressing. There will be a lot of fluid in the area where the hernia was and it will take a while for the skin to go back to normal after being stretched so large.
He is a memorable baby. The doctors requested to take some pictures for teaching purposes. He had the largest hernias that anyone there had ever seen. I believe that includes the surgeons. I'm not sure that his hernias are what I want him to be remember by. His cute, hoarse cry is a close runner up as a memorable trait.
I almost forgot, Baby GL did also have the g-tube put into place directly to his stomach. It's larger than I expected. Hopefully now with no tubes in his nose he can freely take a bottle and the g-tube can come out soon.
The surgery probably began around 4pm. About 5pm we got an update that one side of the bilateral inguinal hernia was almost complete. About 3.5 hours later we got another call to say that the procedure was complete. It made for a long evening. We met with the surgeon after surgery. Her response was that on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being most difficult, this procedure was a 20. It was very complex and large for such a small baby. The right side was not as bad as the left. The hernia was so bad that it was pulling the bladder down along with the large intestines. Also, what she found, was that his testicle was floating and entangled a bit on the left side. Everything needed to be put back into place and then the muscle needed a lot of repair. Because of how weak the muscle tissue is, the surgeon believes Baby GL has a good chance of the hernia reoccurring so she'll be keeping track of him as he grows.
One other thing found was that Baby GL has a condition called hypospadias. Hypospadias is a condition in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside of the penis, instead of the tip. Due to this condition he will not be having a circumcision. The foreskin is needed to do the repair. It doesn't affect his abilities to urinate, which any nurse will verify. That has definitely never been an issue, in fact he needed larger diapers to hold it all.
Baby GL is still intubated from surgery. He will remain intubated until the morning just so he can be relaxed and if he needs morphine or other pain meds it will be better for him to be on the ventilator. He will also be off feedings for at least 24 hours. As for comfort, I like to believe he's comfortable. He does have a bandage inside his diaper as a pressure dressing. There will be a lot of fluid in the area where the hernia was and it will take a while for the skin to go back to normal after being stretched so large.
He is a memorable baby. The doctors requested to take some pictures for teaching purposes. He had the largest hernias that anyone there had ever seen. I believe that includes the surgeons. I'm not sure that his hernias are what I want him to be remember by. His cute, hoarse cry is a close runner up as a memorable trait.
I almost forgot, Baby GL did also have the g-tube put into place directly to his stomach. It's larger than I expected. Hopefully now with no tubes in his nose he can freely take a bottle and the g-tube can come out soon.
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