Friday, December 01, 2006

Recap of JohnMark's surgery

I must apologize in not getting specifics out about JohnMark's surgery. When he was born he was born with what is known as a hydrocele (pronounced hydro-seal). It is not entirely uncommon. Basically it is excess fluid around the testicles and there is a hole that goes into the abdomen so the fluid can pass back and forth. Obviously, there is a potential for some discomfort if it is not corrected. The hole can also grow larger and result in a full blown hernia. This condition usually heals itself and doctors frequently wait until the boy is around one year old before fixing it surgically. In JohnMark's case his was pretty big adn there is a family history of these things needing to be fixed surgically. There had also been a couple complications with his circumcision healing so the doctor fixed that as well.

A few months ago we knew he had been in serious pain repeatedly and our pediatrician referred us to the urologist here in Albert Lea, but reminded us that the urologist did not specialize in children, so if we didn't like what he said our pediatrician would refer us to a pediactric urologist at Mayo. The urologist at Albert Lea was not at all helpful and said JohnMark was in no pain because hydroceles do not cause pain. I have been told by some men that this is simply not true.
We were set to see the Dr. at Mayo at the end of September, but he had to take medical leave and the appointment had to be rescheduled for October. He saw JohnMark and was quick to admit that it was very likely causing him pain. Since it was causing pain and there was a family history of them not healing on their own and developing into hernias, he offered to fix it sonner than one year of age if we chose to do so. We did, and the surgery was scheduled for this week.
Hence, the reason we were at Mayo on Wednesday.

Jeremy (or Amanda), thanks for the comment. It didn't occur to me that Amy and I had not been publishing the details all along.

Following Him,
Steve, Amy, Abbi, Mackenzie, and JohnMark.

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