Hypospadias Repair

Gussy's having an operation for this on 27 April. Has anyone on BB been through this with any of their sons? I've heard it's relatively straight forward, but am still a little worried as I don't really like my premmie baby to be going under general anaesthetic while he's still so little (4.9kg).

BTW "Hypospadias is a condition in which the urethral tube does not reach its normal position at the centre of the tip of the penis. It's often associated with a bend in the penis. Almost always part of the foreskin is missing. The condition is common and involves 1 in 300 boys in Australia:"

Hi there Kirsty

My son had hypospadis repair done. They performed the operation when he was 11 months old. he was a prem as well - 31 weeks. They used his foreskin to build a new uretha, and also had to move his scrotem, so is was a bit more involved. he had a second operation 12 months later to move his testes and bring his penis further foreward. It had been caught up like a paper clip that they had to uncurl.

The hypospadis repair is pretty straight foward and us as parents seem to suffer more than the kids. My friends son also had his done when is was a few months old and he was a 30 week prem.

Apparenty hypospadis is caused when they kick themselves in the groin when they are developing. Hence why more twin boys seem to suffer as there is less room.

If you have any problems, questions, please just ask. How old is gus? Where are you having the op done. My son had his done at the RCH here in Melb and his surgeon was fantastic.

Good luck.

Hi Kirsty,

i don't have a litte one (yet!) but as a paediatric nurse I do look after afew of these little boys when they have the procedure done.

It'sa fairly straight forward procedure, and recovery is usually pretty smooth.

If I can give you some advice for when you get home, get some vaseline or some kind of lanolin cream and put that on the nappy where your son's penis would normally rest against. Because of the surgery, the skin will be very sore and can often get stuck to the nappy. If you've got the vaseline there, this won't happen.

I hope everything goes well for you!

Kylie xx

Thanks girls for replying. I appreciate it.

I'm wondering how he will go peeing until the new opening has healed (esp once the anaesthetic wears off). I imagine it will be quite uncomfortable. Odette did you need to give your lil fella baby panadol to manage the discomfort? Can you remember how long the site took to heal?

Thanks Kylie for tip about the vaseline. Great suggestion. Would not have thought to do that!

kisrty
He started to pee out of his new hole straight away with the first op, and the second op they put a catheter in and a tube straight down the new opening, which stayed in for a week after we went home, so that it wouldn't close over, so not sure in a straight out one off op. The cathether stayed in for 2 weeks until it started to cause him more pain that what it was worth as it was pinching his poor bladder every time he was horizontal.

I gave my son pain stop for the first few days after the ops. You can get a pain stop day time, and a pain stop night time. They work a treat. After a few days I weaned him over to pandol and then stretched the time out between doses, until he didn't need it anymore.

They also gave him a epidural whilst he was under for pain relief , but this did wear off very quickly, so in the end they gave him morphine as he was screaming. Don't be afraid to ask the hospital for something stronger it the pain relief they are giving him is not working well enough.

The only hassle with the meds they give them in hospital and for pain relief when they come home is that they do tend to consipate them, so it is something to watch. Actilac works well if that happens, as it is a natural type of medication to help them go to the toliet.

Vasline is definately a must every time you open the nappy, or otherwise his new bits will stick to his nappy!!!

hope this helps, and any other questions, just yell out!!
Good luck

Thanks Odette for all your help. It's fantastic to be able to ask you questions. O:) Now I have yet another question.... How long did you need to keep Ariel safely tucked up at home after his operations? Just wondering when we'll be able to get Gussy out and about again and into the car seat, pram etc without causing him pain. Due to Gus' prematurity we have a huge raft of specialists/allied health profs seeing him regularly (13 at last count!). I am trying to work out how long a period after his operation I should keep free from appointments. When would you say Ariel could handle a relatively low key outing and when would you say he could handle something more intensive like physio, chiro or baby gymbaroo?

I can totally understand with the appointments etc. We were in a similar boat.

We went out pretty much straight away. I got him a leg cathether that I would tuck into his pants for when we were out, and you couldn't see it, and would put the larger bag on for sleeptime etc.

The leg catheter I bought for under $10 and I got it from the Royal Children's hospital - equipment distribution centre, but I am sure that you could get one from perhaps a chemist??

My son is a twin, and i was worried about my other child pulling at the bag etc, but no probs and as soon as little gussy is up for it - I say go for it. Just don't forget to take the vaseline and the pain med with you - just in case.

Good luck with it all.
Which hospital is his op at?

Kirsty,
Just wondering how it all went. How is Gussy?
How are you???

Hi Tiff,

Thanks for asking. The operation went really well and Gus handled the GA beautifully. In retrospect, there was little need for me to be concerned about it all. Gus recovered much more quickly than expected and the surgeon has declared the operation a success. If you didn't know about the hypospadias repair, looking at him now you'd just think Gus had a circumcision. At this stage we don't expect him to need a follow up operation relating to the hypospadias. It's good to have one area "sorted". We will still need to operate at some stage in the next 6 months or so for his hydrocoeles and sacral dimples as they were left untouched during this operation. Gus is still a little thing - 5.4kg at last week's weigh in... Aghhhh we're still having feeding issues and probs with his chronic reflux and food allergies. His helmet therapy continues to be a struggle and he's not meeting corrected age milestones but he'll get there eventually. He is an absolute darling and continues to delight and amaze us. xx

How are Ivy and Noah? How are you?

Hi Kirsty,
I'm so glad to hear that. I think of you and Gussy often and wonder how you are getting along.
Ivy and Noah are doing ok. Ivy has terrible reflux issues at the moment but other than that we are plodding along.

It's good that Gus has put on some weight!
You always have such a positive outlook in BB when alot of the time, you must be sick with worry.

:hug: to you, I hope the next op is just as successful

Hi Tiff,

Great to hear Ivy and Noah are doing ok. Isn't reflux a difficult thing when it's bad! Wish I had some tips to make things easier for you and Ivy, but sadly I don't. Must be extra hard with twins as it must be v. noticeable when one is struggling as you can't but help to compare the two. You are a darling mummy and they are very lucky to be born into your family!

Hi,
i was just wondering how your kids are going after their operations. My son goes in next week for the intial surgery on his hypospadius and i am so nervous about it all.
He is only seven months old and was born prem. Just wondering how they cope with the anaethetic and all.
Thanks
kate :p

Hi, Just wondering how your son's op went. My 6 month old has quite severe hypospadias and am just starting the ball rolling to get his operated on. Curious to know how everything went and if you're in Sydney if you can recommend a paed surgeon.

Hi,
My son had his first op at 8 months where they circumsized him and made a temporay hole for him to wee out of to allow the skin to grow and mature. He was fine after this op went home after 3 days with no drains or problems weeing.
We then commenced testosterone cream in early march this year to encourage the skin growth around the penis - made a big difference allowing more skin for the second procedure. He then had his second and hopefully final op last week. This was a bit more complex as they had to reconstruct a urethra (wee tube) using the excess skin. He was initally supposed to be in hospital for ten days but we were home after five. He had a lot of sticthes and a catheter that went into his bladder. It was hard as it was so uncomfortable for him and we were constantly making sure he had plenty of pain relief on board. He had that catherter removed after a week and so far so good. He is on twice daily salt baths for six weeks and cream applied with most nappy changes. So far he is weeing well out of his new wee tube. It has been such a stressful time and it was good to be able to speak to people that were in the same boat. We are based in qld and had an excellent surgeon. Unfortunatly i dont know any one to recommend in melb. Hope this helps. If ya have any more questions send us a message as happy to chat.

Thanks so much for the info. Glad to hear that your ops have gone well and I have my fingers crossed for your son that no ops needed. I initially was told by the paed that they would only give me a referral at 9 months. I really wanted to see someone straight away but they wouldn't do anything then- I'm just a neurotic mother! Saw my doctor today as DS is now 6 months and wanted to make sure I had a few months for waiting lists etc. Pushed my GP to give me a referral which he did and rang the surgeon today only to find out he has a waiting list of 1 yr to see him and 1 yr for surgery. He prefers to operate at 12 months and the latest he will operate is 2 years. Can;t believe it, I am so peeved because if I had my way in the beginning we would have been 6 months through the waiting period. Thankfully, I was able to get an appointment with him earlier by going to the private rooms just have to pay a lot more but thats fine. If its going to make a big difference we will have to pay for op to be done at the private hospital to avoid such a long waiting time. Unfortunately no medical insurance so will be coming up with the money myself. Can't believe that this could been avoided if someone just let me see the specialist when he was born. Could see someone else but I want to go to the best as its such a vital organ for boys! Oh well, thats my vent...sorry! Long and stressful road ahead I guess.

Glad to hear a success story though as its very worrying. Thanks for the support.