Tuesday, June 24, 2008

update on Noah not having surgery.....


We get to the hospital.....Noah is registered....placed into a room and being prepared for surgery. I had asked all along that he be re-evaluated by his doctor/surgeon to make sure he needed the surgery because I still felt he did not but the doctor/surgeon was not to re-evaluate him till the morning of surgery!

I have always felt since Noah WAS BORN with descended testicles that he did not have the diagnosis of undescended testicles but instead "retractile" testicles which is defined here:

Retractile (hypermobile) testes are descended testes that easily move back and forth between the scrotum and the abdomen. Retractile testes do not lead to cancer or other complications. The testes usually stop retracting by puberty and do not require surgery or other treatment.

Anyway....last year when Noah saw this surgeon he performed a test on Noah and at that time Noah's testicles remained UP more than down...though they did make an appearance from time to time. BUT because they did not stay down during that test....the doctor diagnosed him with undescended testicles. I remember pleading with him on this and asking how could he be born WITH descended testicles only at 5 years of age or so for them to have rolled back up inside? I asked him if we could wait until PUBERTY because maybe since Noah was slow to develop in some other areas involving muscle tone he was just SLOW to develop there and would catch up? This doctor/surgeon really felt it necessary to perform a bilateral orchiopexy and drop those testicles down into place and seal off the inside so they could not roll back up inside anymore. If there were hernias inside (which I also felt Noah did NOT have) he would also repair those at the same time.

Noah was originally scheduled for surgery last November. I canceled it because he had just started school and was doing so well that I hated to yank him for that and have him miss.....etc. I rescheduled the surgery for yesterday, June 23, 6 months later.

DURING that 6 months Noah and I prayed about this. I really felt that he would CATCH UP and his testicles WOULD drop down into place and be down more often than not. During the month of May Noah's testicles WERE DOWN the entire month.....and he, for the first time, was AWARE of them on the outside of his body.....and would make comments if anything banged into them.

However at the end of the month and a few times of being banged around......they seemed to disappear back up inside him and remained up more than down again. BUT I noticed Noah also had the ability to make them go up or down using his own muscles...something he could not do before and I guess something most men cannot do on their own according to the surgeon yesterday. I suggested to Noah that he practice that movement as often as he could to strengthen his muscles there and we continued to pray for God to allow Noah's body to be the way it was meant to be and everything to be okay so he could avoid surgery.

We got to the room yesterday and Noah was admitted for surgery. We were there about 3 hours before the surgeon finally came in to examine him before surgery. It was during that exam he determined that Noah's testicles were indeed DOWN and stayed down during his exam....so he did NOT have to have surgery after all as he had "retractile" testicles. He stroked the inside of Noah's thigh and said "see" and his testicles rolled up inside him and then came back down. I said well Noah can do that on his own without anyone's help or stimulation and the surgeon said "oh no he can't" and I said "yes he can!" and he argued with me a minute and I finally told Noah to show the doctor and to suck those testicles back up inside him and then drop them back down.....and just that fast Noah lying there spread eagled for the doctor rolled his little testicles back up inside his body and then let them back down when I told him to! haha..The surgeon was stunned and could not believe Noah could do that especially on his own!

BUT to make my very long story short Noah will NOT require surgery on his testicles.....so that is great news and a happy ending!

They DID hear a heart murmur on his exam which a long time ago they had heard.....so he will need to see another cardiologist again for some tests and a check up. The last time he had the murmur the cardiologist in Colorado after testing said he did not hear it and he was fine...etc. Two doctors yesterday heard it so we will go for an evaluation.

Otherwise ...Noah is home and happy he is home and not had surgery.

We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers!

We will not be charged for anything according to the hospital yesterday when I called.

5 comments:

Patty said...

Well that's great news all around. Him not having to have surgery and no charge from the hospital. I'm surprised they didn't at least charge something like they would for an emergency room visit since he used the bed and etc. Good news, and I bet you are both relieved. Love you both.

Melinda said...

yes we are grateful!

kristi said...

Thank goodness. My nephew had the same problem and his testicles did finally drop.

Anonymous said...

A good picture of Noah, Melinda. Some day he will look back on this and remember the details.

KC's Blog said...

Very good news indeed!! My little brother had nearly the same exact problem but when he turned either 12 or 13 mother nature just worked it's wonders and he has been fine ever since.
So glad to hear Noah didn't have to have surgery :)