Hypo What? And a Hernia.

When Porter was six days old, we took him into our Pediatrician to have him circumcised.  During the procedure, Jeff went with Porter and I stayed and waited in the exam room.  After what seemed like an abnormally long time, Dr. Greenberg returned to the exam room and asked, "What is a phone number you can be reached at during the day?" I thought it was an odd question but told him my number and then saw him walk into his office.  I was a little perplexed at what was going on, but he came back a few minutes later and told me that Porter had been born with a birth defect called hypospadias. (Warning: there is a picture of a penis with this link so if you don't want to see it don't click. Oh, and Porter's problem looks nothing like this picture.  His is a first degree hypospadias and is under the foreskin and that's why it wasn't detected until the circumcision.) Our doctor had called up to Primary Children's Hospital to talk with a Pediatric Urologist.  The doctor told us that it would have to be corrected surgically after Porter was six months old.  They stitched Porter back up (the foreskin needs to be saved for part of the reconstruction) and gave us a referral. I felt horrible about it for awhile thinking that I had done something wrong.  But after talking with some extended family members, it seems that the problem may be more genetic than anything I did.

Yesterday, after waiting almost two months, we had our appointment with the Urologist up at Primary Children's. The good news is that it is a day surgery and he should be able to come home the same day.  But he will have to have his little man parts reconstructed so he can go to the bathroom normally (he would have to sit down for the rest of his life). The surgery can be done any time between 6 months and 18 months.

We were planning on doing the surgery this summer when he turned 6 months old.  That is until today when we found out Jeff will be needing surgery too.  He came home from his yearly physical with news that he has a hernia. I am counting it as a blessing that Porter's surgery can be postponed a bit since Jeff's surgery is a little more urgent.  Sheesh, what is it with us and medical bills?