And then that happened...

I wrote about the lump in Edens groin area the other day. (Click here if you didn't read about it) On Monday we went to a surgical specialist to see if the lump needed to be fixed or left there. We talked to the surgeon and as soon as she examined it she said Yup that's definitely an inguinal hernia. It is more common in boys than girls. but can happen to both. In children, it's more of a birth abnormality than in adults a result of a tear in the abdomen wall.

She explained that these are not an emergency to be repaired but when they happen they do need to be repaired. The nature of the hernia is that there is a hole in the abdomen wall that usually closes before birth and when it doesn't sometimes some intestine can push through the hole causing the hernia. The dangerous parts of a hernia with girls is that not only intestine but ovaries can come through the hole. Also, the intestine that come through can become stuck and lose blood supply and can die (it's pretty rare but can happen in kids) and then we would need to go into the Emergency Room and have surgery right away.

Next came the choice of what kind of procedure to do to repair the hernia. The doctor explained that there are two options for surgery either an open procedure(where they cut open the area) or laparoscopic removal. The doctor explained that the recovery times for both procedures are the same and there will be no down time if she is up to moving she can (Yes, even jumping off furniture...I asked). All of the risks with any surgery bleeding, infection, and such. But the difference between the two was the percentage of re-occurrence. With the laparoscopic procedure they can not "fix" the hole in the wall so the chance for it to come back with this is about 1 in 5. With the open procedure there is a 1% chance of re-occurrence, because they are able to close the hole in the abdomen wall. We choose the open procedure for this reason (personally I would rather not have to do this again).

The doctor told me this is the most common surgery she does and it's a simple 1/2 hour procedure. Eden will be having surgery a week from today. There is no pre-op testing needed so no need to do anything but wait. We've decided with Eden's history of anxiety with medical procedures that we are just going to go to have the bump on her belly fixed (we'll see how that goes). I'm so afraid if we tell her too much we'll be dragging her into the hospital kicking and screaming.

Of the things that I've been worrying about the operation isn't really one of them. The doctor explained everything and it seems pretty straight forward. It's just the before and after parts that are going to be the most difficult. Worrying that she'll have a panic attack as she is in the hospital, I know I'll be with her but I'm not sure if I can even handle panic attacks in a hospital. What happens if I can't get her to take her medicine after the surgery? She won't take Tylenol or anything even on the best days. The doctor isn't too worried about it but she does not know Eden.

Ok I'm sure I'll survive this because a lot of parents have but this is my first child to ever have surgery and of course...I'm nervous. I'll probably write next week on how everything went wonderful and she's back to her old self again. One can only hope.