I'm sure you ladies saw my status today about Asher needing surgery. I don't feel like it is something I can share publicly on my Facebook page. It IS kind of private for Asher.
Asher saw the pediatrician today. Upon examining in his diaper, he found Asher's testicles to be small for his age, but both present. He pointed out an abnormality to the Resident and told him it's not something you will ever encounter in medical texts, but a prominent skin line between the testicles and anus is an indicator of a bowel problem. The pediatrician asked me about Asher's bowel and urinary habits. Asher pees very frequently. If I changed him every time he pees, I'd change more than 5 diapers an hour. He also puts a lot of force into it when he urinates. He was previously investigated for Diabetes Insipidus because of the frequent urination, but that was ruled out.
Anyway, his bowel habits are once every 5 days and just seem like a large skid mark. Rarely does he give a full on explosion.
The pediatrician pointed out a red spot on the tip of his penis and said he can't even see an opening. The only evidence that an opening exists is the wet diapers. Asher has a condition called Meatal Stenosis, caused by his circumcision. It has been left untreated for so long that the condition got worse and is at the point that he has almost no opening to his penis. You cannot see the opening. He is unable to physically completely empty his bladder, leading to pressure being put on his bowels. As a result, the bowels are unable to properly move stool through and he is becoming constipated, which is putting pressure on his stomach. The pressure on his stomach makes him not want to eat, and because of that, he has lost more than a pound in a month. The pediatrician says he needs surgery ASAP to open the urethral opening to his penis, otherwise he risks kidney infections, bladder rupture, bowel obstruction, and bowel perforation. He sent an emergent referral to a pediatric urologist and has put him on stool softeners in the meantime.
Needless to say, I am scared for his. I feel so much guilt right now. The words Meatal Stenosis just keep playing in my head over and over again and it is a gut-wrenching punch knowing I did this to him.
