My son has "bad infection" & needs to be circumcised

[Catalyst]

Feeling incredibly guilty right now. My 7 year old son said his willy hurt, and when he showed me, I was horrified at how sore it looked! I took him straight to the doctor who said it was a bad infection & his foreskin has tightened which means he will need to be circumcised! I feel like a complete failure as a mum for not realising there was a problem.
In my defence, it is the underside of his penis & I can't see that when he's in the bath or getting changed etc. He hasn't once complained about any pain there. For example, last night he got up 4 times: "my foot hurts", "my throat is sore", "I keep hearing funny noises" & "my bed isn't comfy"! Not once did he say "my willy is hurting"! I just had no idea there was a problem! Am I terrible?
Now he has penicillin to clear the infection & we have to see our own doc on Monday. I'm already worrying that the antibiotics won't work & he'll have other complications. It's just medicine - no ointment. Will it definitely get better?

[debs71]

Yes, it will Catalyst, and you are not a bad Mum.

Sometimes kids just keep things like that to themselves, while others will let everyone know, and if he wasn't complaining, you can't blame yourself.

It should get better with the antibiotics. Sometimes the oral antibiotics aren't strong enough and intravenous antibiotics are required, but I am sure that things will improve as more often than not that isn't required.

I assume they are waiting for the infection to clear and then the circumcision can go ahead. Please don't worry about that either - let me just reassure you that this is a very common operation for kids. We saw a lot of kids on the ward with phimosis where their foreskin is too tight and they can't wee properly, so they needed a medical circumcision. Unless there were any complications (rarely) they were home the same day.

Please don't feel guilty. Sometimes these things just happen.

I hope he gets well soon.xx

[Catalyst]

Hi debs

Thank you for your reply. It's been 4 days and the infection is clearing up nicely, so I feel much better about it. We are going to review the phimosis next week, once he is completely free of any infection (as you said!) They think his phimosis has been ongoing for some time, so it seems this infection may have served the purpose of drawing it to our attention. That makes me feel better too! I suspect that he will need the circumcision, but we'll cross that bridge later!

Carly x

[JaneC]

Hi Carly, glad that both your son and you are doing better x

[westofengland]

your son will be fine. And while I am sure you worry, circumcision is actually supposed to be healthy. Viruses can live under the foreskin so it's not a bad thing to have removed anyway, though I doubt he'll enjoy it much.

Jewish people have been doing for millenia

He might even thank you one day :)

Don't project your HA onto your kids, you try your best

I feel very guilty, I have three kids (I am a widower) and I can only do what I can do

[Catalyst]

Thank you both too for your encouragement! :)

Update: My son has an appointment with a urologist on Dec 1st, so we should know more about the plan of action then! Meanwhile, despite regular baths & cream applications, the infection is creeping back, so we're back to the doctors in a minute to see if he needs more medicine. I guess if its going to keep going in cycles, it is best to remove the problem area (so to speak!)

[jillyb]

One of my sons had to be circumcised - obviously it is sore for a while, but it is surprising how a new box of Lego or whatever eases the pain! He saw two doctors, one was called Dr Payne and the other Dr Sharp!!!! Such appropriate names! It's a very quick procedure and he didn't have to stay in. If it is necessary it is much much better for them to have it done when they are little ... my friend's brother had to have it done when he was in his twenties - not nice.

[Catalyst]

Oooh no, that wouldn't be much fun! Thanks for your comment. I was already eyeing up a certain lego gift to cheer him up after! Got more penicillin from doctor, so hopefully that will keep us going till we see the consultant.

[dizzydaisy]

Hi my son was circumcised for the same reasons as your son, my son was six. All went well with the op, although he was sore there was only one complication he couldnt bear to wear any thing like pants or trousers, so for decency sake when visitors came he wore one of his sisters skirts. He did look quite sweet in skirts and his little green frog wellies. The complication being that when he was all back to normal he didnt want to give the skirts up:ohmy: We still tease him about it to this day, bless him. Hope all goes well for your boy xx

[soulsearcher]

Hello catalyst

I am an adult 33 years old and have had many years of problems with foreskin Being very tight, sometimes you can tell if the skin is not in line and in the future when the foreskin needs to be retracted over the glands sometimes like mine when erect it will get sore and stuck like an elastic band, I have just been in to hospital today to have mine done. there wasn't any pain and I feel Great and very happy now I think its a lot easier
in younger people to preform, Please try and not to blame your self its quite hard to tell
Your son will be ok like The other poster said its a lot cleaner and looks ok aswell I do hope you get it sorted out and try not to get worried as its quite common these days to get this done .

All the best

soulsearcher

[Catalyst]

Thanks soulsearcher! He is much the same now as he was - next visit to the consultant is November. Meanwhile he will be having surgery in about 2 weeks to correct another problem 'down there'. Apparently a slight abnormality around the base of his foreskin is causing tears. Apparently a little plastic surgery procedure should fix it. I certainly hope so! We've talked about doing the circumcision at the same time, but the consultant seems to think the tight foreskin issue could resolve in time. He's also going to be reviewing an issue with a retractile testis. My poor little lad!! Still he's happy in himself. :) thank you for your encouraging message.

[Catalyst]

Dizzydaisy - sorry, I thought I'd replied to your message ages ago! That made me chuckle, and my son has a sister too, so we shall see! Not sure if you'll see this post, but can you remember how long your son was sore for afterwards?

[dizzydaisy]

Hi, he was only really tender for two or three days, it did glow like a little beacon though:blush: it was the stiches that kept him out of his pants for longer, they would catch and pull. For a few days it was really swollen too, it looked just like a little acorn sat in its cup:roflmao: But it was the best thing, he never had another problem and no more pain when trying to do a wee. I hope your lad is soon sorted and back to normal.

[Catalyst]

Oh bless! Thanks, it's good to know what to expect. The surgery this month will probably cause similar discomfort afterward, I guess.