My son was diagnosed with severe penoscrotal hypospadias with chordee at birth. He was never able to stand to void; he had to sit down. All the doctors told me it would be better for him to have the surgery at a young age before he turned one. We saw three or four pediatric urologists before we found one we felt comfortable with. I was very scared and uneducated about the whole procedure and the outcomes. We actually had surgery set for several different times and I always backed out of them. Then one day my son came to me and said, “Mommy, why can’t I stand and pee like daddy?” It broke my heart and I explained to him and asked him if he wanted to have the surgery. I explained to him that it would hurt of a little while, but the doctor would give him medicine for the owie… So with his help we decided to do the surgery. My son was five when he had the procedure done. The surgery took about 5 long, long hours. The first few hours after surgery were ok until it came time for him to go potty for the first time. They wouldn’t let him leave the hospital till he went, and it took hours before he would go.. He had to go so bad and he would start to go a little bit and then would just freeze up and scream and cry; it was a horrible feeling and then I thought I made the wrong decision on the surgery but not for long. It took him about 6 hours till he finally went to the bathroom.. The first 5 times where very very painful for him but by the next day he was back to his normal self. The only time it would hurt was the first time going to the bathroom in the morning. His surgery was only about four months ago so we really don’t know the outcome yet, but his urologist says it looks great and he is optimistic about having to have anymore surgeries. One thing though is it took my son about three months to even try going to the bathroom standing up.. He was afraid to…. He thought if he went potty standing up that if he wanted to ever go sitting down again he would have to have another surgery… About the right time to do surgery is when you feel ready to, don’t let nobody pressure you into it if it don’t feel right…. I am glad I waited to do my son’s when he was older… He at least can understand a little better what was going on and what was going to happen. For who ever reads this I want to say Good Luck and God Bless you and your children.. Children are so fragile please be kind to them….

Carrie