Recovery from Inguinal Hernia after Pediatric Urology Surgery

Infants can express their pain and discomfort only through their crying. No one thinks something morbid associated with crying. Baby cries, we try to pacify, and it is back to the activities as soon as the crying episode is over. In my case, what I saw whenever my baby cried was a small bulge in the groin region. It also was visible whenever he strained. It did bother me when someone suggested that it could be a sign of an inguinal hernia. On medical examination by a pediatrician, it did turn out to be an inguinal hernia, but thanks to Dr. A K Singal Best Pediatric Urologist in India and his staff that now my baby is all normal, happy and growing well.

All this time you must be thinking about what all this is and who I am. I am a Finnish woman Anja and it is the story of the miraculous recovery of my baby Ale. He was just about six months old and has started a bit of turning around on his own when I found that a bulge appears in the groin region whenever he cries or strains for passing stool. It, however, disappeared when he calmed down. This did make me a bit worried and I decided to discuss it with my pediatrician during the vaccination visit. My pediatrician is a very kind and gentle person and asked me to calm down first. He examined the baby physically and almost dropped a bombshell on us saying ‘it looks like inguinal hernia’.

Inguinal hernia, as he explained to us, is a condition found in about three percent of the premature babies. I think I forgot to tell that Ale is a prematurely born baby and having him is the biggest joy given to me by The Almighty. So, here we were preparing ourselves mentally, physically and of course, financially to give the best treatment to our child who was facing all the discomfort without doing anything beyond crying occasionally. My doubt of something wrong with him strengthened when his stool turned out to be a bit blood-stained. That is why I decided to discuss it with the pediatrician.

He told us many things about the inguinal hernia. It is caused due to the weak muscles of the abdomen which is a quite natural cause to be in an infant. He explained to us that inguinal hernia shows its start in the developmental stages of infants. After testicles begin to develop in the belly, these travel down to scrotum through a tunnel. In rare cases, the tunnel does not close and traps some part of the bowel in the case of male infants. This tunnel, thus, acts as a bypass for materials like food, fluid, etc. which usually come into the abdomen and get deposited there leading to bulging accompanied by pain when the condition worsens.

Our pediatrician suggested going for inguinal hernia surgery as it was the best possible way to give the child a happier, safer future and to avoid any kind of development of any complication in the future.

At this time, I was living in Rome and found about medical tourism in India during a discussion with my friends, I also came across a banner while surfing the internet one day while finding more about these services. I was a woman with limited resources and found the treatments in Italy to be very expensive. When my pediatrician in Rome suggested that surgery is inevitable and has to be done on priority, I diverted all my resources to find the best possible solution available across the world.

So, I decided to give medical tourism in India a try. I searched more about the companies involved in medical tourism and the one name that stood out was India laparoscopy surgery, site-group of surgeons and hospitals. I called up the number provided in the banner and it was prompted answered by a very professional yet compassionate lady. She heard all about my concerns with extreme patience and pacified me like someone of her own.

We asked her questions, like:

• How do you help people like us in getting surgeries done in India?
• How soon can we get the help we need?
• Who will be the doctors treating our baby?
• How our stay in India and transportation to and from India will be managed?
• How much time will we require staying in India?
• What will be the total cost of the whole procedure?

She took each and every question and even added some more information from her side. She told us:

• They give us the best doctors in the concerned field and arrange everything for us as per our requirements.
• They get the procedure started as soon as possible; the whole documentation and meeting with doctors etc. may require about three-five months.
• They will give us the list of doctors available on their panel for medical treatments of infants. We can pick anyone after confirming their records and qualifications.
• They have an end-to-end program for people coming to India for medical treatments. All inter-country and intra-city travels, hotel stays, arrangements for a hospital stay, etc. are taken care of by India laparoscopy surgery site-group of surgeons and hospitals.
• They will send the reports to the Top pediatric urologist in India. The doctor will confirm the time required for treatment and post-operative observation.

We had got the prescription stating doctors’ observations and ultrasound is done as suggested by our doctor. We sent the same to the lady on the email address provided by her and waited for her call-back. It took her about 4-5 days to complete the process of sending the list of available doctors, etc. She shared the doctor’s opinion with us. It did indicate the requirement of surgery. We kept in touch with the lady at India laparoscopy surgery site groupto clear the minutest of the doubts and she obliged us with full professionalism and care. She not even once was irritated by our regular calls to her and helped us to get all the surety required to go for the procedure.

She spoke at length about the advanced yet affordable cost of pediatric urology surgery in India for kids. She shared with us various statistics related to the people coming to India for medical treatments which sort of gave relief to us. We were still worried about how to leave everything for 2-3 months and go to a foreign country. She assured the personalized and priority services available and confirmed that the treatments are given to the patients coming from abroad on priority.

She gave us three doctors’ profiles to go through. We found Dr. A K Singal Best Pediatric Urologist in India, the most promising one due to the past records, his present placement, and his work done in the field of Pediatric Urology Surgery in India. She told us that one good news shared by the doctors is that Ale did not require surgery immediately. They expect it to be hydrocele with no hernia, which can be treated after waiting for about the observation period of 8-12 months. This gave us ample time to prepare for our medical tour to India and give our child the best possible care.

We still insisted on knowing:

• Can surgery be avoided?
• What would be the duration of stay in the hospital?
• What were the risks involved with the surgery?

The coordinator from India laparoscopy surgery site-a group of surgeons and hospitals gave us clear and crisp replies to these questions. She said:

• As per the doctor, hydrocele is a fluid build-up that may require surgery if it does not dissolve on its own.
• Since it is going to be laparoscopic surgery and the child is preemie, they will keep him under observation for 2-3 days.
• The surgery is quick to heal and can be managed with the help of painkillers, which will be required only till the time of healing. Since the doctor has several surgeries done for similar cases, the child is at no risk.

We kept in touch with the coordinator during the period of deciding what to do. She called us regularly to know about the decision and to clear the doubts if any. We arranged for the break from our work stating our child’s surgery needs. Thankfully, my employer was very generous and understanding and gave us his full support. He also offered us financial help as per my company’s healthcare policy. My husband, who is a business owner, also sorted all the issues at work and arranged for a manager to take care of his work in his absence. We finally consented to see Dr. A.K. Singal from Top Hospitals for Pediatric Urology surgery in India and decided to go with his treatment.

Our coordinator shared Doctor’s diagnosis and the suggestive operation details with us. She told us that the doctor is fully capable of handling such surgeries and is the best go-to for Pediatric urology Surgery in India. The doctor has suggested a laparoscopic way of treating hydrocele and had asked us to apply gentle pressure on the point of bulge regularly to avoid the occurrence of incarceration.

About two months after the diagnosis of the condition, we landed in India. India laparoscopy surgery site-the group of surgeons and hospitals took care of all the formalities related to travel, stay and treatment. They booked us an appointment with the doctor on the 15th of November, 2015. It was a fateful day, and a lot was dependent on the success of our meeting with the doctor. As soon as we landed in India, the coordinator welcomed us and enquired about our travel. The India laparoscopy surgery site groupgave us the most comfortable vehicle and rooms in a plush hotel. All our requirements were attended to meticulously and quite empathetically as my child was about 8 months and was sometimes cranky due to change of place and the health. Their arrangements made my journey and stayed easier and helped me concentrate fully on Ale.

Finally,we went to Fortis Hospital in Mumbai see the doctor. As soon as I entered the room, the doctor greeted me with a big smile and made me fully comfortable. He knew all about the case and did spend some time with Ale and us to examine him fully and to understand us better. He was not at all in a hurry and was very cordial in nature. I was really impressed with his knowledge about a hernia and the possible causes. He assured us that it is not some life-threatening condition and is fully curable. He told me that there is a condition of emergency with the child and that the surgery will take away all the possibility of any infection or requirement of treatment in the future. He also clearly told us about some post-operation care like dressing, etc. in advance.

He also shared with us some videos of the laparoscopic surgery. He got a few tests of the blood and an ultrasound done to find the latest position and gave us the date a day after surgery. He explained to us the surgery procedure in detail which went something like this:He showed us that my baby’s scrotum was swollen due to fluid. So, the surgical procedure will primarily involve taking the fluid out and sealing the point of hernia.

Since Ale was just 8 months, he suggested keeping the baby on baby-food formula and breastfeed him only for 24 hours.

The surgery included making a small incision in the abdominal area, and the piece of bowel lying in the inguinal canal is pushed back to the intended region. The area is sealed with the help of mesh to provide the required strength.

The procedure will involve giving two anesthesia – one would be general, and the other would be caudal for eliminating the pain from the region below the abdomen.The procedure will require 30 minutes to one hour.

As a concerned mother, I still asked the doctor if there is an alternative to surgery. He asked us to lay the child on the examination table and showed us the bulge. He explained that if hydrocele had got absorbed on its own, we would not be doing any surgery. He told us clearly that avoiding surgery may interfere with the intestinal function in the long run and it may also lead to bouts of stomach pain, swelling, bloody stool, and vomiting when not treated. The doctor assured us again that he is suggesting the best possible solution for the situation and that there is no risk involved. It was just a minor procedure carried out in a minimally invasive way.His confidence and detailed explanation made me quite relaxed. The nurse taking care of our child was fully-trained to handle the kids of Ale’s age, and she was very motherly in nature. She did various things to make my child comfortable and allowed me to stay with him for the night. My husband stayed in the hotel that night, waiting eagerly for the next day to come and to get the surgery done.

The surgery took exactly 40 minutes. Those were the longest minutes of my life. I paced through the waiting hall. Our coordinator asked us if we needed anything and assured that we were good. They assigned us a personal representative who kept enquiring about food, beverage, or anything else that we needed. The nurse came out regularly to update us about the progress of surgery. Once the surgery was over, the doctor informed us personally that it was Successful Pediatric Urology Surgery and came after a few hours to enquire about Ale too.

Once the surgery was over, Ale was shifted to a very nice, cozy, and child-friendly room. He opened his eyes and gave me a vague smile. I was informed that the child might complain about pain when the effect of anesthesia is gone, and the nurse was instructed to keep an eye for any such situation. She was instructed to give the pain-killer syrup to Ale as advised by the doctor. She helped us manage our child post-operation with full dedication. She fed the child regularly as per the instructions provided and never ever was frustrated or irritated with his crankiness. She handled him very gently and managed to keep him sleeping for faster recovery and speedier healing.

The doctor advised us to stay for two weeks in India, for which we were fully prepared. He asked us to bring the baby for a check-up as per the post-operation follow-up schedule prepared by him. He wanted to check whether the baby’s wound has healed and to know about the healing progress. He also gave us a few medicines which helped in healing faster. After two weeks, he again examined the child and showed us that the bulge was gone. There was just small swelling on the point of incision, which he said would subside eventually with the help of fomentation and ointment given to us.

We found the doctor to be very courteous and caring. He spent another day with us before our going back to Rome. He gave us a full routine to be followed regarding Ale’s care and suggested to make him talk to our pediatrician at Rome when we meet him for a check-up. After returning to my home country, I followed all the instructions and fixed an appointment to meet my doctor. He was very much satisfied with the condition of Ale and did a small physical examination to confirm that everything was usual with him. We were told by the doctor that if such kind of hernia which develops when hydrocele is not absorbed on its own, it can lead to incarcerations inside. It is very painful for the child and can cause big damage to the intestines. The treatment certainly gave us a feeling of relief and the smiles of Ale and the absence of bulge from the groin part made us happier about the fact that our baby was in no threat of any medical condition.

It was the pure dedication of Dr. A. K. Singal and his team and the commitment of India laparoscopy surgery site-group of surgeons and hospitals that made this surgery a Successful pediatric urology surgery a cakewalk for us. We are completely indebted to the medical tourism facility in India that gave us the best treatment at an incredibly affordable price and took our care in the best possible manner in one of the most difficult times of our lives.

India's laparoscopy surgery site group coordinated the whole process in a well-planned manner. It made coming to India and getting our child treated as simple as going for buying groceries in the market. They did everything like getting medical visas for our child and us, booking a hotel, making appointments, and giving us intra-city support to make our stay comfortable and completely hassle-free. And most important was the affordable cost of pediatric urology surgery in India. We met our pediatrician at Rome monthly for about a year to keep a check on Ale’s condition, which certainly improved. With the course of time, the wound also healed up completely, and he is now growing up like any normal child. Ale is now 4 and is a happy and fun-loving, energetic child. There is no sign of any abnormality in him and he is learning things fast too.