and I have to remind myself to smile

Monica asked about it so here it is:

It’s called Hypospadias. They had no clue until he was born that he had it. it was VERY slight. They say the urethra never fully develops a tube to the end of the penis. and a “pee hole” could develop anywhere from the base of the scrotum to the tip but not in the right spot. thankfully his was closer to the head on the underside. basically they opened “it” up (ouch) and built the remaining part of the tube with the skin they didn’t circumcise at birth and closed it up. forming a beautiful new urethra. BUT a 9 month old, crawls and moves and straddles, all things he’s not supposed to do cause of the healing parts. So a fistual formed. just a small spot that didn’t get enough bloodflow. kinda like a pin hole in a hose. he had a strong stream of regular urine and a tiny stream that flew out the side   

he was 9 months with the first one. 1 yr and 9 months with the 2nd 3 years with the 3rd and I waited until 5 for the last one. my poor kiddo. he’s a trooper and a half let me tell you. By the time he hit 5 he knew what would make it not heal and was scared to do anything that would cause another fistula, cause he was old enough to understand. it finally finally worked and at 5 years old my boy could stand up to pee like all the other boys. full on potty training with no accidents day or night didn’t occur until age 6 close to 7. I say scar tissue affected the nerves at night and he couldn’t feel the sensation. If I got through that I can get through anything. i hate that he will always remember the last surgery and knows he had a defect, thats why we tried so early. but I suppose he can say been there done that, I’m tough and feel like he accomplished something most kids don’t have to go through.

heres the technical description of it:

Hypospadias is a birth defect of the urethra in the male that involves an abnormally placed urinary meatus (opening). Instead of opening at the tip of the glans of the penis, a hypospadic urethra opens anywhere along a line (the urethral groove) running from the tip along the underside (ventral aspect) of the shaft to the junction of the penis and scrotum or perineum. A distal hypospadias may be suspected even in an uncircumcised boy from an abnormally formed foreskin and downward tilt of the glans.

The urethral meatus opens on the glans penis in about 50-75% of cases; these are categorized as first degreehypospadias. Second degree(when the urethra opens on the shaft), and third degree (when the urethra opens on the perineum) occur in up to 20 and 30% of cases respectively. The more severe degrees are more likely to be associated with chordee, in which the phallus is incompletely separated from the perineum or is still tethered downwards by connective tissue, or with undescended testes (cryptorchidism).