Pediatrician retracted my 9 months ds' foreskin,

[magazinka]

I am so upset with myself. My son went for a 9 months well-baby visit. Without my permission, in a blink of an eye, my pediatrician FULLY retracted my son's foreskin - I just happened to bend over to my 2 1/2 year old daughter... I was so stunned I could not say a word...
But - the doctor was not able to pull the foreskin back up!!! she tried for 10 minutes, my son started crying, was unsuccessful, so she asked me to put his diaper back on, give him his DTaP vaccine, and once the nurse left, she tried to pull it back up, this time, she was succesful...
I left her office in tears. got home, the tip of the penis was red, a clear fluid was comming out of if. I called the doctor today to let her know, how upset I am for what she did. She insisted she did not use any force and that she does this as a routine part of every visit!!!! I was so mad and decided to leave the practice.
I took my son to an urologist today to make sure he's okay. I made the mistake to inform his pediatrician about it, so I assume she called ahead before we got there. My son seems to be ok, but will it have any consequences in the future? Is there anything I can do? I am just upset the doctor did not ask for my permission and I assume she does this to all intact boys in her practice. Thank you for your help.

[LionTigerBear]

No advice but I couldn't not post. I'm so sorry this happened to you and your sweet son. How horrible.

[Night_Nurse]

Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. She was very incorrect with her care. Where do you live (what state)? You might contact DOC and ask they send her current guidelines and somewhere we have a thread that lists foreskin friendly doctors. Maybe there will be one in your city/state.

I think the best thing you can do for your son right now is leave the foreskin alone and allow it to try to heal itself. Your son may notice a bit of discomfort when he urinates if the urine comes in contact with the raw skin. I don't know what to advise except to allow him to heal and continue to monitor him. It's inexcusable what that doctor did. Did the urologist have any advice?

My son was never retracted so I don't have first hand advice in that department. But I know some mamas here have had the unfortunate experience of having doctors harm their intact sons. Someone here surely will have some helpful advice for you.

Hugs to you and your son.

[Yulia_R]

I'm so sorry, mama. The doctor was SO wrong.

I have four advices for the future:

1. Try to stop her from harming little boys like that on a daily basis. You can print out some articles, AAP recommendation, etc and bring it to the office. Contact DOC's lawer, he is mailing a warning letter to doctors who retract free of charge. Talk to the doctor on the phone and let her know why you are firing her, that she is wrong and AAP does NOT recommend retracting.
2. Find a foreskin friendly doctor.
3. Even with our forskin friendly ped I ALWAYS remind him to not touch my son's penis (if he needs to inspect the area).
4. Research vaccines. What's inside them is pretty scary. I partually vaccinated my first child before I knew better and now when I did the research I deeply regret it every single day. MDC has a great vaccination forum http://www.mothering.com/discussions...splay.php?f=47

[magazinka]

NightNurse, thank you so much for your help. I live in Massachusetts.
The urologist said to put Neosporine on it and leave it alone...So that's what I'm doing now. I just feel guilty as a mom that I did not prevent this:-((((
thanks for your posting

[yarngoddess]

OH! I'm so sorry that happened to you. Your poor baby. I hate how doctors think it's their "right" to mess with our children. Even with my circed son I always told the doctors to NOT touch his penis. I don't understand WHY they need to touch it EVER WBV! Sure, if there is a problem or a concern. But to touch, manipulate every 2 months??? I just started telling them not to touch. Some doctors were curious as to why, but some were down right mean and rude.

How is your little man today? Is he having pain? Redness still? Poor baby. I hope you get a clear bill of health by the uroligist(sp). I also think it's very brave to have called her the ped and told her you were upset and why. I think it's smart of you to change doc's over this also. HUGS!

I don't think you did anything wrong. You have seen this doc before and she didn't retract then?!? WHY this visit??? I understand your guilt, but I don't think you did anything wrong. Hang in there momma.

[Yulia_R]

If it hurts your son to pee you can make him a warm bath with a little bit of baking soda in it. It should make peeing much more comfortable for him.

As far as penis itself, just leave it alone and let it heal. Do not let anyone retract it.

[latinalonestar]

NO NEOSPORIN!!! You can, however, use Bacitracin ointment to prevent infection. Neosporin is not good on the genitals.

Obviously you know that she should never have done that. She actually caused the condition of paraphimosis, which is when the foreskin gets trapped behind the glands. You can file charges against her, if it were my son I would!!!

Here are some links for you:
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcisi...kinleaflet.pdf

http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet6.html

http://www.mothering.com/articles/ne...uncircson.html

Please contact Doctors Opposing Circumcision and report her to them. The will send her a letter and information. Their contact info is on the website:
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/

I am so sorry this happened. What a terribly uninformed pedi!!! Hugs to your little one. Just leave it alone and let it heal. He may experience some discomfort when urinating. You can sit him in bath of water to urinate if this happens.

[latinalonestar]

Here is the contact info for DOC:

Taken from the sticky "Warning for Parents with Intact Sons"

If this has already happened to your son or if you have to stop the doctor or nurse from forcibly retracting your son, you should take action. If this doctor or nurse does this to one intact child, they are doing it to all intact boys and you can be instrumental in protecting them and getting the word out to the entire medical profession. The typical doctor or nurse is unlikely to pay any attention to a mother instructing them on how to run their business but we have a powerful ally.

The attorney for Doctors Opposing Circumcision, John Geisheker, will send a letter to the doctor/nurse/hospital pro bono (free) on your behalf telling them what they did was wrong and the consequences. It isn't a letter stating you'll sue but it is fully referenced and ought to get their attention.

Email him at [e-mail]

Before you contact John, you will need the following information:

The name of the doctor or nurse who did this, the name of his/her practice and their (snail) mailing address.

The name of the hospital where the doctor has privileges, (the hospital where they practice) and the mailing address. (even if it didn’t happen at the hospital)

The name of the CEO or Administrator of the hospital. (even if it didn't happen in the hospital, find out where the offending doctor has privileges and send it to those hospitals)

The name of the hospital's risk manager.

The name of the head of the department (OB, peds, emergency, etc.)

Letters will also be sent to:

The state medical board in your state.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (hospitals fear them like a boogeyman)

[aihcalappa]

Ugh. Sorry mama. A similar thing happened to my son at his last checkup. The doc started messing with his foreskin before I could do anything. Said I HAD to retract it or it would get tight and possibly not retract in the future. I have not brought him back, and will select a new doctor for him.
You did not do anything wrong! I hope your son heals quickly.

[QuietTempest]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I would definitely file charges against her because what she did to your son could just as easily happen to someone else's.

[glongley]

Here is a link to an important article on the problem of forcible retraction by ill-informed medical professionals, written by the Executive Director of Doctors Opposing Circumcision.

http://www.kindredmedia.com.au/libra...ractions/401/1

Please educate this doctor so she doesn't harm any more intact boys.

Gillian

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Originally Posted by magazinka

NightNurse, thank you so much for your help. I live in Massachusetts.
The urologist said to put Neosporine on it and leave it alone...So that's what I'm doing now. I just feel guilty as a mom that I did not prevent this:-((((
thanks for your posting

Do NOT use neosporine it is not ment for use on the genitals. If you must use somehting then put bacatracin on it but only do that if you see signs of infection starting.

There is no way to know if there will be problems from what she did in the future. Usually nothing happens as a result in the long term.

I would definatly tell her that I was no longer comfortable with her because of what she did and send here the information from the AAP about not retracting found here http://www.medem.com/search/article_..._typ=NAV_SERCH and the Intact Care Agreement found here http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/care.htm if you choose to continue seeing her. Remember you can tell her to not even touch your ds's genitals at all. The diaper does not have to come off.

It scares me badly that she actually left him retracted like she did. If he had swollen more during that time you would have ended up in the ER with paraphimosis with Dr. asking you to sign a concent to circ because of it :

There are other ways to resolve paraphimosis that involve no cutting but the best way to avoid all that is of course not to allow any one to touch your ds in the first place. Links on how to fix paraphimosis can be found on this thread http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=764732 along with lots of other good information.

I am not at all blaming you mama it was the Dr's fault 100%.

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by latinalonestar

She actually caused the condition of paraphimosis, which is when the foreskin gets trapped behind the glands. You can file charges against her, if it were my son I would!

(bold mine)

I 100% agree. I would NOT let her get away with that. This damaging ignorance has to stop!

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by appalachia

Ugh. Sorry mama. A similar thing happened to my son at his last checkup. The doc started messing with his foreskin before I could do anything. Said I HAD to retract it or it would get tight and possibly not retract in the future. I have not brought him back, and will select a new doctor for him.
You did not do anything wrong! I hope your son heals quickly.

Sorry it happened to your son too.

You realize that if you don't do anything about it she will continue doing it to intact boys on daily basis causing infections and other problems and then recommending circ them. Please do what is in your power to stop this ignorance.