8 wk old uncirc'd DS had to have catheter - Page 2

[Crunchy Frog]

It is important to remember that you do not have to consent to anything they want to do, even if it is "hospital procedure". They would have to get a court order to go against your wishes. I second (or third) the suggestion of getting a NICU nurse to do it.

I would also put in an urgent call (or email) to Marylin Milos and DOC for some further support and suggestions.

http://www.nocirc.org/contact.php
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcisi...t/contact.html

Once incident of retraction probably won't cause permanent harm, but the more times it's done the worse it is. Your baby doesn't need to be put through any further trauma.

[Devaskyla]

I asked the nurse but she said it's hospital policy

Hospital policy is not law. Tell them to shove their policy. If it's even a real one, policy is just what they'd like to do. You can absolutely refuse to allow anything, even if they cite "policy". Wirte up a form that says you do not consent to retraction of your son in order to cath him. Or if they give you consent forms to sign, write in that you do not consent to retraction & initial it before signing. Most people aren't aware that you can modify consent forms to say what you want & they're still legal.

[So-Called]

Policies and standard procedures aside (which I don't believe for an instant), if this nurse had one iota of common sense, she'd realize that her garbage about retraction would never stand up in a medical review. As long as the meatus can be visualized and cleaned, why would there be any reason to move the foreskin so far away from it?

Seriously, if you had to move any loose skin that far away from the urethral opening, I don't know how they'd ever manage to catheterize females of any age. Yet amazingly they manage to do it every single day, and without shoving their labia all the way into the vaginal opening and past the urethra and/or breaking the hymen.

Please don't circ your son because this nurse is callous, ignorant and stubborn. That is her burden to bear, not his.

[fruitful womb]

I suspect your son is being groomed for a "medically necessary" circumcision. I'm just say'n.

Repeated forced retraction on an 8week old? They should know better not to do that.

Suggest a Bag Cath. Its an external catheter. It works by placing a sterile, self adhesive bag over the sphincter of the prepuce organ.

• Catheters carry a risks of causing a UTI.

• Repeated retraction of a premature prepuce organ carries the risk of infection.

Put the two together and you've got one great big potential for an iatrogenic injury to the penis.

Could you just not go back to that practice?

Is it possible this pediatrician, whom you say doesn't like you for what-ever reason, is in connection to the practice who wants to do several internal caths with a full retraction of a fused prepuce organ?

The prepuce on an infant is bonded to the glans. Its bonded by a common membrane that connects the fingernail is to the finger. It'll hurt like hell if you try to separate it! Its bonded to protect the penis. The sphincter only opens to expel urine and closes tightly again in order to protect the meatus. This is a god-given protective mechanism!

The material that bonds the prepuce to the glans is called synechia. Its the same material that fuses a newborn kitten's eye lids together. Its fused because its still developing.

What advice are they giving you for the care of a premature retracted prepuce? Its gotta be red and swollen by now I'm sure


Go to a different practice if you can and request a bag cath.
http://calder.med.miami.edu/pointis/cathfree.html

[JBaxter]

Both my mom and sister are nurses and will tell you that it IS possible to cath an intact baby without retractration. Its EASIER of you dont but you dont and many nurses go the easier route.

IF they tell you they cant look at the nurse and say then GO GET SOMEONE that can.

[serendipity22]

I suspect your son is being groomed for a "medically necessary" circumcision. I'm just say'n.

by fruitful womb

Absolutely.

Why did you go to these people?

[earthmama369]

My son was catheterized at 6 days old. I asked the nurse if she knew how to insert a cath on an intact baby with retracting him and she said no, they usually retract them. I politely and firmly refused. She went and found a nurse who did have some experience catheterizing intact babies without retracting them, we went over the procedure together, and then she did it. She pulled his foreskin back just a touch, to visualize the very tip of the glans, then pulled it forward as a PP described and inserted the catheter. I won't say it was comfortable, but she didn't scratch or poke him, it went in smoothly, and he experienced (to my knowledge) no foreskin trauma.

So the nurse you spoke with? She's full of it. Ask for a nurse with experience catheterizing intact infants in the correct manner. They should have at least ONE on staff. (I would really hope so, at any rate.)

[eepster]

OP, how did today go? I hope it went better today.

[titania8]

Originally Posted by eepster

OP, how did today go? I hope it went better today.

i was wondering too.

[knitted_in_the_wom]

Originally Posted by heartandhands

I am truly freaking out now. I asked the nurse but she said it's hospital policy.

Ask to see the written policy. I highly doubt there is one. It is probably more of a "routine procedure" rather than a true "policy."

If a written policy can not be produced, I would encourage you to discuss your concern with a urologist, not a nurse. My guess would be the "problem" is that they just aren't used to dealing with intact boys, and thus are acting out of ignorance of the damage they may be doing.

This study found that urine squeezed from a diaper was a reasonable way to test for urinary tract infection--a "clean catch" or catheter was not needed: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...4/ai_19245258/

[heymama1plus1]

I'm a NICU nurse. I never retract foreskins to do catheters, and I've done A LOT. Neither do my colleagues.

Sorry this happened