The undescended...

The day after I gave birth to Baby Haniyya, a paediatrician checked on him before baby & mother could be discharged from the hospital ward. I thought everything was okay - until the doctor asked me, "Ibu sedar tak baby ini telor dia cuma ada sebelah?"

What??

There she was, next to me, holding the scrotum with a missing right testis to support her words.

I was shocked. Flabbergasted.

What???

As I held the limp empty pouch for myself, there was no doubt that the doctor was only pointing out the obvious.
Yes, I already checked the digits and Haniyya seemed perfectly normal at birth.
Until the doctor directed the attention to the missing testis.

"It's here, only that it has not descended to the right place yet," the doctor pressed gently on the lower abdomen.

I nodded weakly. So many questions started to form in my head, but I did not know from where I should start.

"It's nothing too extraordinary. A lot of babies go through this. It can be temporary, the testis can descend on its own down to the scrotum. But if it doesn't, it is advisable for the baby to undergo a corrective operation before the age of 2. Otherwise it might impair the normal production of sperm in the future and lead to infertility"

Gasps.

#####

Fast forward 10 days later.

Apparently PPUM has a policy of allowing mothers with babies below 1 month (or was it 2 weeks?) to be on the 'privileged club' of sort as we were given priority to meet the doctor without having to wait for very long.

The paediatric surgeon on duty was a young Chinese female with long straight flowing hair - I can't remember her name. But she was gentle with my baby. And very reassuring.

"It's not normal but not too abnormal. Happens to lots of babies. But in many of them, the undescended testis move down on their own. We normally let the spontaneous descent happen. But if it doesn't, it's important to get treatment because testis that remain undescended may be damaged, which could affect his manhood later on or lead to other problems."

"Let it happen naturally first. I would suggest you to stay away from traditional masseurs for the moment. We'll see how it progress in 1o months time. If he's like many of his peers - there will be some progress. But if by the time he reaches 18 months or 24 months and there is no progress at all, we might have to consider going for an operation"

#####

Funny how once we learned of Haniyya's not-normal-but-not-that-abnormal case of undescended testis, suddenly we get to hear of so many other similar or close-to-similar cases.

There's the story of Pakcik Hambal's grandson, whose testes 'dissapear' from the scrotum at night but reside in the scrotum during the day. Yup, there's this thing called retractile testes, in which the testes can on ocassion temporarily retract or pull back up into the groin. Funny, but true.

Then, there's the many stories heard from different friends and colleagues - about this Pakcik or that Pakcik who apparently only have one testis each, but alhamdulillah had proven their manhood (and fertility) by having kids of their own. Stories that are supported by medical facts since most doctors believe that boys who've had a single undescended testicle will have normal fertility potential and testicular function as adults, while those who've had two undescended testicles may be more likely to experience diminished fertility as adults.

And Baby Haniyya only has a single undescended testis. There was hope yet.

#####

Last Friday was the second time Baby Haniyya was brought to see a paediatric surgeon.

This time we met a different doctor, a male Chinese in his thirties.

"Eh, he's already circumsized aah?"

I grinned looking at his startled expression. "Yup. We explained his situation to the doctor (in Al-Islam Medical Centre), and he said it was okay...". Haniyya was circumsized when he was three months old in Kampung Baru, in the same hospital (but with different name - it used to be called Kampung Baru Medical Centre) where Huzaifah was circumsized when he was 4 days old.

After a thorough physical check on baby Haniyya and a few questions thrown on the general health and progress of my boy, he shared the verdict.

"There has been some progress. The testis has descended. But it hasn't reside inside the scrotum yet."

"Look, it's here", he pointed to a bulge on the groin area and pushed it down into the scrotum. Voila! Two normal testicles!

But the right testis immediately retracted once he removed his hand from my baby's body.

"We'll meet again in 6 months time. I think it can go down and fill the scrotum on its own. But we'll see. Anyway, you don't have to worry too much. We only have to consider operation if it still doesn't come down by the time he reaches 2 years old."

Progress is good. Alhamdulillah.