My son had the Hydrocele for a while and at the first appointment to see a specialist they told us to wait as sometimes they resolved themselves and to go back for another check 6 months from the first appointment.  He had his go and then come back again on and off before the sixth appointment.   Ironically at the sixth appointment it wasn't there, so they put his name down for surgery anyway after we told them what had been happening as they felt that since it wouldn't resolve itself they needed to operate.  I don't know if they have told you how they do the operation.  They actually cut on the lower abdomen (just above where the pubic bone is) and they don't have a large wound after.  It's about 2-3 cm in length and with our son they fixed his wound with dissolving stitches and seal it over with a large see through plaster so that they can bathe like normal afterwards. It is barely noticeable now as it seems to be in a crease and you have to look really hard to see it.  He then just had to be checked over a week or so later to make sure the wound had heeled and to check his testicles to see if the problem had been resolved.  It never really bothered him and before we took the plaster off a few days later we let him play in the bath with some bubble bath to loosen it and it just peeled away without a problem.  The operation was between half an hour to three quarters of an hour.  They allowed him home about two to three hours later after he had kept fluids and food down and they had assured themselves he was ok.  All in all, they were impressed with him and so were we.  He doesn't have CAH but I thought I would let you know what to expect with the op in itself and that it isn't too big a deal as what we thought it would be, and that as long as they give your child the right amounts of cortisol before the op, everything should be ok.  He was a little confused when they first brought him out of the theatre, but like I said within half an hour he was picking what flavor lollipop he wanted!   The only worrying time was the year before the op as we didn't know what they did and it stretched out because they were wanting to wait to see if it would all rectify itself. 

 

JH