* February 11, 2013

**I am posting this, not to embarrass my son, but instead, as a warning for other parents of boys**

Joey was complaining of pain in his left testicle yesterday. He said the pain was tolerable after Motrin. He continued on about his day. Closer to bedtime, he said it was still hurting. I gave another dose of Motrin and he went to sleep. Shortly after his bedtime, I looked further into the issue and decided that the risk of *testicular torsion  was too great, so I woke him up to ask how he was feeling. He said, "fine". I didn't push the issue and accepted it at face value. This morning, he woke up and it was worse, so we took him straight to the children's hospital.  

At the hospital, Joey had lab work done, as well as two ultrasounds. After the first ultrasound, the radiologist wanted in on the actual live ultrasound himself, so he (and a bazillion other people, Joey said) joined the tech. Lucky for Joey, the ultrasounds looked okay....no torsion!! Labs came back okay too, and that made the situation more complex.....but that is a different topic.... 

 

.....I learned something very important today. Any time a boy complains about pain in that area, even if its slight, take them straight to the ER. Had it been torsion (like I was worried that it was), I would have waited too long and he would have lost the testicle. There is only like a 6 hour window to try and "fix" the problem. I know *some* about torsion from nursing classes, and I know it's serious, but I hadn't realized there was such a short time frame for help. So pleeease, moms and dads (even teachers or caregivers) of boys......remember this!!! Act promptly.....no "take this medicine and see if it helps", or "go relax and see if it passes", or "tough it out".....My waiting could have caused my son to lose a testicle.

* *Testicular torsion is the twisting of the spermatic cord (from which the testicle is suspended), which cuts off the blood supply to the testicle and surrounding structures within the scrotum.