The Pediatrician vs. The OB

Tomorrow is September 28th, and I thought this day would never come. Thomas will be six months old, and that alone brings up bittersweet feelings. However, tomorrow is also the day of his circumcision. Why is he getting it done now at six months and not six months ago? Good question. My pediatrician said he was able to get it done. However, when the OB looked at it, he decided not to do it. He told us, after he numbed Thomas leaving an ugly bruise, that he had a wandering raffe (a crooked line, not a crooked pee-pee). This could be indicative of hypospadias, a more serious condition. When I told the pediatrician what the OB said, she disagreed but said that since the OB is the one performing the surgery, it was ultimately his call. So then to end any chance of us having the circumcision done before we left the hospital, the OB called in the Urologist (and by Urologist, I mean an Urologist Resident student). He said there may or may not be something wrong with him and that we would know more in six months. WTF?? I was petrified. Not to mention this Almost Urologist had a super thick Eastern European accent that I needed subtitles to understand him (which come to think of it, I was on so many meds for my C-section, I don’t think I could’ve read that fast, but anyway . . .) And to make it worse, the OB flat out said that he doesn’t like doing circumcisions and didn’t want to take any chances. I interpreted that comment as there probably wasn’t anything wrong, but because he hates this part of his job, he saw an out and took it.

At Thomas’s newborn check-up, the Pediatrician explained that there is some political game between the Pediatrician and OB. One time she hounded down an OB when he refused to perform a circumcision and told him there was nothing wrong and needed to do it. The nationally known Urologist that will be performing Thomas’s surgery said he thinks there is little chance of hypospadias, too.

I feel we were caught in the cross fires of this Pediatrician and OB. Now my little baby boy needs to go under anesthesia, and have more complicated post -surgery care since he is older and more mobile. To put it plainly, this sucks!

Have you ever been an innocent victim of political bullshit?