Dear all,
when my DD was diagnose with anorectal malformations right after birth we were devastated, this is the forum we turn to, however the info here is a little outdated, not much information.
I will be sharing my experience here to help mummies & daddies out there needing some info to navigate this difficult journey.
our DD was born in thomson hospital May 2023, was diagnosed with anorectal malformation with fistula.
She is able to poop with a tiny hole at the perineal.
We saw paediatrician,paediatrician heart specialist & paed surgeon.
after slew of tests checking all the associated organs, concluded this is an isolated case (this means all other organs are normal ), she’ll need surgery to move the fistula to the sphincter muscle where the anus shd be at.
the bill came by each about 1k plus each doc, so amounted to 5k paid by cash.
We request paediatrician to write referral letter.
We book appointment in polyclinic and have the doctor there refer to KKH.
we were assigned to Dr. Chen Yong.
My DD case is advised to hv surgery when baby is about 5kg. Meanwhile we need to do rectal washout once a day to ensure the poop is properly cleared & keep the anus small.
how to do the rectal washout?
Use feeding tube & syringe to pump in the saline solution & suck out the poop. Dont worry the nurse will demo for you.
baby is almost 3 months, she weighted 5.9kg, she had 1 surgery limited PSARP.
She’ll be admitted 1 day before surgery,
Only to be fed glucose water in the ward to be ready for next day surgery.
After surgery she’ll be in HDU on nutrition drip for about 5days, and then fed breastmilk in gradual increment. I pump & give to nurses to be stored frozen for baby use (you’ll need a sticker given by nurse to paste at bm pouch)
Btw, nurse dont advice staying overnight in HDU, there is only 2 chairs, dont have foldable bed like in normal ward.There are 2 nurse in HDU always on the ball, with so many wires attached to the baby,I really Cant do much beside stroking her head.
The nurses doing a good job caring for my DD.
Baby is doing well right after after surgery, the wound is looking good.
Doc wants the wound to be dry and every time baby poop need to clean with antiseptic solution & gently dab.put barrier cream ,Keep dry & keep loose diaper.
And then you’ll need to put a hegar dilator (medical grade metal rod) to ensure the wound dont close up. (We use optilube; sterilised lube for lubrication)
According to the doctor, we’ll have to follow up till 6 years old.
The baby will have higher chance of constipation from 1 yr old onwards, will need some help by eating stool softeners.
This is what I have so far, we were happy how this is all turn out.
i feel Dr. Chen yong is a sincere doctor, I have never seen a doctor would be so hands-on cleaning my baby’s post-op wound whenever he do his rounds.
financial wise,
Because we go through subsidized route, we really didnt have to pay much, almost nothing and whatever miscellaneous cost just use medisave.
Also the C class in normal ward actually pretty cooling & comfortable. The HDU got aircon.
i feel baby is in good hands,
doc says my baby will be like any other kid by 6 yr old can poop normally cos by then will be more in tune.
Toddlerhood probably will be harder because they’ll not have the same sensation to signal they have to poop, thats why have constipation.
Anyway i have my 1st child, any normal toddler will face constipation & given stool softeners.
That helps me to accept the situation baby will be facing in future.
I hope these info i shared will be useful for mommies & daddies searching for answers.
TLDR;
Go to kkh, as most of this rare case will be referred to them and only senior surgeon will be attending, because this is considered to be major surgery.