Kenny’s experience: New Yorker’s NSV diary

I had it done yesterday, so I’m writing while all the memories are still fresh.

I had been to a few websites about vasectomies, so I knew what to expect. I had chosen NSV pretty early on and went to a Dr. that I was sure did it. As it turned out, by luck, the Dr. was the Head of Urology at Winthrop Hospital here in NY.

The night before I was hoping to have some fun with my wife with the whole shaving process. It just didn’t work out. She was too afraid of cutting me. I found a few condoms in the drawer and left one out. I joked to her that I didn’t one want last little piece of irony the night before. She got all spooked out by the thought and chickened out of having sex at all that night.

The vasectomy

My appointment was at 9:30 am. My wife drove me (our 1-year-old daughter came too) to the Dr.’s office. I got called in and Dr. Mellinger said ‘OK – Let’s do it!’. There was no great fanfare or preparation. The Dr. was assisted by a male Physician’s Assistant. I undressed and put on the gown and got up on the table. He explained to me as he was doing each of the steps. I had shaved the night before and he said that I should have let him do it – bacteria can form overnight and sterility would have been improved if he’d done it immediately before.

As I sat down I looked at my watch – it was 9:45 am. He put the warm betadine solution on my sack and then covered the whole area other than where he was working. Then they put up a curtain so I couldn’t watch. I didn’t really have any interest in watching, but the curtain made me a little claustrophobic. He warned me that the shot was coming and I’d feel a sting for a second, but the anesthetic would start working immediately. That’s exactly what happened – it stung for about 2 or 3 seconds (as I ate the magazine I was reading) but then I felt nothing – until the second shot which only stung for another second as well. He warned that I might feel a little pressure from time to time, but no pain. There were a few times where I felt like it was going to hurt any second, but it never got any worse than that. We talked about the websites and he asked me about the information that I’d gotten from here, etc. I told him that a few people had said that you need to ‘shoot a load’ before having it done. He said that was baloney. Before I knew it, the procedure was over. 10:05 am top to bottom.

The PA put gauze on and a jock-strap looking thing on (it was open in the front, so I could pee without disturbing anything below) and asked me to sit up. The Dr. left and the PA gave me instructions on what to do, what not to do for the next few days. After about 3 or 5 minutes of the conversation, I started to feel a bit woozy and nauseous. I laid down on the table again and the PA got me some cold wet washcloths (gauze) and a glass of water (which I didn’t drink). He brought my wife and daughter in – my wife said I was so pale that I looked dead. My little girl looked a little concerned when I opened my eyes to look at her. I smiled and waved to her to let her know everything was okay. After about 5 minutes, I felt better and I got up, got dressed, and left.

After the procedure

I went home and straight to bed, but I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t get comfortable – my wife had gone out to get the Tylenol with Codeine what the Dr. prescribed. By the time she got home at about noon, I really needed it. I was very very uncomfortable, as I suppose the anesthetic was wearing off. I took one Tylenol, which didn’t help much so about a half-hour I took another. The next thing I knew it was 5:30 pm and most of the pain was gone. I took 2 Ibuprofen anyway. I got up and walked around and played my keyboard for a while. At about 6:30 we went out to dinner at a local diner. I was a little uncomfortable walking, but there was no great pain anymore (other than my 4-year-old son, who was a pain in the ass).

After dinner, we stopped at the drug store and I picked up a real jockstrap – I didn’t feel as though the one from the Dr.’s office was giving me the support I needed. We came home and I put it on after the kids went to bed. My wife had some computer stuff to do so I went downstairs and played my keyboard a little more. I made a phone call at about 10:30 and realized that I wasn’t feeling much pain – just a steady dull sensation as one might expect when their balls had been tweaked earlier in the day. I took 3 more ibuprofen and went to bed and slept fine.

This morning I woke up and I feel pretty much as I did at 10:30 last night – a dull, but not bothersome pain down there. I took some ibuprofen with breakfast and while my daughter was in the tub I took off the bandages (the Dr. said 24 hours). There’s really not much of a wound to speak of. There are no stitches after NSV. I did more damage with a scissor a few months ago while trying to trim myself. (yes – Ouch) I’m going to keep the Jock strap on for a few days with regular tighty-whitey underwear on as it seems that support is the key here. I attempted to put ice on the area yesterday, but the weight of them was more uncomfortable than the pain itself.

I would say that as of right now, about 25 hours later, I’m about 75% back to normal. I can’t imagine it will take more than a few days to reach 100%. My wife thanked me last night for having it done. I just wish I’d had it done last year, but our insurance at the time wouldn’t cover it. Fortunately, there were no accidents between then and now.

After reading all of these stories, I have to say that NSV is the way to go.

Update: Day 3

It’s 3 am on 8/5. It’s been 3 and a half days since the ‘snip’. I play music for a living. I’ve done two jobs since then. I’ve had help carrying the really heavy stuff – I can do setup and medium-duty stuff, but I’m not even going to try lifting speakers. Holding the guitar was fine. I thought singing might be a problem – it wasn’t. I also take care of my two kids during the day – I’m holding up okay, although my left nut still aches and it doesn’t take much to make it uncomfortable – i.e. putting it back in my underwear after peeing.

I spoke with the P.A. who assisted with the operation this morning – he said it’s not uncommon to still be achy at this point – he’s seen people who are still uncomfortable up to 2-3 weeks after… great. He did mention that during the procedure, the Dr. had to manipulate the left a bit more to find the vas and that might contribute to the extra achiness.

I never took another Tylenol with Codeine after the initial dose as the anesthetic was wearing off. I’ve been taking 600mg Ibuprofen at a time about every 4 hours. It keeps the pain dull – every time it gets a bit more than dull, I realize that it’s been about 4 hours since my last dose.

I stopped wearing the supporter on the second day after (which the PA wanted me to do). I went two days without it, but I wore it to work tonight and it eased the aching A LOT.

I can’t imagine how some of you guys got back to banging after 3 or 4 days. I think I’d be screaming at this point. I’ll keep updating my story until the pain finally goes away. I’m still glad I did it… although a few times in the last few days my kids have been driving me nuts and I find myself wishing for a retroactive-no-scalpel-vasectomy 😉

Update: Day 8

On day 7, I woke up with the same dull-ache, but sometime in the afternoon, it disappeared. On day 8, I woke up without pain for the first time. It came back briefly after a little over-exertion a few days after that, but only momentarily. I haven’t used my penis in its primary application since before the vasectomy as my wife and I are having marital problems, but solo it works just fine. I haven’t gone back for the re-test yet because I haven’t been worried about impregnating anybody.

The wound site still has a tiny lump of scar tissue (I guess that’s what it is), but there’s not really any mark. If I feel around underneath, I think I can feel the ends of the tubes. Wish I could tell you how this affects sex, but I can’t.

In retrospect, the aching probably lasted as long as it did because I never had a chance to take it easy. I rested the day of the procedure and I was back to normal activity the next day. I took Ibuprofen 3x a day afterward until the pain went away… I never needed the Tylenol/codeine again.

Although abstinence has been the way in our house, I would absolutely do it again if I was given the choice to go back in time. I had a cavity filled at the dentist last week. Vasectomy is not nearly as bad and is much quicker (and cheaper if you have insurance).

Thank you to all who shared their stories and good luck to all of you.

Submitted by Kenny