Dan’s experience: Childfree and nervous

I am 27 years old, married, no children. My wife and I decided long before we were married that we did not want to have children. I was initially a little nervous to have the procedure done, but after researching the Internet it helped to calm my nerves (a little).

The first visit went smoothly. I was worried that the doctor would question my reasons, but he didn’t. He explained the procedure, felt around for my vas, had me sign a waiver and I was out the door.

Four weeks later was the surgery. My wife drove me there and back. I get attacks of IBS when under stress and this was no exception. That made things very inconvenient! Soon after I checked in with the receptionist, I was off to the restroom. The nurse came out shortly after asking my wife where I was. She told her that I was in the bathroom. Five minutes later the nurse is asking again if I was all right and that maybe I left the building because I didn’t want to go through with it(?!!). That ticked me off when I found out (after the operation). Well, I resurfaced 15 minutes later. They got their revenge by making me wait 10-15 minutes before the doctor showed up.

I finally started to feel calm when I lied down on the table. Up until this point, I was an increasingly nervous wreck. I expected to be offered Valium at the initial visit, but no luck. He told me that he would prescribe one when I asked, but I opted not to (just to see how I’d do). I will skip most of the surgical details (nothing really new: local, cut, snip, stitch, cauterize, stitch, repeat). He told me to trim the hair around my scrotum before the procedure and that he would shave it. I was a bit apprehensive since I’ve read (on the Internet) to shave yourself, but I followed his orders. Besides, I asked him if some patients shaved themselves. He told me that they had and that they often go “overboard” shaving all of the scrotum! I didn’t want to do that. Losing my hair on my head enough as it is!

He gave me four shots of the local total. It didn’t hurt as bad as I expected; just a little sting. Then he proceeded to cut me open. The left side was first; no problem. The right side was a little bit trickier. At one point he told me that the vas deferens had dropped back down inside. He had to dig to find it again. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but man, I paid for that in pain afterward!

The whole procedure (IBS and all) took around 50 minutes. He prescribed Talwin 50 mg 1-2 every 4 hours as needed. It was needed! The worst thing about this Vasectomy for me was the recovery. The pain was unreal at times. I couldn’t walk comfortably for 7 days. (I had the time off from work thank goodness!) Five days after the procedure I called my doctor just to make sure I was OK. He checked me out and said I was fine. He had me take some Advil to help reduce the swelling (that worked slick!). As long as I stayed still, I was OK for the most part. The pain would come and go at times. The dull, aching variety (like you’ve been kicked down there).

The doctor told me that frozen peas was an excellent idea, but unnecessary for more than the first 24 hours. I stayed off my feet the whole week, only to get up to go to the bathroom or bed. We watched 10 VCR movies and a lot of TV (my eyes were bugging out of my head!). I wore snug-fitting briefs only (since I was off my feet). But I had bought a jockstrap just in case (didn’t need it). I expected the bruising to come earlier than it did. It finally showed up on the 4th or 5th day. It didn’t seem to swell that bad either. The first couple nights of sleeping were rough. I like to sleep on my side so a pillow between my knees helped out.

It’s a little over a week later and I’m doing much better. Finally went out of the house to the store today. Keeping up the Advil every 4-6 hours. My advice to anyone about to have it done is just use common sense in the recovery process and take things slow. Fear of the unknown can be very overwhelming. Research, research, research! (But don’t believe everything you read) Find a doctor that is willing to answer your every question and if he doesn’t, get a different doctor! I am thankful that I have a loving, patient wife who takes care of my every need!

Thank you all for helping me through this. The Internet is a very valuable resource and I don’t know where I’d be without it.

Submitted by Dan