James’s experience: Wet Noodles

First off, the tale of the tape. I am a 34-year-old married man living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas in the United States. My wife is around 9 years older than I and has two children from a previous marriage, a boy and a girl. Both are nearly grown and we are relishing the thought of enjoying the rest of our lives together with no children to contend with. Another factor we considered was my wife’s age. While not *old*, she is a little concerned about having a baby late in life, both from a risk factor as well as the thought that we are almost “free” from raising kids.

Vasectomy seemed like the best choice for us. We looked into female sterilization, but the length of time in recovery, coupled with the risks associated with this method did not make it a good solution.

I spent the better part of three months considering the procedure, studying this web site and the links from it, the newsgroup and other sites I found using search engines. I also have a friend who went through the procedure recently and I have quizzed him at length about the process.

I finally made up my mind a few weeks ago and called my doctor for a referral. The nurse called me back and gave me the list of two doctors they highly recommended in my area. I called the number and found out they were both assigned to the Urology Associates of North Texas. I quizzed the appointment person on which doctor would perform the consultation and procedure at the same time. I learned they would both do this, but only one of the doctors would perform the no-scalpel version. Unfortunately, his last day with this association was a day away, which made it impossible to schedule with him.

Since I was already a little apprehensive and worried about the pain, I asked the person on the phone if any other doctor in their network performed the consultation/procedure and NSV version in one visit. She found me a doctor right up the road from me who could do that. Dr. Patrick Frey was the one I chose

The appointment was scheduled for May 29 at 4 p.m., about 12 days away. I ICQed my wife and let her know about the appointment. She was somewhat surprised it was that soon but pleased I had decided to go through with it.

Over the next 12 days, I studied more and more on the procedure. As the days approached I was getting a little more nervous. I called the doctor’s nurse a few days before to ask Steve’s questions from the newsgroup about the number of procedures, etc. She asked me if I needed a sedative because she sensed the apprehension in my voice. I told her I didn’t think so, but if I did my doctor could get one for me. She reminded me to bring an athletic supporter, to wear loose clothing, and to be prepared to take it easy after the procedure. She said she would handle the shaving unless I did it at home.

On the day of the procedure, I decided to call my doctor and ask for a sedative. His nurse called the local Eckerds and left a prescription for me for one Lorazepam.

I went out at lunch and picked up the prescription and grabbed a quick snack, careful not to eat or drink much. I came home and decided to go ahead and shave the area, figuring I would be a little more careful than anyone else. I highly recommend the Gillette disposable razor as the weapon of choice. I was able to really get a close shave in this highly sensitive area with it.

My wife arrived from work around 2:45 p.m. to take me to the doctor since I had planned to take the Lorazepam an hour before the procedure and didn’t know how it would affect me. We arrived at the office, filled out the paperwork and the nurse called me into the room right around 4 p.m. She told me to strip from the waist down and cover myself with the sterile dressing and left the room. I followed the directions. She came back in a moment, knocked on the door, and asked if I was ready. She entered the room and asked if I needed to be shaved. I told her I had done so, she checked the area and commented on how well I had done. She asked if I was allergic to iodine, and after I said no, she cleansed the area with an iodine solution. She left the room and told me the doctor would arrive shortly.

Around 4:10 p.m. the doctor came in and spoke with me about the procedure. He recommended the NSV to reduce the trauma to the area. He preferred the closed-ended approach, which was okay with me. When he realized I was very familiar with the various procedures, he asked if we were ready to move forward. I told him I was a little nervous still (took the Lorazepam almost an hour ago by now). He assured me things would be fine and proceeded to find the left VAS using the three-finger approach.

He injected me to numb the area and warned me I would feel a little sting and then a “burning” sensation as the agent was injected. I felt the little sting from the needle, but little else. He clamped the vas off and begin his search for the right side. It was considerably more difficult. After about the third time of it “slipping” away, he said “….it’s like trying to grab a wet noodle…”, which made me laugh a little. He finally grabbed it, injected the numbing agent into it, and clamped it off.

He left the room for 5 minutes to let the medicine do the work. He came back in at 4:20 and used a little “device” to make the very tiny incision at the base of the penis, right in the middle of the sac.

He asked if I could feel anything, and after I said no, and begin the process of moving the left vas near the opening, explaining what was happening all along the way. He pulled it through the opening, I could feel a little tugging sensation, but no pain. He snipped a section out that looked to be about a half-inch or so in length. He carefully burned the ends closed and tied them off, careful to watch for bleeders. When he was satisfied, he pushed one end back inside and then carefully positioned the other end a little deeper in the sac to minimize the possibility of recanalization. He moved to the right side and followed the same procedure, assuring that there were no bleeders before putting the two ends back inside, again one a little deeper than the other. I felt no pain or tugging sensation on the right side.

A small clamp was placed on the tiny opening to “fuse” the skin back together. He kept that on there for a moment or two. He removed it and all of the other materials and asked me to place my hand on the 2″ thick wad of 4″x4″ bandages covering the small incision. I did so and he went to get me some wet cloth to wash the iodine off before I was ready to put on my clothes. He took off his gloves, washed his hands, and then helped me up off the table so I could get dressed. He warned me that I would be sore, bruised, and uncomfortable after the deadening agent wore off and told me to keep the bandages on the cut in my briefs.

I got my two sample bottles, pain prescription (Hydrocodone 10/500), and an instruction sheet and was walking out the door at 4:40 p.m. My wife was quite surprised I was A) able to walk and B) done so quickly.

She drove me home, dropping the prescription off at the local drug store. As we got closer to home I could tell the deadening agent was wearing off. There was a slight ache coming from the left side. It felt as if you had been hit below the belt, but was not bad at all.

I got home around 5:15 p.m., laid down in the bed, and took three Advil to minimize the chances of inflammation and popped one of those “Blue Ice” bags onto my scrotum. The pressure of the ice on it was almost as bad as the ache, but I knew it was important to minimize the chances of swelling.

My wife came back around 6:15 and had my pain pills. I took one although the pain had already started to subside with just the Advil. Throughout the evening I applied ice in 10-15 minute cycles. By 8:30 I was no longer in pain, except when I laughed or sneezed. I fell asleep around 9:30 and slept easily through the night.

I awoke around 4:30 a.m. and went to the bathroom, the first time since the procedure. I was worried I would be all bruised and swollen. Much to my surprise, I was neither bruised nor swollen and found that there was only a slight little twitch of pain at the point of entry. I iced it again for a few moments and went back to bed.

When I awoke at around 7 a.m., I felt just fine. No pain, bruising, or swelling and I was able to walk around relatively easy. I walked a little gingerly for fear of tearing open the entry point, but that is by choice, not a necessity. I spent the day working from home on my computer and took a shower in the afternoon. At this point, everything appears to be just fine, although I am heeding the doctor’s recommendation of not lifting anything above 5 lbs for the first few days.

Time will tell, obviously, but so far I am completely pleased with the procedure.

Submitted by James