Jim’s story: New Yorker’s experience

Thanks to those who’ve told their story. I appreciated reading them.

I’m 30 years old, married with two children. We live in New York, USA. My wife and I considered our family complete and so we did our homework on various permanent birth control methods. We chose vasectomy.

Here’s my story

My wife and I went for the initial consultation and signed the necessary consent forms. Due to cancellations on both my part and the doctor’s (just schedule conflicts) it was over six months before I actually had the procedure done.

It was the Friday before Father’s Day (oh the irony of it all). I took the day off from work for my daughter’s “moving up” ceremony from kindergarten to first grade. My appointment was that afternoon at 1 PM.

Around 12 noon, the doctor’s office called to push the procedure back to 3:45 PM. During that time, my daughter fell and we needed to get some x-rays to make sure there were no broken bones. Thankfully she was OK, and I was only fifteen minutes late for the procedure. After all the scheduling problems, I was anxious for the whole thing to be over.

I was directed to the procedure, asked to strip from the waist down (socks and shirt were OK), and asked to empty my bladder in the adjoining restroom (the door of which was broken and couldn’t be closed). I did as I was instructed and sat on the procedure table and waited, and waited, waited – 45 minutes! Was someone trying to TELL me something?

Finally, the doctor came in along with a female assistant (nurse?). He had bought a CD player for music during the procedure. I think he played something called “Matchbox 21”? He asked me to lay back on the table and put my legs up into the stirrups. From here on out I was left pretty exposed. To be honest, aside from the pain and discomfort, I was most afraid that I would have an erection during the procedure.

He ran tape from one side of my hip to the other, effectively taping my penis to my belly (pointing away from the testicles). He had suggested that I not shave because most guys shave too much or too little. He quickly shaved a small area and wiped the whole groin area clean. A clear, sterile sheet was draped over me. It had a hole through which he drew my testicles. Even though it was clear plastic, I felt a little less exposed now. The female assistant basically handed the doctor various instruments as he asked for them and wiped or cut as directed. He also had her hold my penis down through most of the procedure. I guess some men do get an erection or gravity tends to allow the penis back into the place where he’s working? I am happy to report that I did not get an erection during the procedure.

There was very little pain throughout, though I was very uncomfortable with all the tugging and such. During the procedure, someone knocked on the door and said another doctor was returning his call. He said to take a number, but then proceeded to have a conversation with this person for quite some time! At another point in the procedure he commented to the nurse that “these ‘scissors’ need to be repaired or oiled, see the rust right here” – I thought he was making a joke to help ease my nerves, but he kept going on about it, “they’re OK for today, but see to it that there repaired…”

When all was said and done, I was able to get off the table and get dressed by myself. The local anesthesia was still working so I didn’t really feel anything. And walking was OK too, I just took it slow to avoid hurting myself.

It’s been a day now and I’ve had no real pain, just a lot of discomfort. Thank God it’s over.

Submitted by Jim