Max’s experience: Summary of my vasectomy

Just found your site and wanted to give a report on my vasectomy.

My wife had a rough pregnancy in 2003 with our son, putting her in cardiac care for several days following a C-Section. This was enough to make us decide not only would a tubal ligation require similar surgery and the same potential issue, but another pregnancy would possibly cause the same situation. We both decided it was best for me to get a vasectomy. After the consultation, I had found I was getting a closed vasectomy, with the Fascial Interposition.

The vasectomy

I took the 10 mg valium and the two 325 mg Percoset prescribed to me at 7:45 am on Friday, August 15, 2005, and my wife drove me to the office at 8:45 am. I was the only one in the office and went right in to see the Urologist.

He had me lie down on the table, and got to work. After swabbing me down with the Iodine (I think it was Iodine), he located the vas on my left side. He found it right away. Then the shot of Lidocaine came. Owie, ow, ow, ow. He said I might feel it up in my abdomen, and I couldn’t tell if I truly did or did only because he told me I might.

Once he gave me the shot, he touched the scalpel to my scrotum and I felt it! I said “Ow!” and he said, “Oh, you felt that?”. About 2-3 seconds later, he tested it again, and I felt nothing. He made the incision and went to work. I didn’t watch him do the work, but I could see the instruments and his hands doing their job. He was extremely fluid in motion, and he didn’t pause or have any concerning reactions.

After that side, he started feeling for the vas on the right. It was taking him a bit longer and I asked if there was a problem. He said: “Well, sometimes the body can hide the vas because it’s trying to prevent the pain of the needle again.” He smiled and said, “But I always win.”

Sure enough, he did win and located the vas on the right side. I groaned through the shots a second time, and this time asked him to wait for a second or two before using the scalpel. He tapped my scrotum and said: “Did you feel the couple of cuts I just made?” to which I replied, “No, I didn’t.” Again, his work was quick and efficient. He sewed up the second side, and off I went.

After the procedure

When I got home, I spent the day sitting in my computer chair, playing World of Warcraft. Over the course of the day, I took a total of 3 Vicodin, and even then it was just for mild discomfort. I wanted to stop the pain before it started.

I slept fine that night. On Saturday, I only took one Vicodin, and that was in the middle of the day, again for the “possibility” of pain.

Today (Sunday), I took one Vicodin late in the day, as I started to feel more of a pulled muscle sensation in my testicles.

I only used ice a couple of times, and only because I was told to, not because I needed to. My scrotum hasn’t had any bruising, and the incision areas look great. I also took a shower on Saturday evening and had no complications with that.

As I’m typing this, I can feel a slightly dull, pulsing ache on the right side of my scrotum, but I’m 99% sure it is from the athletic underwear I am using for support. A slight shifting in my chair makes it subside.

I’ll send in an update if anything changes!

Submitted by Max