Nick’s experience: Vasectomy story from the UK

Week before

I’m very nervous about the procedure, although determined to go ahead. We have three children who are all great, but definitely do not want any more. The most recent were twin boys, and the idea of having another set of twins makes me even more nervous than I am about the procedure! I’m also concerned about not being able to cycle to work for a while. I’ve been cycling for the past two years, and now is not the time I want to be getting back on the trains (this is written a couple of days after we had a coordinated terrorist bomb attack on the London tube trains). However, I’ve decided to go ahead.

Morning of the operation

I shaved myself last night, very carefully! The idea of someone cutting into the skin that I’ve taken so much care to avoid cutting seems very strange. I’m going for a closed-end vasectomy with sutures (on the NHS in the UK) – they’ll be making two incisions with a scalpel, which is the doctor’s preferred method. He doesn’t do the NSV method and I’m not too worried about the method of entry anyway. He does about 6-10 standard vasectomies a week so I guess I’m in good hands!

Really nervous after arriving to the hospital, not about the pain, which I honestly don’t think will be too bad, but about the idea of the operation. I keep telling myself that it will all be over soon and my wife and I will be so glad that I went through this. I’m also really looking forward to not using condoms again!

The operation

I’m not going to write much about this, as it’s covered in just about every story. Suffice to say it was quick (prob. 30 minutes in total) and free of pain – some discomfort when the local was injected on each side, and I felt a little tugging, but really nothing too bad. I walked out of the surgery (very slowly) with some sterile gauze on the wounds and big surgical padding held in place by my (quite tight) briefs. I didn’t feel too bad, just a little light-headed from the heat and the nerves. I even managed to smile at the next guy in the waiting room – I guess I looked as nervous half an hour ago as he did!

Immediately after the operation

I take a big dose of Ibuprofen to ward off any pain I may get from the operation. I can feel that everything is swollen and walking is a little difficult – I have to take short, slow steps. I’m outside waiting for my wife to get the car from the other end of the car park – it’s so hot today that I couldn’t take waiting inside the hospital.

At home

Glad to be back! Drink a big glass of water, eat a sandwich and then lie down on the bed with my legs up on a pillow. My wife is making sure that the kids are all entertained and I have a total exclusion zone around me for the next two days! I feel very tender and uncomfortable, but not in any pain. I’m going to make the most of having some time to myself and catch up on some sleep and some reading.

A tip

One thing I haven’t read in any of the other stories here – try and have a crap before your operation and don’t eat too much, because afterward sitting on the toilet is the last thing you feel like doing! I found sitting on the seat without any support to my balls quite uncomfortable – by the next day though it was fine. So avoid celebrating after the operation with a curry!

That evening

I feel very tender and swollen, but still not in pain. The wounds are seeping a little blood on either side, my balls look much bigger (hey!) and I can see the beginnings of bruising. Pop another few Ibuprofen and watch TV for a few hours. It’s exactly one week after the London bombings, so the news is pretty depressing.

The day after the operation

OK, now I’m really quite sore down there. It’s not painful, but it is really uncomfortable. I’m glad I took today off work, and I still have the weekend to recover. I keep telling myself that the worst is over – after the operation, the discomfort is easily bearable. I can feel a swelling on the left testicle, about 1cm from there the incision was made. I guess this must be where the vas tube was cut, folded and sutured – it feels very tender. My balls have also turned a lovely shade of purple, and I have fun seeing my wife’s reaction when I show her!

2 days post-op

I’ve been out for a short walk to the park today – very slowly, but the weather is just too good to miss. I can feel the swelling in my left testicle rubbing a little when I walk, so when I get home I decide to take it easy again.

3 days post-op

A day of resting and eating! The swelling has reduced significantly and the wounds are healing nicely (they have dissolvable stitches in). I take my first long shower – prior to this, I had been giving myself flannel baths for 2 days to avoid getting the wound area too wet.

4 days post-op

Back to work (an office desk job). Walking to the station to take the train is quite difficult – it’s a good 10-minute walk, but today takes me nearer 20 minutes as I’m being careful. The walking has made the wounds from the scalpel incision ooze a little blood, but nothing too bad. This evening the wounds look fine with no bleeding, so it was obviously the rubbing action of walking this morning that caused this.

One week after the operation

I can still feel what feels like a swollen tube on the left side. It’s quite painful if I walk too far, even though I’m still wearing well-fitting underwear. I guess it’s where the vas was cut, and if it continues I’m going back to the doctor. I want to give it a little time to settle though, to see if it will clear up on by itself. The other side is fine – I wouldn’t even know I’d had an operation if it wasn’t for the tiny scar and stitches.

The bad news is there was another coordinated bombing (well, attempted) today on the trains. Everyone is very nervous, police all over the place. I really wish I could get back on my bicycle.

Two weeks after the operation

I feel OK, but not great. All of the general swelling has gone and the wounds have healed nicely. However, the tube on the left-hand side is still ‘rubbing’ when I walk, causing some discomfort. I have an appointment to see the doctor about this after the weekend. Every day it seems to be getting a little better, but is still causing me discomfort when walking. I’ve checked a few times to make sure that everything is still ‘functioning’ as it should – no problems there, ejaculations normal, and the activity doesn’t make the discomfort any worse, which is something!

Two weeks, three days op

The doctor seems to think it may be an infection in/around the tube (hence the swelling) and has put me on a one week course of antibiotics. Let’s see if they do the trick.

Three weeks after op

I can still feel that the tube is a little tender, but the antibiotics are definitely helping. I guess it’s something that will get better and better over time – I certainly hope so and want to avoid any long term problems that I’ve read about. More than anything I want to start cycling again – the trains are pretty grim, with everyone eyeballing anyone of Middle Eastern appearance and being generally nervous. It’s a horrible thing that these fundamentalist idiots have done to a fantastic and accepting city. If my improvements keep on at this rate I’ll aim to be back on the bike later next week.

I’m hoping that my progress continues once I’ve finished the antibiotics – I’ll post back and update. I also have to wait another 2 months before my first sample, then another month until the second, which will hopefully provide the all clear.

30 September 2006 update

I first posted in Aug ’05, which was just over three weeks after my vasectomy (close-ended, scalpel). I mentioned that I had been having some pain in the left-hand testicle, which had started immediately after the procedure and never really gone away. The pain was originating from (as far as I could tell) the cut end of the vas and felt as though it was moving ‘back’ down the left-hand testicle, especially after I had been walking for anything over a couple of minutes. The pain ranged from fairly minor (for much of the time) to major (permanent aching for days at a time, which could be quite intense).

I went to see my GP, who initially suggested that it might be due to some infection, although this was quite unlikely at one month post-op. Anyway, he wanted to take the conservative approach initially and prescribed a 2-week course of antibiotics. These seemed to help somewhat, but to be honest I think I was trying to be optimistic regarding how effective they were.

At 2 month post-op

With the pain still present, I went back to see the guy who had performed the vasectomy. He seemed very thorough, professional and concerned for my well-being. He put me on further antibiotics for 1 month, which I didn’t think was an appropriate course of action, but again, he wanted to adopt a conservative approach.

The pain I was experiencing still ranged from quite minor to quite severe. It was slightly strange – I cycle a lot, and cycling didn’t seem to aggravate the pain particularly, but walking did. On the days when I took the train to work and had to walk to the station, or when I had been playing with the kids in the park and running (well, jogging slowly) with them, the pain would flare up and seem particularly bad.

At 3 months post-op

I went to see a urologist about the issue. After his examination, he said that there was a small epididymal cyst he could feel, which he doubted would be causing the pain. He also mentioned that there seemed to be a small granuloma at the point where the vas was cut. He stated that, as I had heard before, not all causes are well understood with vasectomy and that some people can experience pain indefinitely. He also said that cycling probably didn’t cause as much pain as walking because the testicles are more ‘supported’ whilst cycling. He suggested I start to wear tighter-style brief underwear on a regular basis. He stated that these issues can take up to 10 months to settle, so he wanted to be conservative with treatment for that length of time.

At 14 months post-op

I went to see the urologist again. The pain and discomfort have not subsided, and on several occasions has been far worse than before. He examined me again and this time spent a lot more time around the point of incision, where all the pain seemed to be coming from. He noted that the site of incision on the left testicle seemed quite high. He sent me for an ultrasound, although he said he didn’t expect it to show anything significant (which it didn’t). He then suggested some remedial actions which I could consider – initially, he suggested exploratory surgery under general anesthetic or pain-killing injections.

I’m due to see the urologist again in a couple of days. It sounds odd, but the pain is quite ‘physical’ and is coming from the point of incision, where my left testicle rubs against my inner thigh when I walk. I’m starting to think that I ought to have the exploratory surgery – it might be a simple issue to resolve, but I’m also prepared for no change. I just keep thinking – what if it is easy to fix/improve and I don’t take the option? I’ve lived with the pain and discomfort for over a year, but do I want it for the rest of my life without trying every alternative option?

Submitted by Nick