Patrick’s experience: Vasectomy with a lady surgeon, lady assistant, and girlfriend present!

I had my NSV procedure yesterday August 20, 1999. I must say that I am totally pleased with the vasectomy. I had a lot of apprehensions about the procedure. I was frightened about the pain more than anything.

My vasectomy

I got to the Doctors office about 15 minutes early and was immediately called back to the exam room where the nurse took my blood pressure which was a little high (anxiety). I had taken 2 Ativan 1 and 1/2 hours before the procedure and another Ativan when I got to the doctor’s office. The nurse asked me if I was feeling nervous and if the Ativan had helped. I said that I was still feeling nervous so she gave me a shot of Valium in the hip and said that she would be back in ten minutes to see how I was doing. Ten minutes later I told her the valium still had not done much so she gave me a second shot and said she would be back in ten minutes. My wonderful girlfriend Kay was there and she was doing everything she could to keep me calm. The nurse came back and asked how I was doing, I really could not tell the difference but said that I was ready.

The doctor came in and asked me to lie back on the table and she cleaned my scrotum with betadine solution. She then injected just a little painkiller under the skin in the middle of my scrotum. My girlfriend Kay had now positioned herself beside me and was holding my hand and telling me that everything was going to be fine.

I could feel the needle going into my scrotum then the doctor rubbed the area of the scrotum to get the medication throughout the scrotum. Then the doctor started tugging on my scrotum to isolate the vas deferens. The doctor then injected a painkiller into each vas deferens through the scrotal skin. She clamped the vas deferens and made a small incision in the midline of the scrotum at the base of the penis the incision was between 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch long. I never felt the incision or the shots to each vas deferens, I had to ask Kay if she had taken the vas deferens out yet later in the procedure because I hadn’t felt the incision and was not brave enough to look. The doctor then pulled the vas out through the single incision she then clamped the vas in two places and cut off the section between the two clamps and then cauterized the ends. I could see the smoke from the cauterization but could not feel a thing. The doctor then put the cauterized ends of the vas back inside the scrotum and proceeded to do the other side. When she was doing the second vas deferens, I felt more discomfort because she was having trouble securing and removing the vas from the scrotum so she had to administer more pain killer to that vas. The strange thing is that I am totally afraid of needles and shots but I hardly felt the shots at all. She finished up the second vas deferens and the procedure was finished.

The entire operation lasted about 44 minutes. The doctor and my girlfriend Kay helped me put on a special pair of support underwear. I lay on the table for a few more minutes and then sat up and slipped on my sandals and walked out of the procedure. I was a little tipsy like I had been drinking just a little, but was able to walk fine with no pain. I really want to thank my girlfriend for her support both in and out of the operation room she was so fantastic and thank Dr. Linda Silveria for her excellent skill in performing the operation.

After the procedure

The after-effects of the operation have been none a day later. I came home took Tylenol, put a bag of frozen peas on my scrotum and slept through the better part of two movies, and then went to bed and slept fine. Today is the day after the operation and I am still feeling no pain, I am wearing a supporter and taking Tylenol and applying ice as a precaution, but I can walk without any problems. I cannot have sex for at least a week according to the doctor so that is the only drawback that I can see but that is temporary.

If you are considering a vasectomy, I highly recommend the no-scalpel method because it is living up to the advertised benefits that I had heard of before I decided to have the procedure, secondly please involve your loved ones in the process, Having my lovely girlfriend there from the consultation to recovery makes all of the difference.

Good luck to all whom read this on the vasectomy support board.

Submitted by Patrick