Peter’s experience: Infection and re-stitching

At 37 and with three children, I thought enough was enough. We were not in a position to have a fourth, as the flat was bursting at its seams! Condoms always seemed a bother and disrupted the rhythm of things. The decision to have a vasectomy was mainly mine. My GP is Catholic, with 5 or 6 children, so I thought I’d refer myself straight to the local hospital in Singapore. I was soon put in touch with the urologist. The consultation was straightforward – I was asked why I wanted the procedure done, and he felt around my scrotum for the vas, and then he said yes, I could just book myself to the hospital’s day surgery center. Which I did, for a date a fortnight later.

Contrary to what I’ve read about UK and US stories, nobody said anything about shaving or underwear to me. I had omitted to ask about the former, so I just cut the hair short, rather than shave. This might also be to do with most men here (the majority are ethnic Chinese) are not very hairy on the scrotum, so this is not a requirement here. I asked the nurse (in charge of ‘counseling’ me) about underwear, and she said to have loose clothing – contrary to the advice given on the website.

The surgery itself was not especially eventful. I stripped down and donned the short gown, was wheeled into the operating theatre. I was given a conventional vasectomy (cut, snip, cauterize, stitch) under local anesthetic. Apart from feeling a lot of tugging, and a sharpish sensation during the cauterization, the procedure wasn’t painful. I was soon wheeled out and left the hospital after a couple of hours.

There was no dressing put on the wound. At that time, I didn’t think to comment on it, and I assumed that this was how the urologist liked to have it done. The nurse gave me instructions on washing myself, and I was off.

Everything went swimmingly at first, as there was hardly any pain, even without painkillers or paracetamol. The vasectomy was on Wednesday (23/2/00), but on Saturday night, the stitches had come off on their own, and there was some bleeding. We went to the hospital on Sunday where my doctor said that the wound was infected, and I was given antibiotics. I turned up for work on Monday, and that afternoon, I could hardly walk, as there was continued slight bleeding and discharge of pus.

So it was off to the hospital again on Tuesday, where the registrar in the Urology division examined me and put me through the ‘regime’ of visiting the hospital every day to have the dressing changed by the nurses (all female by the way, and all apparently blasé about my equipment exposed to them, so I, in turn, got blasé too!). The registrar examined me again, and it was apparent that it wasn’t healing as fast as he would like it to, so he asked to come down on Saturday (this was 10 days after the vasectomy) to have the wound re-stitched. Three stitches of catgut.

So here am I today (17/3/00), about 3 and a half weeks after the vasectomy, but with three stitches still intact down there. The wound does seem to have healed, and if the stitches don’t come out by next week, I’ll probably give them a little tug.

26th June 2003 update

I read my account of the vasectomy more than 3 years ago, and I thought folks might like to know my position on it now.

It’s not been very eventful – and that, perhaps, tells you how successful it’s been. A couple of years ago, I was concerned about lumps on the nuts but these were diagnosed as hydroceles after the ultrasound: I’m not sure whether these had anything to do with the vasectomy – probably not. (Hydroceles are just fluid collections that are benign and so nothing needs to be done about them.) Now, though, there’s no more fumbling for condoms or worries if the period was a little late. I’m very glad I went through it, and as far as I know, there was no better option in my circumstances.

Submitted by Peter