Scott’s experience: A bleeding disorder involved and Scott and his wife are carriers of cystic fibrosis.

I am 34, my wife is 33. We have been married for 13 years. We have one son, 3, and another son on the way. As a result of new genetic screening available for this pregnancy, we found out that both my wife and I are cystic fibrosis carriers. Our son isn’t affected, but we’re not sure about the baby yet. For this reason, we decided that we would not try to have any more children.

I scheduled my consult with my urologist (aptly named “Dr. Johnson”) and went in a bit apprehensively. I had known several people that had vasectomies and only one person who had a bad experience (he was allergic to sutures and didn’t know this prior to the procedure!). Dr. Johnson (this really is his name!) talked me through my concerns, did a …ahem…VERY thorough job of checking the position of things and decided that we would do the midline incision for the procedure. He graciously offered me 10 mg of Valium for the morning of the procedure, which I accepted.

Now, the complicating factor in all of this is that I have a bleeding disorder similar to hemophilia, so I needed to make arrangements with my hematologist to be treated prior to the vasectomy so I didn’t end up with (in the Doc’s words) “A sackful of blood.” Well, I’m all for NOT having a sackful of blood, so the morning of my procedure (February 5) I was treated with a clotting agent to prevent bleeding problems and headed to the urology center at the local hospital.

The vasectomy

My first thought upon entering the clinic (and also that of my wife, who accompanied me) was “Look at the stunningly beautiful nurses.” Now, seeing as how I’m going to have to drop everything and let it all hang out, the last thing I want is a roomful of dangerously attractive women. Too bad. Such was my cross to bear. I was taken to the changing area where I gowned up and was led into the procedure room. Two more beautiful nurses. Now I’m just feeling cursed. No sign of the doctor yet, but Cute Nurse 2 asked if I had “shaved the procedure area.” So, yeah, I had and she said, “Well, we’ll just check,” and raised my gown. She found my job was sufficient but left my gown up and Cute Nurse 3 came over and informed me that since they would be using electric cautery, I would have a grounding pad taped to my thigh. At this point, I am effectively lashed to the table so escape was no longer an option. Cute Nurse 3 gave me the betadine scrub and left me to air dry in the cool room.

At this point, a bell begins ringing. The nurses stop and listen as a fire alarm is announced… on the floor directly below the room I’m in. At this point, I say, “Let me get this straight: I’m lying here with everything hanging out and the BUILDING is on fire?” The nurses laughed and told me not to worry unless I smelled smoke. The doctor arrived and greeted me and the nurses turned on the radio (“Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues is now my SnipSong). The doctor realized that he could do the non-scalpel vasectomy on me, as the valium had sufficiently relaxed me to the point my scrotum was quite loose.

He warned me that I would feel a little poke (I expected him to say “a little prick”) and it was a VERY little poke. On a pain scale of 1 to 10, it was not even a 1. He began to arrange clamps as the anesthetic took hold and began to saw away. During the procedure, I only had one small twinge of pain as the doctor pulled on the left side vas deferens. I gasped and he gave me another blast of anesthetic and that was it. No further discomfort during the procedure at all. The nurses and I just chatted away and as the doctor was performing the cautery portion of the procedure, I looked down to see smoke rising from my groin. I looked at Cute Nurse 2 and said, “I smell smoke…can I worry now?”

As the doctor finished, he gave me instructions on how long to ice (he told me 2, but I iced much longer–almost 18 hours–simply because it was more comfortable than not icing), how long to delay sexual activity (he initially said two weeks, but I told him that would hamper my Valentine Day plans so he said ‘fine, no sex until Valentine’s Day.’), and how long to stay off my feet (the rest of that day and the day after).

I climbed off the table and walked over to the tray of instruments to look at the tools of destruction. Cute Nurse 3 pointed out the two small portions of vas deferens that were removed. Dr. Johnson informed me the specimens would be sent to the Pathology Department as part of the “Legally Cover Our Butts” portion of the procedure (By sending samples, it covers the hospital from a legal standpoint that the procedure was done effectively or something). Cute Nurse 3 laughed and said, “Most guys don’t want to see that stuff!”

I walked out, received a few ice packs and specimen cups (for later use) and changed and headed home.

The local anesthetic wore off about two hours later. I was sore, but not in any great pain. I stayed in bed the rest of the day and my biggest problem was a knotted muscle in my back from staying in bed too long!

The recovery

The rest of Day 1 and Day 2 was pretty uneventful. On Day 3, I went back to work and by night, I was pretty sore. I again returned to icing and that took care of things. I was not prescribed any pain medication, but the discomfort wasn’t really enough to warrant any medication. Day 4 – 6 was uneventful, aside from amazingly colorful balls (partially from my bleeding disorder) no problem. As I had no stitches, I had some slight discharge (not really blood) for a few days, but that has stopped.

Today is Day 7, I am not sore and the bruising is resolving nicely. I am very happy with the procedure (which was basically pain-free) and really just minor soreness after. The doctor tells me that I should have about 15-20 ejaculations before coming in to be tested. Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend educating yourself as to available options and if you feel a snipping is right for you, I say ‘Go for it!’

25th June 2003 Update

I healed pretty quickly following the procedure. After the first week, I could no longer even feel any soreness. I did have some granulomas for about two months, but they have since disappeared.

As my wife was pregnant during the time I had the procedure done, I wasn’t too quick to get my follow up samples done. After the baby was born on Mother’s Day, I knew it was time to suck it up and take in the specimen.

As it had been four months since my procedure, I was pretty convinced the sample would be “swimmer-free” and it was.

Overall, despite our concern with the bleeding disorder I have, the procedure was incredibly easy.

March 5, 2005 update

Just a quick follow-up to my story: Due to my inherent sense of paranoia, I went back to have another sample done sixteen months post-procedure. Again, the sample was clear, meaning that I was still sterile. Another postscript: As noted in my original story, part of the reason I decided to have the procedure was due to the genetic disorders that my wife and I have. Both of my children were born free from these disorders, so we feel very blessed.

Submitted by Scott