Vasectomy - the third week

Third week post-op

Leading a pretty normal week this week, normal as far as Christmas is concerned!

The wound has pretty much healed, just a bit of swelling under the skin. I did pull out a few,stitches which were already loose, there was a bit of infection in places so put a dressing on overnight which drew out some gunk! Did the same again the following night and it's a bit more comfortable.

Just to evaluate where I am, 3 weeks on and I feel like I'm completely back to normal. Normal boxers, normal "activities" with normal/better performance, all healed up and feeling good there. I'm not a keen athlete but I've not tried going for a jog (which I tend to do from time to time) but will try that in the new year (note NOT as a resolution!!).

This could be my last post for a while. I'll be sure to log back in for the all important sample results in April.

Until next time...

DevonSnip

Vasectomy - The second week

Second week post-snip

Things are turning more normal now. Hurrah!

Managed to wear normal boxers a couple times this week, and I wasn't uncomfortable by any stretch. Not totally ditched the y-fronts yet, they are good for support, especially when you have a meeting across town again!

The wound has almost healed completely, the stitches are starting to dissolve and one strand was loose enough to have escaped. The site of incision feels pain free, just a bit of a lump where things are healing under the skin. A nice zig-zag scar is appearing, I guess a signature of the procedure!

The tubes inside still feel firm, not painful and  quite comfortable. "Emptied out" again a few times and I'm not noticing a difference in performance, consistency or enjoyment there.

Vasectomy - The first week

One week post-op

The end of the first week and things are settling down. Not so much pain now, equivalent to a graze healing and the odd twinge. Probably the worst of it at the moment is rolling over in bed at night, it's  all hanging a bit lower and gets squished!

The wound is healing nicely, the stitches are still there but no longer getting caught in underwear. I've not yet tried a normal pair of boxers (I'm a A-trunk kinda guy) but may do sometime next week.

"Emptied out" for the first time since the snip, normal consistency, no blood (having expected some),  no pain or discomfort and feels a lot more comfortable. Had a bit of a rummage and the pipes feel firm which I guess is a good sign of the procedure being successful. They still feel a bit tender to locate the part of the tube folded back and tied off, but it would be good to know what they feel like to be able to notice changes.

Oddly my right ball was hanging lower than my left (before the snip it was the ther way round) but blowing my load seems to have sorted that out.

Onwards into the second week, intend on emptying out and having more of a rummage to check things over.

Vasectomy - The third day (first at work)

Third day post op, first at work

Woke up with the alarm and had a wash with a flannel which was refreshing, though didn't wash "the area" as it's still a bit delicate. Might consider a wet wipe in a day or two... I put on a dressing just to stop my undies tugging the stitches.

Drove to work and felt like I waddled in to the office, even if it looked like I walked normally!! Cough cough, bloody cough...

Forgot that I had a meeting across town and walked 20 minutes each way. Was a bit sore when I got back but otherwise OK. Dressing was still in place and there was a little bit of roughness on the stitches. Didn't move very much for the rest of the day through choice. Drove home comfortably.

It all feels like it's hanging a bit lower today, it certainly feels different, and something to get used to over the next week or so. It seemed strange to think that I have had the procedure done. Not something you would blurt out at the office!

Got home felt a bit swollen which is to be expected, the tubes have been tied off an no where for the swimmers to go! A dot of blood on the dressing so a successful day.

Vasectomy - The second day

Two days after the snip

Feeling a bit more mobile today and almost back to walking normally albeit with a bit of a care. A bit twingy at times but only taken one paracetamol at lunchtime having been on my feet for a couple hours.

Put the boys to bed and took the plaster off the wound and I was surprised about how good the wound has sealed. My right bollock has swollen and that's the one that hurts most when I cough (still can't shift it...). But it was all done through one incision just above the left ball so tubes would have needed a bit of a tug to surface and snip. 

Not sure if I should cover the wound back up or leave it out and risk stitches getting caught in the tighty-whities. Decided to leave it uncovered but took a fresh dressing to bed in case I needed it, but didn't. Slept OK without it covered up.

Vasectomy - The first day

The day after the snip before

I feel ok, if tired and a bit sore. I think I can feel where the tubes were cut, and hopefully they haven't rejoined!!

In the morning I mostly stayed on the sofa and I gingerly moved around when I need a wee. Or the youngest needs something. I don't think I would be able to lift heavy things, but a 10 month old is probably my limit. Standing up straight is ok, sitting down is ok, anywhere between or moving between the two is slow going and uncomfortable. Time for more painkillers ...

The afternoon was a bit better, was moving around a bit more. Managed to do some easy housework like washing milk bottles and packing the dishwasher. No more painkillers until bedtime, lets see how tonight goes.

Vasectomy - The evening after the procedure

After the snip was over...

Got home, had tea. I was starving! I set up camp on the sofa, tv remote and some local rags in reaching distance.

Feeling a bit tender at this point, the anaesthetics are wearing off and making the slightest moves to get comfy were uncomfortable and becoming a bit painful. The pain I experienced built gradually before the boys went to bed. I wanted to see how bad the pain would get but it got to a point where I needed to take two paracetamol and that knocked the pain right back. I think with the increasing pain I tensed up, and probably made things worse (the dizepam was probably wearing off too) so the paracetamol helped me relax again.

Moving around that evening was only uncomfortable, the internal stitches bedding in and the plaster not allowing the skin to move that much, made getting up/down and moving around a bit tricky.

I went to bed normal time and found a position which was as comfy as it was going to get and fell asleep.that is until 4am when I needed to cough. And then kept coughing and couldn't get back to sleep (I had the remains of a cold virus the week before). So I put the dummy back in the face of our youngest (who also woke up) and tried to get back to sleep. I couldn't stop needing to cough. Ugh.

So I hauled myself downstairs back to the sofa and played SimCity on the iPad. And still couldn't sleep.  By which time it was 7am and my eldest son woke up, and so the day began.

Vasectomy - The procedure (part 2)

The vasectomy operation 

I should add at this point that a week before I had phoned the surgery to confirm the appointment for next week. Having reflected on the last appointment I had requested the room be a bit warmer (if you've read the last post you will know what I mean...) and to let me know if that was a problem. No news was good news! In this time I had managed to shift about a third of a stone in weight, being at the higher end of the overweight BMI. Hoping to continue this trend...

And so, about 6 weeks after the first attempt, the day arrived. I had already booked the afternoon off work, shaved and showered (was impressed by the speed bracken can grow back), taken the diazepam an hour before the appointment, mother in law turned up to look after the boys and my wife and I trundled to the surgery.

Diazepam is brilliant stuff, it got working within 15 minutes of taking it and the relaxing feeling of warmth and calmness took over. Almost like feeling drunk, but still in control.

We turned up, signed in at reception and sat in the waiting room. We got called in by the doctor. Confirmed that I was still happy to continue, reminded my self about the conversations at the previous appointment and within a minute we were on our way to the theatre.

Same procedure as before, strip from the waist down and on the table. Arms were no here near his balls this time.

Everything hanging out, all relaxed and both tubes located with ease, winner winner. Local anaesthetic in the skin, same place as before, small sting but not for long. And again in each tube, again a further sting but not for long.

The success rate this time around was looking MUCH better.

Now, my wife was with me this time around, she is not the squeamish type, and I think she rather enjoyed the experience. Not as in to see a man suffer, but to see the procedure from a medical perspective.. Seeing a man having the snip and "doing his bit" so to speak.

Next the incision. Didn't feel a thing. Pulling the left vas tube was a bit uncomfortable but absolurely no pain whatsoever. I didn't watch, but I did ask to see the vas tube, and once it was out and separated I was offered a look. It looked like a loop of white spaghetti. I resumed staring at the ceiling, listening to the radio and let the doctor do his thing.

Moving to the right one, he was able to do the same from he same incision.

I genuinely didn't feel any pain during the procedure. Even being stitched up at the end was pain free. It was a bit uncomfortable having things "put back in the right place" but still no pain. A plaster over the wound and it was all done. Getting up off the table was done slowly and was again a bit uncomfortable, but managed to get dressed and back to arguably a more dignified state!

Job done!

We went back to the doctors office to go over after care and what happens next. Existing contraception should still be used until a clear/negative semen sample has been given at approx 4 months time (swimmers are present in tubes for some time after the snip) and there are specific instructions on how to do this, or rather (not "how", digging a hole here) that the sample has to get directly to the hospital in a warm state within an hour of, erm, "production".

Keep the wound dry for 48 hours, "flannel jobs" spring to mind and the y-fronts keep everything in check.

We thanked the doctor, shook hands and we drove home. I must admit I walked to the car a bit gingerly as things were uncomfortable but again not painful.

Vasectomy - The procedure (part 1)

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The referral for vasectomy

The referral

My GP put the wheels in motion and within about 10-14 days I received a letter through the post to phone a number to discuss whether I wanted to be referred to a different GP trained/experienced in the procedure under local anaesthetic or to go to the local District Hospital to be done under general anaesthetic. I chose a doctor close to Bideford as recommended by my own GP, which was more convenient, the general anaesthetic did not appeal to me, and less time off work potentially.

I had to ring the surgery's secretary directly to arrange the appointment for the vasectomy which was set for sometime in October 2018. I received a letter and accompanying notes to "warm me up" to the procedure.

The particular doctor was a surgeon before turning his hand to being a GP as I understand it and has carried out over 2000 procedures over his career with a higher than UK average success rate. In his letter his "way of doing things" was to reassure, do as much within his power to genuinely reduce and stop pain, sometimes humorously, to set expectations (clipping back the bush, shaving the area and obtaining some comfy tight fitting ever so sexy y-fronts) and reiterate what I had discussed with my GP originally.

From the phone call to the appointment was 3 weeks.

Talking about the snip

You think you want a vasectomy?

So. You want to make sure you don't want any more children. You need to be absolutely 100% sure that this is what you want. Weigh up all the options, for both you and your partner, and speak with your GP.

Options for both - stop having sex, but that's no fun...

Options for her - are several but put the burden on her and the NHS over many years, include contraceptive pills, coils, implants and so on. None are 100% guaranteed as effective.

Options for him - vasectomy! Over time this is probably the most cost effective on the NHS and amongst the most effective, short of giving it all up.

There may well be more, medicine is constantly evolving.

Talk it through with your partner. Discuss each of the options as to effectiveness and what they would be prepared to do.

Vasectomy should be considered a permanent change. The NHS website might suggest that reversing it is not available on the NHS, has a low level of success and will cost a lot of money to go privately. If you're not 100% sure, you're not ready and you should not continue.

I felt that, seeing as she had tried implants and various contraceptive pills over the years and given my wife gave birth to our first SVD and second elective caesarean that it was my turn to take some of the responsibility. We both decided long before we got married that two children would be the limit, as long as they are both happy and healthy (which they are!) so this too was a big part of opting for a vasectomy. My wife has been using the pill and didn't fancy options for a coil. Which whittled down the options quickly!!

The NHS website has lots of advice on contraception, just tap it into your search engine of choice and read EVERYTHING. YouTube was another source of research but should be taken ever so slightly with a pinch of salt, some people's experiences are to one extreme based on their own procedure.  Note that some videos are more, erm, graphic than others. There is one particular American "Brosectomy" which was amusing (not graphic) and worth a watch...

If you're still set on a vasectomy the next thing to do is to make an appointment with your GP. They will talk you through the options based on your particular stage in life. At the time of the appointment my youngest was a few months old and was certain on not having any more. The GP explained about the procedure, that it is not reversible and to be considered a permanent change which is really important to again discuss and decide with your partner, along with other options, again.

My GP did not refer me in my first appointment, which is standard practise, and we agreed I would discuss again with my wife and if, after a few more months, I was still keen for a vasectomy he would then refer me. Which we did.

Intro/welcome

Hello!

Welcome to my blog. I am a 32 year old married man with two boys (3 and 3/4 and 10 months) and my wife and I decided together that I should have a vasectomy.

This blog records my journey from start, to snip, and afterwards. I found that there was little out there to help and guide all the things to think and talk about, what I was feeling (emotionally and physically) and so I thought I'd try and put my experience into words.

I'll split each part of the journey into separate posts so it should be easy to follow. Note that I am not a medical professional, all opinions are my own based on my own experiences and you should ALWAYS consult your GP who will know more about your circumstances.

Happy reading!

DevonSnip