Vasectomy Support Group

I figured I would post my story as i have told it to many friends and have no problems talking about it.

I did lots of research on the subject (wedmd.com is a great place to start!). I had a list of questions and then we to my family doctor to get a recommendation for a proctologist. It's best to get a recommendation so that there is a paper trail for your insurance company. I then scheduled a consult to get my questions answered. The doctor was very thorough and answered all of my questions. To give you an idea, one question I had was with metal detectors in airports. I travel for work and the method the doctor uses involves titanium clamps. I was concerned that these might set off the metal detectors. When he told me that his clamps have never set off a metal detector, I was much more confident in him because he was going to do the same procedure on me that he had done to him).

I had my wife drive me to the procedure where the doctor used the "punch" method. This involves a punch tool instead of making an incision. This means that I only had one stitch on each side. Those stitches dissolved in less than 48 hours. The doctor also removed a 1 centimeter section of the vas (which looks like a hollow piece of spaghetti) and put titanium clamps on each end of the vas (in my research, clamping the vas was much more successful than cauterizing). During the procedure the doctor told me what he was doing with each step and what I will feel before he does the next step. This was great because it allowed me to mentally prepare for what was next. Total time in the doctor's office was less then one hour.

I then went home and rotated ice on my testicles, half hour on, half hour off. My wife was wonderful and keep switching out the ice packs for me so that I wouldn't have to walk around.

Now, I won't lie, those next 48 hours are not fun. The testicles swell and they do hurt. The ice helps out a lot and not moving helps, too. One other thing is to get a nice, tight athletic supporter. My doctor said that I could use tight briefs, but my testicles moved around too much in those, so I had about a week of dull pain from it. When I switched to a tight athletic supporter, the pain disappeared in about a day.

It has now been 12 weeks since my procedure and I have been feeling like nothing ever changed for several weeks now. I have given a sperm sample at 8 weeks and it was clean. I will give my 12 week sample on Friday and as long as that comes back clean, then i will be certified as sterile.

If anyone would like to ask me questions, please do so. I have no problems discussing what I went through.
Posted on 03/31/09, 03:03 pm