Vasectomy... advise me I am scared.

Dear Gentlemen (and any ladies)

I am considering the big snip… Vasectomy but to be exact and I am really scared.

I know it is easy and day procedure and all that but I have also heard it can really hurt and recovery weeks. I think about a knife down near “the goods” and I find it very unsettling.

But I want to be brave for my wife and myself and we don’t need another child at 43. I am healthy with no medical problems except vasovagal syncope (I can pass out at blood tests due the puncture in the vein).

So, I invite feedback from men who had taken the step (and ladies who have supported them) to reassure me or reinforce my fears.

Regards

Peter 14.7

PS whilst some lighthearted humor is welcome, I am serious so any offensive or inappropriate posts are not welcome. Any medical procedure has risks.
 
The Big Cut

Hi Peter

Just a note of caution; had a friend whose hubby went for the V cut...however they assumed all is hunky and dory and did not went for the required subsequent follow up checks.

They had a subsequent fifth child...........with a 10 :eek:year gap...

All the best and kudos to U for taking up your part of the bargain.
 
Pete, there is the other way of not having more kids....but I'm sure that may be more "painful" in the long term....;)

Or I can come around with two house bricks if you like, you will pass out but wake up sterilised for sure....:p

Sorry....light hearted intentions above....;)

But seriously...a Mate of mine also had the V cut done after 3 kids then 5 years later had it reversed to have another....so you never really know hey...???

I didn't help did I....:(
 
But seriously...a Mate of mine also had the V cut done after 3 kids then 5 years later had it reversed to have another....so you never really know hey...???

I didn't help did I....:(

LOL. knocking me out is an option due to the vasovagal response. Dont know about bricks.:eek:

Reversal is 99.9% non issue as we have a healthy 4 year old girl and wife is 44 this year. A pregnancy at this age is a big risk for her - intended or otherwise.

Peter
 
Hubby had his after our third child. He had the snip on a Friday and was laid up (NOT :D) that weekend and back at work Monday, albeit a little ginger :).

No problems at all, except he didn't bother getting it tested to see if it had worked either :rolleyes:. (And from memory it was two or three months that we had to be careful until his pipes were well and truly empty.)
 
I've had a bunch of mates have it done - piece of cake.

Use it as an opportunity for romance by getting your wife to creatively help with the samples...
 
I've had several friends who've had the procedure.

Most enjoyed the procedure where they've had to be tested afterward. They had a partner to assist.

One didn't go well. But he was a heavy smoker and drinker. He died under 50yo.

With healthier arteries he probably would have done better. It may have been a warning sign.
 
On the day you'll be asked by at least 4 different people what you're there for - a couple of nurses, the anesthetist and the surgeon. They'll all have a clipboard with them with the answer already written on it.... they're just making absolutely 110% sure that EVERYONE is on the same page.

Eventually, you'll get to the theatre.... you'll lie down on the table, there'll be a three or four nurses, the surgeon, the anesthetist & maybe a couple of students... and you'll be naked. Now is a really good time to check that it's the same guys you spoke to earlier.

Then one of them will slap the mask over your mouth & tell you to breath deeply & count to 10.....
....and the last thing you'll hear as the gas does it's stuff is.... does anyone have the shaver ?

......... and then you'll wake up...... first thing that'll go through you head is.....sh*******t..... I'm supposed to be asleep, I'm having a delicate operation & I've woken up in the middle of it & I'm completely naked.

You haven't. It's all over, the deed has been done, there's no-one around. You gently grope around to see what's still there, only to find you've got meters of industrial strength sticky tape holding everything in place. And after a while a nurse will check in on you.... you've gotta hope it's not that stunner you noticed earlier.

After a couple of days of hobbling around you're allowed to remove the yards of tape...... anyway my only tip is - shave yourself before you get there.
 
Had it done 10 years ago and I remember waterblasting the roof the next day ...

Also recall feeling in need of a good scratch all the time but having the stitches pulled out was the worst bit !

Good luck buddy :eek:
 
Peter,
Had mine done the week before my birthday (just a month ago). (Actually considered asking here, but chose not to - didn't want to hear any horror stories!) Turned out to be a huge anti-climax (no pun intended) as I was just at the doc's rooms for an hour or so on a Friday RDO.

The procedure was uncomfortable, but not painful. Couple of days of medium/high discomfort (wouldn't say pain), and back at work on Monday with a slight, shall we say, limp?

Still a little bit of tenderness at times on one side where the vas was cauterised as apparently there were more blood vessels there than expected. Haven't yet have the test to prove effectiveness of the procedure, but everything still 'works'!

Apparently the "fear" of having another child (at just turned 40 and not pleasant experiences) weighs on my wife's mind - this is supposed to make "IT" easier for her - here's hoping!! :D;)

Just don't look at the needles, and you'll be fine.

(Hopefully not too much information for everyone else!)
 
Just saw the posts between Geoff's and mine.

No swathes of tape or crowds of people - 1 doc, 1 nurse, local anesthetic only, couple of stitches (make what you like of that!), though I did have the option of going to the hospital for a day procedure.

DON'T, DON'T, DON'T do anything even remotely strenuous for a couple of days, not even heavy lifting. You don't want to tear stitches, or increase bruising.
 
Thanks Guys.

Keith you made me laugh but a little more scared. Easy procedure, NOT! Very detailed, Thanks.

Carl, yours was what I expected and yes still pain. Needles are ok just dont take my blood! Body senses it and shuts down the veins, very low heat rate, sweating, nausea. Not pretty.

Will take it all in, Peter
 
P

Apparently the "fear" of having another child (at just turned 40 and not pleasant experiences) weighs on my wife's mind - this is supposed to make "IT" easier for her - here's hoping!! :D;)

(Hopefully not too much information for everyone else!)

Same deal here re wife. And we think we just had scare re the pitter patter, so that has brought the matter to a head. We are very fertile it would seem for 43 year old but daughter was made at 37 so that makes sense.

Peter
 
Some useless tidbits to visualize over the coming weeks. :)


The worst thing I am told is feeling the sperm swimming around inside you, on a doomed mission..........for the rest of your life. in fact, this icon :eek: is exactly what the sperm look like when travelling up your vas only to find a dead end. Some of the little suckers can then make their way through the dead end vas and into your innards.......so lie still when the fella is cutting and cauterizing, or stitching or you'll end up with a perpetual army of spermos exiting the poor seal, and questing around in your gizzards till the day you die.

I've actually done this surgery on a cat and rat, and another op called cryptorchidism, where the testes are pulled back into the abdominal cavity and stitched up. The body heat of the abdomen quickly decreases sperm production in the seminiferous epithelium. Incidentally, truck and taxi drivers in warm climates are prone to impotency because thermoregulation by the cremaster muscle is ineffective when sitting.

BTW, re the vasovagal, that's easily avoided if you lie down when giving blood or getting needles. Also helps to be well hydrated beforehand to keep your blood volume up (1-1.5 litres 30-90 minutes prior). Having done a little bit of manual work helps also, by stimulating the sympathetics, which counter the output from the vagus nerve.
 
If you think I would ever willingly let someone with sharp objects near my goolies then in the word of our now deceased premier Joh:
"you're wrong Jana... you're just wrong wrong wrong....."
 
Hi Peter,

Couple of comments ;

1. Initial consultation took 40 mins. Surgery the following week took 30 mins.

2. After the surgery, simply walked out of the clinic and was home in another 10 mins.

3. Wasn't sore straight away, but swelling and bruising lasted 3 days. Sitting in a chair was the most difficult. Couldn't just plonk down as usual, had to ease down, taking the weight on both arms.

4. In the briefing before, learnt that most men (99%) have two vas, one coming up from each testes. The surgeon actively looks for a third vas, some men have two vas going down to one testes. It is common with Maori men apparently. There have been about 5 cases whereby the surgeon successfully cut 2 vas, but the wife fell pregnant after the required delay of many weeks after the supposed safe period. In all cases, a third vas was found. All parties (hubby, wife and surgeon are not happy).

5. Apparently the rate of production of sperm goes on unabated. With uncut men, 90% is absorbed back into the body, and 10% is discharged in the normal way. With cut men, 100% is absorbed back into the body, so no appreciable difference. You won't end up after a few months with a scrotum swinging between your ankles and be forever known as Cecil the ram.

6. The (big) needle right up front is the worst.

7. The surgeons nowadays try and make a very small incision down the middle of the scrotum, where the line is anyway (this is where your vagina opening would have been, and was, when you started out as a girl).

8. The incision is used for both vas. Only one small scar needed. Two stitches, and they are the self absorbing kind, so no need to go back and have them taken out at a later date.

9. 30 mins should have the job done, and talking to the surgeon is weird under only a local. Hearing the clinking of very sharp metal objects, in an area which for the entirety of your life has been a strictly "no go" zone for anything sharp is slightly weird.

10. My surgeon had an array of jokes on the ceiling for the patient to read. It took a good 15 mins to read and chuckle my way through them all. I wish he had twice as many on the ceiling, cos after I'd finished reading them, I started really concentrating on what he was doing for the last 15 mins, and that wasn't good.

11. Because our system is "on the outside", as opposed to the girls, which is deeply "buried inside", I reckon it's a great thing to do. 30 mins under a local for us vs about 3 hours under a general for the girls. They put up with more than enough going through labour each time. It's the least we can do.

No regrets. It was well worth it.


Cheers Peter.
 
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