AngelaAndThenSome

Hello Everyone, sorry that I haven’t posted too recently, but if you’re not new here you know that I have some procrastination problems…

and if you are new here- Hello and Welcome, I’m trying! 🙂

Alright, so here is a little table of contents for your viewing pleasure if there is specific area you’re more interested in getting too. By the way also a quick mention that I do have a YouTube channel linked here or under “YouTube” on the main header as some of my blog posts do get the YouTube video treatment (i.e. I create a YouTube video for it). Any way, without further ado, on with the show!

1. What is a Vasectomy?
2. Our reasons
3. The Vasectomy/Our Step by Step Process
   1. Health Insurance
      1. Out of pocket costs
   2. Who performed the procedure
      1. Location and availability
   3. The Procedure Itself
      1. My Husbands Experience
      2. Tips and Advice
4. Final Thoughts

What is a Vasectomy?

So, yes, recently my husband got a vasectomy. What is a vasectomy, you may ask? A vasectomy is a lifetime prescription to no babies’ monthly- that’s a joke, but in all seriousness, it is an outpatient procedure for men or those with male genitalia that takes all of 15 minutes and has a few mild days of recovery time. In which, the tubes within a males scrotum are surgically snipped then subsequently cauterized (it’s not as intense as it may sound but when using medical jargon it may sound a bit extreme.) Anyways, the tubes are cut so your husband, significant other, what have you, will still produce semen but there will not be any active sperm in their ejaculation-hence no babies.

Our reasons

We chose to get a vasectomy because one child really is enough for us- we still do plan on adopting in the future, but for me personally and for my husband, pregnancy was not the most pleasant or wanted experience to experience again. My husband for the most part grew up as an only child- where in his mother remarried and then had her second child when he was 16, so for him being an only child wasn’t a bad experience. As for me I grew up with having multiple siblings and eventually half-siblings, and step-siblings so I was okay with having up to 3 kids- but once I experienced the miracle of pregnancy and child birth I realized it was just not for me (and that’s okay). I love my daughter, she was definitely planned, and we would love to have another- that is why we have decided to reevaluate our situation when she is 4+ (so a few years from now), to see about adoption. In the mean time we would strongly prefer not to have a “surprise” baby so we decided on Husband getting a vasectomy.

So, first and foremost a vasectomy is a medical procedure, there is no getting around that, but husband was very much willing to do it. The first thing my husband did was look into his health plan through his employer to see exactly how much of the procedure would be covered. We ended up needing to pay $300 out of pocket at the time of the procedure. My husband and I then found a qualified Urologist, in which in our area there were only 3 locations available for the procedure with only 2 doctors qualified/available to perform the vasectomy. So, yes, depending on your location there may be limited availability, mind you. we do live in a medium sized city with a population of around 500,000 so, only having two options definitely seemed limiting.

The procedure itself, in proper medical terms can be described as, “The small tubes in your scrotum that carry sperm are cut or blocked off, so sperm can’t leave your body and cause pregnancy.” In layman’s terms or in the actual literal sense a very small incision/hole is made in the scrotum (balls) and in my husband’s case the tubes that carry sperm (known as the vas deferens) were snipped and then lightly cauterized so when the tubes heal they still remain separated. Here is my Husband s point of view of getting the Vasectomy from his own experience:

My overall experience: I was feeling very good up to the day of the procedure not nervous at all, the lobby and procedure room were clean which was nice but when I saw the bed I’d be lying down on that was what screamed “Dude…someones going to cut into your scrotum…” Nothing looked wrong, just clearly that was an operating table.
I got nervous but I undressed and waited for what felt like a long time (my phone was in my pants across the room so who knows how long it actually was). The doctor came in, greeted me and gave me the final recap of what’s happening…He had me hold the gas over my face and I started breathing and after a minute he started local anesthetic and went about his job. I remember it being relatively uneventful, lots of beeping from the machines so my curiosity was trying to guess what they meant. Eventually I looked at the tube from the gas and noticed it was disconnected, i felt some light tapping on the left and had a realization that the doctor had this technique of easing you into a light feeling at the beginning and once he was done he cuts the gas and keeps poking you to make you feel like things are still happening but showing that he’s been done for awhile.
I take off the mask and look at him thinking “you sly dog!” (This is where i messed up…don’t be like me) He looked at me asked if i was OK, and I nodded thinking this was some sort of game. So he began cutting and thank god for local anesthesia because even with that it felt like an intense pinching all the way to my stomach. I began huffing the gas like my life depended on it and got so high I thought I inhaled too much. I thought the doctor was panicking because I was panicking and at one point he pressed a button to move the chair which I thought was a bad emergency thing and I thought I was going to die. Then the doctor told me we were done! The moral of the story is everything went very well and it usually does from what I have heard. Just trust your doctor and relax. Also, don’t take off the gas until the doctor tells you to.

Here is an additional quick Q&A that my Husband was so thoughtfully willing to provide 🙂

How did you feel afterward?
    There was some aching around the testicles,but there was more of a feeling of anxiety of some kind of pain that will eventually come, that never did. I was being extra slow in my movements and singing to myself to distract myself thinking it would be worse than it actually was.

How long did the soreness last?
    There was noticeable soreness for the first 3-4 days. I made sure to keep ice packs over the underwear most of the time.

How would you describe any pain or soreness?
    It was not intense, just a feeling like a big bruise.

When did you feel back to “normal”?
    Day 6-7, I felt normal most of the time, maybe some light soreness from time to time, I was sure not to exert myself. By day 10 I felt completely normal again.

Did you notice and difference in sexual function?
    Only anxiety of a pain that might come but never did.

How did you know the procedure was a success?
    Lab test came back negative so I trust it. No babies yet!

Tips and Advice

1. I definitely recommend you take a day or two off of work or have the procedure done on a Friday- as the first 2-3 days you may feel sore, uncomfortable, and would like to wear more supportive clothing in a more comfortable setting, as you may need to move, adjust, and apply ice packs as needed.
2. Ice Packs. Make sure you have ice packs, frozen peas, popsicles, essentially something cold to help reduce the swelling and yes, it will go down your pants (over your underwear) and probably all up in your business to hit the right spot(s).
3. Rest. Don’t exert yourself or lift anything heavy. Some people have problems relaxing so definitely remember to rest and treat yourself with care and let your body heal.
4. Buy supportive underwear. My husband found that he needed extra supportive underwear to keep everything supported during the healing process. (He actually used some of my over the bump maternity underwear over his own boxer briefs, this actually worked well as he was also able to put the ice packs in the maternity underwear over his boxer briefs like an ice pack pouch).
5. Follow your Doctors instructions. The Doctor who performed the procedure on my Husband from what he told me was very professional, but he also knew to keep things a bit light, so he sent my husband home with some nuts (pictured below) and very thorough instructions (also pictured below).

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Final thoughts

Well, there you have it. It wasn’t an overly complicated procedure, there were simple enough instructions for after care, and my husband healed and bounced back rather well. Obviously, if you’re looking into this make sure to do thorough research concerning the Doctors who perform vasectomies in your area and hey, if the reviews are bad or during the consultation you get that this is not the Doctor for you, don’t be afraid to look elsewhere and maybe, take a trip if needed if you’re just not comfortable with any of the Doctors in your area. It’s your body, your choice, male or female. You do YOU. Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay Healthy!