I am trying to decide whether or not to get a vasectomy. I know all the reasons to do so, and I heartily agree with them. What I need are posts from people who have had it done. Tell me the good and the bad of it.
Oh ghod, this is going to be one ubncomfortable thread, isn’t it? 
Eagles may soar free and proud, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.
slythe, obviously, I didn’t have one, but my husband did ten years ago. He was more embarrassed about having to go buy a jock strap (he wouldn’t tell me why) and later every two weeks he had to bring in a ‘sample’ and he absolutely HATED doing it.
He had the vasectomy done in the urologist’s office on a Friday, it took about thirty-forty minutes before he came back out, he started feeling some pain about a half hour afterwards. He used an ice bag (actually it was a bag of frozen peas, they work better :D) all weekend and went to work fine on Monday. He had to take in a ‘sample’ every two weeks till the sixth week when the semen finally showed no trace of sperm activity.
good luck!!
“Lilacs bloomed in April and fruit ripened on the vine. Heartbeats quickened and old appetites were renewed. In April a livelier iris gleamed upon the burnished dove. April was spring, and in the spring Milo Minderbinder’s fancy had lightly turned to thoughts of…tangerines.”
You know, that’s about the fifth reference I’ve heard about frozen peas used after a vasectomy. Sympathetic Magick, maybe?
Eagles may soar free and proud, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.
I started a thread similar to this one last fall, just before my husband had his vasectomy.
You’ll be fine, slythe. I think about 30 minutes, maybe a little less. The important thing to remember is don’t stress yourself after the procedure is done. Don’t lift heavy stuff, no sex for about a week, and keep icing it. Bags of frozen peas or corn work well (a tip I got from this board). My husband also used some little ice packs we got with the free diaper bag we got when our son was born (we had only planned on one kid. Hubby didn’t get snipped soon enough. Now we have two. He got the vasectomy so we didn’t end up with three.)
Anyway, you’ll be sore for a while. I think my husband was sore for a little over a week (but he did some lifting that he shouldn’t have done). If you follow the doctor’s advice, though, you’ll be just fine. Oh yeah–you’ll have to shave your testicles. You might want to have someone you trust alot do that.
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What I meant was, I think the procedure took about 30 minutes, maybe a little less.
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You know, all this would be a lot more reassuring if the males were the ones saying it was nothing to worry about!
Eagles may soar free and proud, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.
I believe I asked this in the earlier thread but don’t recall anyone offering any info:
Does anyone know anything about sperm banks, how they work, how much they cost, etc.? Our situation is similar to Cristi’s, altho we were considering a second child, just not so soon (due 7/7/00, 1st will be 24 months old). From everything I have heard I have only a small, reasonable amount of fear about the “procedure” itself, but we don’t want to completely rule out having children in the future.
Hey, I see a solution here!
You need sperm; I have sperm I don’t want…if you want to send a zip-lock bag? 
Eagles may soar free and proud, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.
I think you misunderstood, Slythe. We have one son and another on the way. At this point, and for the foreseeable future, we don’t want any more children. I am considering a vasectomy, but am concerned that in the unforeseeable future we may want children again.
Perhaps I was not clear enough. I seek information on the method and costs for storing my own seed, in case we decide to use it again.
If you get a plastic bag in the mail don’t send anything to me. Thanks for the offer though.
Answering my own question, in part:
http://www.safari.net/~sperm/storage.html
Looks like for less than $1000 they will keep the swimmers on ice, but they are only good for 10-15 years. I was hoping for something much longer. Still wondering if anyone has any first hand or more detailed information on storing my own sperm before a vasectomy. Thanks.
Damn, I keep thinking of more to add. Also, with just a vasectomy, am I still making sperm, but the road is closed? In other words, could a future “procedure” extract some sperm for future use? If so, why store it in the freezer when my body can store the stuff? Or does my body stop making it after realizing I am not using it?
I’m a man, and I had a vasectomy. Being the weird dude that I am, I actually peeked over the screen and watched the procedure, much to my urologists annoyance (he really doesn’t want a guy to flinch at the wrong moment). It’s been a while though (about 10 years) since I had the procedure, so my recollection may be faulty in a couple of details.
The procedure itself is simple and relatively painless. First, he injects a local anesthetic into the scrotum and makes an incision. He reaches in with a hooked probe and exposes a loop of the vas deferens through the incision. He cuts the loop, and cauterizes each end so they won’t spontaneously reattach. He returns the vas to the scrotum and sutures the incision. He then repeats the procedure on the other side of the scrotum for the vas deferens coming from the other testicle.
The most common side effect is bleeding from the incision in the scrotum. Since the scrotum doesn’t have a particularly lush blood supply, it tends to heal relatively slowly.
I was fortunate that I was in a situation where I could stay off my feet for a week, and I really didn’t have any serious complications. I didn’t have any need for ice or frozen peas, but YMMV.
One of my friends, however, who was somewhat impatient had some bleeding into the scrotum which had to be drained. But if you take it easy this sort of side effect is relatively rare.
The purpose of the vasectomy is to block the transport of the sperm from the testes to rest of the male reproductive apparatus. AFAIK, sperm production by the testes continues, but I have a vague memory that there may be some decline after the procedure. In any case, there is no effect on the production or delivery of testosterone or other hormones, as the testes are ductless glands.
There is no noticible change in the ejaculate after a vasectomy. The sperm themselves form an insigificant percentage of the ejaculate, which is primarily trasport fluid produced by the seminal vesicles and the prostate, which are “downstream” from the vasectomy.
In the ten years I’ve been sterile, I’ve never regretted my decision, either medically or related to my lifestyle.
Standard disclaimer: you should consult a licensed urologist for accurate medical advice regarding a vasectomy.
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