Even Sleeping Hurts

Prior to my vasectomy reversal, I just had epididymitis and very little pain. Now, I've got lots of different pains and no epididymitis. I am still hopeful that I'll improve on the pain front over the course of the next several months.

Okay, today I realized that sleeping is a pain in my ___________ (and I don't mean butt). It seems that my scrotum gets squished and smashed while I'm asleep which causes me to wake up throughout the night to find a comfortable position. This occurs even though I place a thick pillow between my knees. It seems I need to find a thicker pillow. Also, when I sleep in the fetal position, knees up toward my belly, it pinches some kind of nerve in my belly button area. That too is uncomfortable, not painful, just uncomfortable.

So if you're reading this journal post wondering if vasectomies are worth it, my answer is "no". I would rather be using condoms and having an active lifestyle rather than experiencing this PVPS. Even if it meant I might have an extra child or two. I do love my kids and can't imagine my family without them. I'm sure I would have felt the same way if we had more.

It's funny, but getting the vasectomy has made me a cranky old man faster than I should have been. I'm sure my parenting has been very affected by this disorder. So, if I had never had the vasectomy, I'd probably be a better Dad.

PVPS worms its way into so many different aspects of your life. It affects your work life, parenting life, spousal life, sex life, outlook on life, energy level, traveling, driving, sitting, playing, keeping up your home, etc. The list is truly exhausting. Now, I'm not here to say this syndrome is worse than cancer or diabetes or some other debilitating disease, but it is bad in and of itself. I don't envy anyone who has any disease or other health challenge, including PVPS.

So I'm not here to get your sympathy, but rather to help put on paper (figurative) what someone goes through who has PVPS and hopefully convince lots of people not to have it done.

I saw something on a T-shirt recently that put it all together for me. It had a picture of a Squirrel in a defensive stance and it read, "You got to protect your nuts". How true!