Visectomy... Vesectomy... Vasectomy

No matter how you spell it, the outcome is the same. I often sit here and wonder why I had a visectomy, er...excuse me, a vasectomy. I mean, my wife and I had managed to have children when we wanted and not have children when we didn't. So why did I have to go "all-in" and have the vasectomy? Why didn't we continue to use what was working for us?

The answer is kind of strange. My background is in health care. So all my friends are doctors, nurses, therapists, etc. When we get together, we talk about how medicine helps people. We also talk about which doctors are good for one thing and which are good for another. It is quite easy for us to see the medical community as an answer for just about any problem.

You're obese? Okay, go get a lap band procedure. You've got saggy skin? Okay, go see a plastic surgeon. You are tired of using conventional birth control? Okay, go get a vasectomy.

All by buddies at work were getting vasectomies - all of them! It seemed a natural thing for me to stand in line and wait my turn. This is what you do after you are finished having kids. Interestingly, 30 years ago, the answer was to continue with conventional birth control. Vasectomies were being done, true, but not with the frequency they are today.

We kind of have a follow the crowd mentality when it comes to birth control. We do whatever everyone else is doing. Vasectomies? Okay, sign me up. Jumping off a cliff? Okay, I'm game.

Sounds pretty strange when I put it in these terms, but it's true. A vasectomy was just kind of expected, so that's what I did. Now I'm paying the price, along with so many others today. I have had about 10,500 people visit my blog since I started over 12 months ago. That's roughly 800-900 different people per month coming to my blog to look at the side effects created from vasectomies. I don't know about you, but that can't be good.

What if these people and myself had chosen to not have a visectomy or vesectomy or however you want to spell it? Imagine how much more peace there'd be in this world. Now, imagine there are 100 more babies born because a vasectomy wasn't performed. I don't know about you, but I'd rather take another child to love and nurture, than dealing with pain everyday for the rest of my life...no matter the financial burden. Especially since PVPS creates such a financial burden, in and of itself.

So no matter how you look at it (or spell it), try viewing birth control through a different lense. One that doesn't depend on what your buddies at work are doing. The trade-off may just pay off for you in the end.

As far as pain goes since my last post, I've had a little perianal and penis nerve pain - it lasted about 10 minutes one night. Probably from too much sitting. I've had a little referred pain in my right and left groin, again probably from sitting too much. We drove up to Pittsburgh (~12 hour drive both ways) over a long weekend.

On the upside, my son and I played some tennis the other day. I didn't notice any pain as a result of it. So that's promising.

Bothersome Right Inguinal Pain

Today has been okay. I feel pretty normal except for this bothersome right inguinal pain. It doesn't radiate into my scrotum, although it does refer directly under by belly on the right side. It's a mix of nerve/congestion-like pain combined with muscle pain. Like I did too many sit ups or took the stairs when I should have taken the elevator. Every once in a while, I get a little knifing-like pain, but it's not too intense. Nothing I think I need to take pain medicine for.

Meanwhile, I had to take a trip to the store to buy more condoms. Did you know Kroger keeps them under lock and key? You have to get a pharmacist to open the cabinet so you can buy them. Isn't that crazy? So in an effort to keep everything on the DL, I went to Tom Thumb instead.

We'll see if I actually get the chance to use them this week. :) If my wife and I do get together, I've noticed a trend. My right side feels better but my left side starts to ache. That lasts about 3 days, then my left side starts feeling better, but my right side starts to ache.

PVPS is the craziest thing. I still haven't decided if I want to go back on the rapaflo. I might try the 4 mg strength, especially if I'm going to be having this right sided inguinal pain. Maybe it is something I can take for a couple of weeks, then stop, then start back up again. I'm not sure what that would do to my body, generally speaking - it being an alpha blocker and all.

But right now, I might just grab a tylenol as I slept pretty badly these last two nights. I think it might have something to do with the pain.

Laying Down Sod

Sadly, I am forced to do manual labor today. I'm not sure how my body is going to react. It's 85 degrees and I have to put down about 40 square yards of sod. Will I be in pain tomorrow? Will I be taking tylenol or ibuprofen? I think we all know the answer to that. But somethings can't be avoided, no matter how much you want to avoid them. Life goes on regardless of vasectomy side effects and pain.

Yesterday was a good day though and so far today, I'm feeling pretty decent. I have about 4 more days of Rapaflo left before I run out. I'll be curious to see what happens when I stop taking it. Will the daily nerve pain return? I just don't know.

However, these last 10 days or so have been welcomed. Except for some intermittent pain, I think I had the most normal 10 days since my vasectomy reversal. I've been tempted to mention the Rapaflo on the forum but don't want to post anything until I see how I do without it.

Still have lots to do, so I better get back. But before I leave, let me give you this warning. Unprotected sex is not worth the pain and suffering that many of us go through after a vasectomy, reversal, etc. Better to just leave that area alone like God intended.

If he wanted us to turn our sperm off, he would have put a switch on our navel. Condoms and the pill aren't horrible methods of birth control. Please talk to your doctor about other alternatives and leave the vasectomy talk alone. It just isn't worth risking. I can't be any clearer. Try reading the forum to see what real people are having to deal with. It will blow your mind.

What's Going On?

I'm getting a little nervous, because yesterday was a pretty decent day. I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I had a somewhat vigorous activity day and I didn't feel but just the slightest of twinges yesterday. Now granted, I didn't do a lot of sitting down. In fact, I was painting pretty much all day. But that usually means I have to take tylenol sometime during the afternoon or evening. To further add to my confusion, I was on the computer for about 3 straight hours last night before going to bed, trying to organize our insurance appeal letter. I was sitting on a pillow on my computer chair, but still, that usually brings a ton of pain.

So, is this just some sort of good day mixed in with bad days? Is it a sign that things are looking up for me? I did take the Rapidflo med, could that have anything to do with it? I took another Rapidflow last night and so far today, things are pretty good.

Regardless, I see this as an answer to my prayers. Even if I only have 2-3 good days to be followed by a couple of not so good days, I'll take it. Then I hope to have 4-5 good days followed by maybe 1-2 bad ones. Then, of course, I hope to have weeks and months of good days, and so on. It's hard to not be hopeful when a day goes so well, but I also have to be realistic (which I hate).

The realist in me tells me to not get on the roller-coaster of good and bad days. However, the faithful and hopeful me wants to take a good day and run with it. I've already been planning on getting back on the treadmill and thinking that perhaps life will become normal again.

I know I speak a lot about this post vasectomy pain syndrome and the side effects of a vasectomy, but it's so true - you just don't know what you're going to get. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who have a vasectomy and don't experience any problems. Now you can have unprotected sex with your wife and not worry about getting her pregnant.

However, what if you're like me and countless untold others who get some kind of problem as a result of the vasectomy? Now your life is completely turned upsidedown. Now you have to take pain medication regularly. Now you have to see your urologist multiple times a year for flare-ups and treatments and tests. Now you can't have sex at all because you're afraid the pain may be too excruciating or you think it may cause a flare-up of your symptoms.

Man, I'm telling you, it's just not worth it. Don't have a vasectomy - PERIOD. Use other forms of birth control that don't have a risk profile associated with it. Continue with the pill and condoms, creams, etc. Trust me, that may be a little messier or may stop down the intimate moments a minute or two, but it's okay.

Sure, the percent of men who have side effects after their vasectomy is low (somewhere between 5-15%), but those of us who do have them, suffer in ways you can't even imagine. Simply go to the forum listed in the links section and you'll see what the conversations are like. Or go to some of the other links and you'll see what I'm talking about.