Update and a Look to the Future

It's been a while since my last blog here and I'm not sure entirely why. There have been lots of things going on...perhaps I'm just a little burned out on the subject. Everytime I blog, it puts the problem square in my face again. But here is a rundown on what's been going on.

My wife and I were intimate. Yea! It had been a long time. Turns out, she was afraid to be close to me for fear of hurting me more. So as a result, I had a 2-3 month period of celibacy. After our time together, I started having random pain in my groin:( - very disappointing to be sure. Now, a week later, things are settling down. I took a day or two off with the athletic supporter and I believe I'll stop wearing it to bed and see what happens. It is pretty restricting and uncomfortable.

I've had to take a lot of ibuprofen and tylenol in the last 10 days. It seems like I'm taking something every two days to help with the chronic nagging pain.

I've noticed a change in my PVPS since it first started. I no longer get those extreme knifing pains as regularly as I did before. That's a plus. However, this constant racking pain and myriad of sensations in my groin, which never stop, is quite annoying and new. It's like the acuity of the pain has gone down, but the chronic nature of it has gone up. I can't say which I like better or worse.

I've really been giving a lot of thought to having targeted neurolysis done. That is where they cut the nerves to your groin that cause all the pain. Problem is, it isn't always successful in getting rid of the pain.

But first things first. I need to see a urologist and get this racking pain evaluated because I haven't really heard of PVPS sufferers having this type of pain. Makes me think it's mechanical in nature rather than nervey.

That's the update and what's going on with me and my constant struggle with PVPS.

Bad Cycle Redefined

Well, I'm still worried. Last night a took my post-op heavy hitter pain medicine. It helped with the pain, which also helped me relax. I didn't sleep well last night and the muscles in my legs and backside are a little sore. Weird, huh? Not sure why that is the case. My last walk was a couple nights ago. The temperature was something like 38 degrees outside. Maybe it was too cold and my muscles are revolting. I'm not sure.

Anyway, it seems I am in a bad cycle right now. The pain is still there. It still feels a little congestive, kind of like my epididymous is reloading with swimmers after our recent flurry of activity in the bedroom. I'll take another hot shower today and I'll try to walk also. Nothing crazy though, just a flat easy walk to get my legs moving a bit. Maybe I'll try to warm up my legs inside the house before I head outdoors this time.

My symptoms today are still a lot of right sided inguinal/groin pain, referring all over the place. The left side has had a couple of twinges too, but the right side is by far the most active. The pain seems to be radiating up into my right abdominal area, over on my side - above my pelvic girdle. I'll try to lay down today and limit the amount of standing/sitting I do.

Oh and on a side note, my kids have been great. They've really been pitching in and helping me so I don't have to exert myself too much. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family. Thank you Jesus!

Sadly, I'm Not Surprised - Just a Little Disappointed

So after I blogged yesterday, about how I was feeling better, it happened. I began to have knifing nerve pain on my left inguinal side. I haven't had that kind of pain over there in quite a while. But as I continue to discover, this fickle syndrome has a mind of it's own. It likes to leave you guessing.

I thought the pain would strike and then disappear. It likes to do that, keeping me on my toes, so I won't know when to expect it next. However, this time, it was pretty much continuous. Non-stop knifing pain in my left inguinal area. Finally, I had enough. I remember someone on the forum telling me that he takes pain medicine, even when the pain is tolerable. He says, "Why sit there and be in pain if the medicine will take it away?". So armed with that information, I took 2 tylenol. Like magic, the pain was gone in about 1 hour. I had a restful nights sleep and woke up this morning with only a slight remnant of the pain. Kind of like an aftershock. I can tell something is there, but it's not painful.

Score one for post vasectomy pain syndrome. It got me yesterday quite unexpectantly. This just goes to show me that I'll never be completely out of the woods, with regards to pain. That kind of information can break you down mentally. Knowing that pain will be your constant companion. However, the verse..."Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world" keeps playing through my brain. Maybe I'm being taught how to be an overcomer in the face of adversity. I usually just crumble and become a sad sack of suds reaching out to anyone who will show me a little sympathy.

So I need to get my act together and not allow this PVPS to define me or what I do. Sure, it may change how I do things, but I should still be able to do things.

By the way, I didn't stretch out last night or do any "exercises" just in case that was contributing to my pain. I think I'll go for a walk today and do some light stretching, minus the leg lifts and pelvic tilts.

Take Two Tylenol and Call Me in the Morning

Before I went to bed last night, my left side was continually aching. So I decided to take a couple of tylenol before bedtime. I also had a slight twinge of nerve pain on my right side, but it was very brief. I also did some stretching out before bedtime to see if that would help in some way.

After spending so much time in the car, the stretching felt good. I'm not sure if it helps my testicular pain, but my legs and back felt better afterwards. I woke up this morning and my left side didn't hurt, although, I can "sense" both testicles. What I mean by that is, they don't necessarily hurt, but rather I can tell they're both there.

Now as I type this, I am having a prickly sensation where my scrotum meets my groin on the right side. It feels like pins and needles. Yet another new pain/sensation. It is rather bothersome, like something is biting me down there. So if you needed another reason not to have a vasectomy, here it is - the never ending list of weird pains and sensations in and around your scrotum.

We'll see what this day holds for me. I'm going to go for a little walk around the neighborhood and do some stretching. Hopefully, today will be a good day, Lord willing.

Weekend and Ready for a Set-Back

The weekend is here, which means a little yard work, a little errand running (in the car) and a little more activity than I've grown accustomed to. All that translates to more pain on Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesday.

Think I'll make a pre-emptive strike and take some tylenol right now. I just got back from Home Depot with flowers and yard stuff. We're trying to get our house ready to sell, so we have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks, before we put it on the market. Anyway, after unloading the stuff and digging a small outline around a flower bed, I started feeling the pain in my inguinal area. No surprise. Hopefully, the tylenol will kick in.

One of the problems is, I don't know if I'm hurting myself more by doing work. When I feel pain, is that a signal that I should stop or can I keep going? Right now, I've been treating it like a stop sign. I go back inside and put my feet up on the recliner hoping I don't have to take any pain medicine. Maybe I'll try to just fight through some of this with pain medicine and see what that brings me.

Oh and by the way, the puffy thing on my left teste that was hard a couple days ago, is back to being soft again. What's the deal with that? Also, my wife and I haven't been together for about 2 weeks. I'll be interested in how things go - pain wise - when we connect next time.