beavercleaver.net - Vasectomy Personal Experience Narrative

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I first started thinking about vasectomy as permanent birth control last April, while seeing a friend Dana Elise at Wilshire Aesthetics a Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Group. I didn't give it much thought at the time, however it slowly made it's way to the forefront of my brain damaged lobes. Long searches on the Internet started to supply fairly standard information on this procedure. However, the more I read, the more I became interested. It seemed easy enough, given that the human testes / vas deferens are external to the body, (albeit encased by the scrotum) and seemed well designed for the convenience of vasectomy. Certainly easier then a female having her tubes tied.

Several things popped into my warped mind, could I find a cool doctor?, would he / she let me film the procedure? Would I be able to locate a local sperm bank? How much of this procedure, would my health care provider pay for? Could I put the information to good use?

Well, low and behold, I found all of the above, and perhaps more.

California Cryobank Inc, turned out to be a good find. Dr. Lefkovitch, turned out to be another gem. If your going to place your balls in someone else's hands, I want to do a little male bonding first. If the doctor was going to be stiff, or have the personality of a paper towel, I was going to walk. Man, not so here. The doctor took 40 minutes of his time during the pre consultation examination, explaining A-Z, and when I whipped out my research, explaining I needed web content, he spent another 10 minutes going over local anesthesia details, explaining all. Then I popped the question...... "Could I please film the procedure???" The answer was immediate, YES, NO PROBLEM. I like professionals who have the backbone, in today's litigious world, to say yes.

My wife however, took a little more convincing, regarding being there on the one hand, and then to film it all on the other.

As we went over the vasectomy research, and reviewed the materials from the pre procedure consultation, she slowly came around.

On the day of the procedure, I went off to work trying my best not to dwell on my approaching cleaving. The good doctor's office called about 9:30am and wanted to know if I could come in at 3:30pm, an hour earlier. SURE, I said, no problem, see you then.... YIKES, we're on a collision course with destiny....

Having left my office early, I headed off to the house about 1:00pm to shower and (I don't advocate the following behavior for anyone else, I bring it up, because it's what I did, your an adult, you do what you do.) drank a few bottles of my favorite beverage, to take some of the edge off being Vasectomized.

By 2:00pm I was feeling pretty good, the stereo was belting out a few JerryJeff Walker tunes, (my favorite Austin Texas band) I was showered, and double checking the cameras and assorted pieces of equipment.

At 3:00 Let's rock and roll. On the way out the door, I popped a 1 mg Xanax®, (not prescribed by my doctor) just to put the final touch on my anxiety.

It's 3:30pm and we're sitting in the main waiting room now, seemingly fairly busy for a Friday afternoon (it just seemed busy to me, hell, I'd never been there on a Friday afternoon before, what do I know.) The Xanax has kicked in, I'm relaxed, taking it all in.

The nurse bellows out, "Kevin, we're ready for you now". Now everyone in the waiting knows I'm here to get my IUD removed. Yikes, this is it, I'm heading down the hallway, voluntarily, to have my sperm tubes ripped from my nut sac. Were in the procedure room now, "Please take off everything below the waist, and lie down here, with this drape, over your waist". "OK, I can do that." "The Doctor will be with you in a few minutes". Heart rate has increased now. The room seems a little warm.

The tripod for the camera is setup, the shooting script placed so that Sabrina, can see it. The medium format camera angles are worked out. Gee's I think were ready. I get undressed and get up on the table. Pretty nice operating table. It, like, goes in every direction. Sabrina, please come over here and raise my back so I can watch...... Oh yeah, that's cool.

AWAITING THE VASECTOMIST

Shortly thereafter we were joined by Dr. Lefkovitch, a young, confident, cheerful sort of a guy. I can't say enough about how thoughtful he was. He explained every step of the procedure, taking way more time than was necessary. He really gave a hands on seminar, on vasectomy. If your looking for a vasectomist, he is your guy.

The entire procedure took forty three minutes, from the time he placed his latex gloves on, until I stepped off the table (as timed on the video.) I must say, that in my judgment, we slowed him down by about half, with our questions, comments, and his detailed explanations. This procedure usually takes the doctor less than half an hour.

I was half sitting, half lying down on top of the operating table with my feet crossed, as the doctor organized his medieval torture tools. "KEVIN, please uncross your legs, it makes it easier to access your testicles.... and remove your covering". After washing the general area with Betadine surgical scrub, a sterilized drape was placed over the area, and my nuts were brought through. A special grounding conductor was fixed to the side of my butt, for the electro surgical unit. The manufacture states that a ground is not necessary for low wattage RF electro surgery and or cauterization (the unit uses radio waves, not heat) however Dr. Lefkovitch uses the ground for safety. The electro surgical unit will be used to make the incision into the scrotum and then into the perivasal sheath to gain access to the vas deferen. Well, this is it, my balls were exposed, ready to go, no doubt about it. I tried to make a mental note of how my balls felt unclipped. From this point on, things started going pretty quickly.

Out came a 10ml syringe, with a 1 1/4" 27ga needle, and buffered 1% Lidocaine. With a very firm grip, my balls were elevated and Lidocaine injected directly below the penis, into the surface skin of the scrotum. (I was a little surprised. It was evident to me, from that moment on, I was going to be clipped, firmly, professionally and quickly. I could run, but not hide.) Slight sting from the needle. Using a three finger technique, one of the vas was brought under the numbed area, and then it was injected. Not bad. Then the other vas in the same manner. Hurt a little more than the other, and lasted about 15 seconds. I could just tell, that the doctor has done this before.

Bang, no messing around, the vas is clamped in the numb skin area. The doctor is using a special ring clamp (pictured on the left) that many doctors make or adapt, because not all vas deferens are created equally. Some are larger in diameter, some smaller.

Using an office based electro surgery unit emitting radio waves, (RF) to cut (or cauterize, depending on the setting) a small 3/16" incision was made thru the scrotum. At the time I didn't realize how high up the scrotum the incision was actually made, because of the surgical drape. The access hole was created at the base of the penis, in the median raphe. Now that it's healed, you can't see the scar at all, (not that anybody is looking.) A second ring clamp was used to grasp the perivasal sheath of the vas deferen, and slightly pulled out onto the scrotum. It was kind of weird to see a part of me, outside my skin.

With a little puff of smoke, another incision was made with the electro surgical pencil, into the perivasal sheath (the outer covering of the SPERMATIC CORD where the Vas Deferen can be found in the center). The sheath was worked down, and peeled a little like an onion, to expose the clear looking tube of the vas deferen. The entire time, I'm watching, talking, feeling no pain, just a whole lot of tugging and pulling going on. It was an odd sensation, because the area was numb.

The exposed vas was clamped left and right, so as not to slip back into the scrotum, while being clipped, cauterized and sutured. One side was clipped, then the other. (Another odd sensation to watch a part of you being clamped and then cut away) The Prostate end of the vas deferen was cauterized and then sutured behind the facia of the perivasal sheath. More tugging and pulling. As the prostatic end of the vas was electro cauterized I did involuntarily twitch, I believe from the current of the electro surgical device passing thru and making the muscles contract from my left nut, on down to my left foot. The removal, cauterizing, and suture, helps prevent the very rare, reattaching of the two ends of the vas deferens. By now, I'm starting to feel a little more than just tugging and pulling. It was a dull pain that started in the middle of the back, moved towards the kidneys, and ended at the balls. Kind of like getting kicked in the groin, only way easier. A little more Lidocaine, and I was better. (just a note from a know it all, who doesn't do his own brain surgery...... I think 2% buffered Lidocaine, would have been the way to go....what the f@#$ do I know) The other vas was done the same as the first, However the testicular ends of the vas were not cauterized or tied. They were released back into the scrotum. Recent literature suggests that fewer complications result with this open ended technique.

DOC & MY CLIPPED VAS

The surgical site was wiped down, antibiotic ointment applied, and then a special shaped band aid. I've been officially vasectomized.

As I stepped off the table, and gravity took hold, my balls were sending the signal to my brain, "we've been messed with, we've been messed with!". It was a discomfort, not really pain. I shuffled over and put on my tight fitting underwear, which brought some relief.

That night I quaffed a few more beers. The ice bag or frozen peas were not needed, however I did down one "LORTAB®", which took care of the minor pain. Later on I did, 1 mg of Xanax®, insuring a good night's sleep. (note: the beer, LORTAB®, and Xanax®, were not prescribed, they were patient supplied, and I'm sure, not recommended...)

I really didn't suffer any swelling, only some minor bruising that appeared on the 5th day and lasted through the 11th day.

Day 6, mowed the lawns, took out the trash, and on Days 7-11 jetted off to San Francisco to see my favorite Austin Texas band, JerryJeff Walker perform. They played to a packed house at the Great American Music Hall. What a show, What a night....

Days 13-18 off to San Diego to see the final west coast show of JerryJeff. Sat in for sound check, and one of the best shows ever. No slowing down here.

I was back having sex starting the second day after the procedure. (had to check and then double check that all worked well) It was kind of a trip, knowing that after every orgasm, your existing pool of sperm was being slowly exhausted. Sex is BETTER. (My friends want to know why it's better. I guess it's because physiologically, you know that you're partner is not going to get pregnant, no matter what.)

If your considering vasectomy, as you can see, I don't have any negative things to say about the procedure or outcome.

GO FOR IT.....

The information presented is not designed or intended as medical advice.