In an effort to get some posts together for my upcoming babymoon, I've written some stuff in advance. This was going to be a themed Sunday Surf (see my
Resources page for more), but it didn't turn out looking like one. My husband is scheduled for a vasectomy on Friday, December 16
th, so this topic has been on our minds. (
Article / Link List written on December 11th.)
 They really do recommend a bag of frozen peas. We already bought one for the occasion. Click for photo credit. |
Now, just
a little back story... After having Sasha, we were pretty certain we didn't want any more kids. Or, at least I thought we were. I arranged to get Essure®, which I think is a really awesome option! I was breastfeeding, though, and they wanted to give me a bunch of drugs for the procedure. I opted for an IUD instead. (I'm thinking I need to maybe write posts about those options, too!)
That was December 2009, when Sasha was just a couple months old. Elmo mentioned a couple of times that he'd like to try one more time for a son. I started telling him that once I turned 40, I was DONE. Needless to say, we're pregnant now (by choice... and with a son even!), so we obviously reversed our decision. We're more steadfast in our choice now. We don't want to get any further outnumbered by our children. Economic times are hard. And I'm just getting too darned old for this reproducing business! It is getting to be
very hard on my body.
And so, to avoid the drugs for procedures for me again, my husband willingly agreed (even suggested) to get a vasectomy...
permanent birth control. We both look forward to a
stress-free sex life. No more pregnancy scares! That said, and in case you're interested in vasectomy but want to know more, I've collected some resources for you.
 Vasectomy Brochure, Page 1
circa 1980s |
I'd like to recommend this site first. It is done by a regular guy. His wife took photos of his procedure and he put the site together with them and his own comments. While there is plenty to be said for medical sites and study results, I have an appreciation for getting some of my info from everyday-people with first hand experience.
Also, each page has a squeamish rating offered in advance so you can choose to proceed or not based on your personal limits. I thought that was very generous of the author! He has even written an update since several years have passed since his vasectomy.
Say what you will, I love Wiki! This article sheds some light on the many different options available for vasectomies. We're getting his done through Planned Parenthood, though, and I just don't think most of the options are available to us. I think they pretty much do assembly line vasectomies.
The article does share some scary information on
Post-vasectomy pain syndrome (PVPS). I may need to contact PP and ask them for more details on their procedure (there are ways to help avoid PVPS), but I need to not do it while my husband is in the room. He is nervous enough about the procedure.
This site offers information on vasectomy as well as vasectomy reversal. You can also find doctors in your area for both using this site. This site claims to provide up-to-date trends in the world of vasectomies.
I do note, however, that they say things like "A vasectomy only blocks sperm and does not affect your sexual drive..." because other sites say that
some men do experience a lower sex drive. The site does not deny that there are risks, but the information doesn't jive with the Wiki article... I don't know which source might be more reputable.
Personally, I have to wonder how much of the loss of sex drive has to do with men's ego with regards to their manliness being based in their testicles.
I also got the impression that the site was slamming Essure®... so perhaps this site is all about the financial gain behind vasectomies.
This article was last revised in May 2010. I don't know that there have been many advances in the science of vasectomies since then, but it does seem like it should be revisited perhaps more recently than that.
That said, this page offers a lot of the same information as the other pages, but also offers more detail on some of it. And they somehow manage to do it with less words overall. This page looks like a nice, quick read!
If you're looking for some light reading on the topic, this is not the site for you! If you want details, then perhaps it is. This article is 10 pages long! I like the say this site breaks their articles down into each section. For instance, you start with an introduction to vasectomy. The next page is specifically on the risks. So, if you have a particular interest or concern, you can skip directly to the section that suits your needs.
eMedicineHealth actually refers to this site for more complete information!
How often do you see that on a medical site?? However, this site is for one particular urologist, so it looks like one big ad. It tells you what
they offer, but does have section on risks and alternatives as well.
Had you seen this story? I really don't find it all that shocking. I'm more shocked that it was so quick and easy for him to get the procedure when he was only 29 years old. I say that, but my own husband is 29. Dr. Phil only had one (new) child at the time, though. Elmo has 2 daughters, 1 stepdaughter, 1 son on the way, and is married to a 38 year old woman who has birthed 3 babies so far. Even we had to wait 6 weeks to make sure that
we were sure. We really wanted to have the procedure done sooner and have been planning to do it throughout this pregnancy.
That's what procrastination will get ya. We have to wait 3 months for testing to verify that the surgery is a success.
 Day 64: The Sample Cup ~ by PunkJR |
Oh, also, I spoke with a young female doctor once who said that her doctor father and 2 of his doctor buddies got drunk one night and vasectomized (
yeah, not a word, shut up) each other. Obviously the procedure is
not rocket science.
That really seems to be the extent of what is out there. There are probably some smaller articles, but as far as the real "meat and potatoes" of it (
no pun intended... heh) - that is the list. In case you're debating birth control methods, I think I may soon write posts on those other options I've tried. I've even tried Depo-Provera®.
Remember that I am not a doctor! I am merely sharing with you the information I've found available on the internet from my own research.
Has anyone close to you had a vasectomy? Were there any complications or do they recommend it? Any funny vasectomy stories?
17yo me, sharing a bite with my firstborn