V-Day Minus 14 - Initial Consultation

June 8th 2006

Well, I've now been for my preliminary consultation with the Urologist who'll be carrying out my vasectomy, and I must say I found it a very positive experience. Oddly, I felt less nervous this morning, on my way to the hospital, than at any time over the last few days. I guess
apprehension gets its hooks into the mind more effectively when you're just twiddling your thumbs and waiting.

The surgeon was very polite and approachable - asked me if my wife would like to be present, for the consultation, which was fine by both of us. He asked about our background, previous children, etc (none for me, one for my wife), then explained the procedure with some useful
models and charts. All the while he was courteous, and serious but with a nice hint of gallows humour once he realised this was appropriate for both of us (our sense of humour tends to the slightly warped). He even mentioned that it was possible to opt for a general anaesthetic If I
felt unable to face having it under a local. I opted for the local.

Then he examined me. I'd been prepared for some uncomfortable tugging and squeezing around the whole scrotal area, but I didn't feel any discomfort whatsoever - which bodes well, since a couple of people on a.s.v. said the tugging sensations during the actual vasectomy procedure were probably comparable to those felt during the preliminary exam. Happy to report, he found both vas deferens straight away, and said the fact that my scrotum's quite large would help things run smoothly during the actual vasectomy (always assuming it doesn't choose the day of the op to shrivel up tight - I'll try to avoid this by having a hot bath on the morning of the op). He also said he'd provide a tight pouch to keep things secure after the op, but I'll be taking along a spare jockstrap just in case.

His usual operating day is Tuesday (consultations on Thursday), but he sensed I had another day in mind, and asked me about it. When I said Thursday would be ideal he checked his diary and found he was doing a more major op on the morning of Thursday 22nd June. So he offered to do my vasectomy early on the afternoon of that day. So now I'm booked in - turning up at the hospital at High Noon on Thursday 22nd June. I'm booking the Thursday/Friday off work, so that'll give me a few days to take things easy and sort myself out.

I really appreciate the support that the newsgroup has given me. I can understand why people don't find time to log their tales of positive vasectomy experiences. Apart from anything else, it's hard to find much to say about things that go smoothly. But, at present, my intention's to log all my experiences, good OR bad, even if only briefly, for the benefit of the next guy, as it were. So, all being well, I should be posting again on 23rd June (or maybe even on 22nd if things go *really* well, but I'll not hold my breath!).