Vasectomies and cycling... (Page 2)

I also had the no scalpel procedure and was good to go for riding 7 days later with no pain.  I did not start running until day 11 and felt pretty good, and everything still works .

I agree with all above about care in recovery and everything working fine. I would add that if you can finangle it: you really ought to get a PARTY!!!

Had mine done two days before my 29th Birthday and the Mrs. threw me a V-Day/B-day party. We had a custom made banner - that you could embarrassingly see from the street - and had a bunch of friends over. I say go nuts (pun intended) - we served meatballs and cocktail weenies, a p3nis cake (complete with frosted bandaids), my best friend made we a 16 song vasectomy playlist (who knew?), and we gave party favors (clackers taped closed, squirt guns with the triggers removed, paddle-&-ball with the string cut). I say you are entitled to anything you can to do to honor your "sacrifice" for the team.

I had mine done on a Friday afternoon and went out with the guys that night.  Never needed the pain-killers.   I wasn't riding those days but think a few days off should do it.

Since everyone else is trying to scare you let me tell you my story. 

I showed up as his last appointment for that Friday.  I got shown to the office and told to strip down and lie on the table.  When the doc came in I was staring in horror at the instrument tray, which had been left exposed.  He saw where I was looking and threw a towel over the four inch needle that was sitting on the top. "Heh" he said, "you're not supposed to see that".

Now, my urologist  shares the practice with his father and they were doing "dueling vasectomies" that day.  They kept calling out to each other where they were in their respective procedures to see who would finish first (dad won).

Top it off, my sadistic doc had a *really* cute nurse come in and clean me up afterward.  Shot up with novocain or not "little wolf" made a serious attempt to stand up and say hello to the nice lady.

All in all the whole procedure wasn't much worse then when I had a seriously ingrown toenail removed. 

When my dh had it done they just gave him a Vicoden an hour before the procedure and that was it, no other pain relief. He said it wasn't bad, the worst part was that he had worked with the nurse that assisted the dr. and he was a bit embarrased that she saw his "junk". The incisions were tiny (I looked) and his recovery time wasn't too long, if I remember correctly there was no PT for a week. 

I have to say that everything works just great and our "after hours" activities have increased since I'm not on any hormonal birth control that kill my drive.

I went back for two tests before the wife got off the pill.  No taking chances here. 

Have to say my boss was a real trooper during the whole thing.  We had trouble getting pregnant so ended up with a fertility specialist.  Leave once during lunch for the initial sperm check (all is fine). Leave early during lunch for three attempts at in vitro (none took).  Finally she gets pregnant the old fashion way.  Ten months later two final episodes of leave early during lunch for the post-snip check.  I'd say I had more fun on my lunch hour that year then any guy should be able to have.   He'd call it "doing your business" as in "go do your business and don't tell me about it".

I know this is a quote from a comedian but I can't help but respond with "Logic doesn't say one is more painful than the other.  Logic says one has a better payoff than the other."  What's the payoff for getting your Johnson caught in a zipper?  NONE.  What's the payoff for the pain of childbirth, multiple times?  A wonderful family, if you're so inclined.  I personally don't have any kids.  :-)

Lisa

Speaking as a father - your second highlighted comment is obvious from the first.

 Zing!

From my personal experience, I agree with the 7-8 days of recovery before riding.  You will do yourself a big favor if you commit to staying off your feet for the first 24-36 hours...and, at the same time, incorporating routine icing of the "church bells" (yes, frozen peas are an excellent choice).

 My procedure took 11 minutes....the doc and nurse literally timed it as if they were competing in some effort to set a new land speed record for nut removal (ok, it's clearly not "nut removal" but I like to claim that it is to my wife).  For the 11 minutes it took for the procedure, I layed on the table as if I had died and rigor mortis set in.  For me, the intitial shots and incisions didn't hurt a bit.  However, the art of "fishing" around, locating, and pulling the tubes out through the incision for the snip felt a bit "unpleasant" to me.  It was at that point in time that I experienced a similar feeling to being socked in the "tomaters".

So...once healed properly, you will find that everything works very well...with no visible evidence of being ....um....down on volume.

I'm not really sure what you meant by the "zing!" or why my second comment would be obvious from my first.  I don't have kids because my husband didn't want any.  He said he did when we got married and then he changed his mind later.  It was a HUGE disappointment for me.  I'm 42, my husband is 52 and we've been married 15 years so it's a little late now.  I love my husband dearly and did not want to lose him over this issue.  So, I have accepted the situation and come to terms with the fact that we don't have children.  But, it does make me sad sometimes.  

To help fill the void, I started volunteering at a summer camp for children with life threatening and chronic illness.  They provide year round programs and take camp into the hospitals for children who are too sick to go to camp.  It's very rewarding.  

I will say that I was honored to be present at my nephew's birth last year.  My sister was in labor 22 hours.  She was in so much pain she looked like she was trying to crawl out of her skin.  It took the doctor about 15 minutes to stitch her up after the surgery because she tore so badly and did not have an easy birth.  It was shocking!!  Therefore, I stick by my initial comment that childbirth is definitely more painful than catching your Johnson in a zipper.   

Congratulations to you for being a father!!!

"Zing" was meant to indicate that my response, much like the comment you were responding to, was meant tongue in cheek.  Hard to indicate on-line snarkiness.

But there is a bit of truth in what I said.  Working with kids, even nieces and nephews, is not the same as raising them.  In this capacity, I speak to my experiences as a child psychiatrist (working with kids, obviously), but also a stint as a girl scout leader (and thus, more "typical", i.e. not identified kids with behavioral/mental health concerns that I am treating), and an uncle. In part, because when the going gets tough, you can always see the end is in sight (either the time the parents are getting the kid back, or the time you are responsible, or whatever). Plus most kids treat their parents much worse than they treat other people (I see this all the time on my inpatient unit). 

While I generally do enjoy my kids, it has been a lot of work, more so in many ways than anything else I do/have done.  I believe that being a parent has made a better pyschiatrist, more so than being a child psychiatrist has made me a better parent.

Your sister's experience also indicates a couple of things.  First, as my wife commented when we were both in medical school, "There are only 2 situations in the delivery room.  Either you don't need to be there [as the doc]; or you don't want to be there!". Second, that while the process of giving birth can be very painful, the process of raising the kids either is itself very painful, or it induces a sort of dementia/memory impairment.  I say this because if you  imagine asking your sister right after the birth if she wanted to go through this "multiple times", I think we all know the answer would be "no" (as is the case with most women immediately post-partum). Yet many people will within a few years choose to do it all again without hesitation!

I was swimming within 2 days, running after 4 and I was back on the bike two weeks later.  I took two weeks based on my doc's advice.  I felt like I could have gpne for a ride within a week, but the doc suggested I hold off at least two.

The "Big V" is really no big deal.