Vasectomy - what is the recovery period like please? (particularly the first week)

[NorbertDentressangle]

DP is due to have a vasectomy over the summer hols.

He's spoken at length to the doctor and clinic, also a few friends that have had it but there seems to be some vagueness about what he will actually be able to do in the few days-week post op. I think he'd like to believe that he just has to lie down and not lift a finger for a week but thats because a friend told him that he over did it and ended up with what looked like 2 aubergines stuffed down his pants

I'm thinking along the lines of the following during the first week:
-driving?
-sitting in a car for a long journey as a passenger? (as we're wondering about whether or not to go and stay with the in-laws afterwards but it involves a 2.5hr drive)
-pottering around at home involving some non-lifting/non-heavy tasks like cooking etc?
-general dealing with the DC (9 and 5 so not little ones)?

[madwomanintheattic]

tee hee.
dh took a day off work and was a bit tender and bruised (actually v bruised lol - v funny) but other than that it was business as usual. don't let the kids jump on his lap though.

some men do have a few more ishoos, and i wouldn't recommend running or whatever, but there was no special treatment round here lol.

[NorbertDentressangle]

no nads like aubergines then for Mr Attic then?

Actually one of DPs fears is DS ( being a very active just 5yr old) jumping on him!

DPs job is active so he will need to take a week off, hence the idea of going away to ILs

[madwomanintheattic]

hopefully not!

you can always stop the car after an hour so he can get out and have a gentle mooch about lol.

seriously, after a couple of days he'll be just fine. the bruising went after about 6 or 7 days i think. it was entertaining watching it change colour

i know there are a few unfortunates who do suffer with complications, but it is quite rare i think.

can't remember when he drove... i have no recollection of collecting him from the hospital, so suspect he may have driven himself home even...

that's probably pushing it - not recommending it lol...

[NorbertDentressangle]

I know I've got to drive him home afterwards as they've said he's not allowed to.

A friend who had it done said that the waiting room is full of women who have to surpress a snigger every time a man shuffles down the corridor to his waiting wife.

[madwomanintheattic]

my bil is having his today

i might text my sis now for a laugh

i honestly can't remember picking him up though, and definitely wasn't lurking in the waiting room - i would def have remembered that... i'm going to have to ask him later. how on earth did he get home?

that's terrible, isn't it?

[NorbertDentressangle]

Surely you didn't make him walk! {shock]

It was probably more like a sympathetic (male) friend brought him home......not saying you're not sympathetic though

[brimfull]

dh had his on the saturday am and was back working on monday-active job and driving

[madwomanintheattic]

i can't think of anyone that it would have been...

dc3 was only 3 months old though, and had just been discharged from scbu, so i think it would be safe to say that his vasectomy was the least of my worries lol...

sympathetic? there are many many words that could be used to describe my feelings about his vasectomy lol - ambivalent maybe? i had just been through childbirth!!! they used scissors!i can't imagine why i would have been unsympathetic about a quick rummage and snip?

[madwomanintheattic]

thanks ggirl, i don't feel so heartless now

[NorbertDentressangle]

It sounds as DP's mates that have had it done are big girl's blouses then!

(either that or DP is exagerating when hes telling me what they've said )

Funnily enough I did use the "I've been through childbirth twice -how do you think that feels? Like your bits have been through a mangle, thats how it feels.....and you have to get on with life straight away afterwards, no lying in bed for a week...." blah blah blah.

His response was "but you've never been kicked in the balls have you? You have no idea how much it hurts"

[Andthentherewerethree]

dh had a vasectomy at the end of may. he was told to rest for 2 days and not to do any walking other than to loacla shops (2mins away) and around the house. his op was at 2.30p.m and they said lie down for the rest of the day and then the next day was resting with minimal walking and after 48 hours he could drive/walk as per usual, but not to do any heavy lifting or sport for 2 weeks minimum.
i actually went into the room with him when he had it done. its a tiny hole and they leave it open which was a bit shocking and it self heals. apaprently because of how wrinkly it is there are more problesm if it has a stitch.
as said the testicles go a lovedly colour and multiple shades of purple and blue and then yellow. and the wound does weep, dh was given one clen surgical pad and then told to buy cheap thick sanitary towels to place on the wound for a couple of days until it stopped oozing.
other than that he was just told ot keep it clean and dry and to have sex as soon as he felt ready. (6 days after if anyone was curious )
dh had his done on thursday afternoon and went to watch ds2 play football on saturday in an all day tournament, he took a chair with him though and then was back at work driving and fairly physical job on monday.

[madwomanintheattic]

lol at equating being kicked in the balls with childbirth. ok then ducky, i'll grab it here and stretch it a foot, and then get a blardy great pair of scissors and chop it a bit if it won't stretch quite far enough... and when you need physio three times a day for a week because of the bruising and swelling, i'll say 'you have no idea how much being kicked in the balls hurts, eh?'

i love the childbirth v vasectomy discussion. i'm at my most sympathetic. (not)

in fact, if it comes up, you'll likely find me at floor level trying to stop my knackered pelvic floor springing a leak from laughing so much.

but then i am pretty rubbish at childbirth tbh. elastic fanjo i am not. fortunately dh witnessed all three (including the james herriot internal rotation fiasco - both hands ) and knows better than to attempt a 'poor me' because of a wee snip that's all over in about two minutes

hope it goes well and he doesn't lay it on too thickly lol!

[Loulou73]

DH drove himself to the clinic and back and was then painting the next day !

[NorbertDentressangle]

So those of you with DP/DH's that were up and about doing their usual things within a day or two, I take it they're not "man-flu" type?

The (woman) doctor we saw for the consultation made it sound a lot worse than you're implying

[brimfull]

dh is not really the man flu type

self employed so has to carry on regardless of how shite he feels

he does go and buy the entire contents of boots when he gets a cold though

[brimfull]

also i am a nurse so he gets zilch sympathy from me

[Bibithree]

Dh was one of the unlucky ones, ended up with said aubergines and 3 WEEKS off work. He suffered with bleeding and infection and was v poorly in the testicular area. Unfortunately, he still has pain and discomfort now and one of his testes id quite mishapen (well, moreso than before if you can imagine such a thing as an uglier bollock)

However, he knows of at least 3 people who only had 3 days off work and one of them drove himself home afterwards.

[NorbertDentressangle]

pmsl at "an uglier bollock"

I don't think I'll tell him about your DH's experience if you don't mind

ggirl - DP is self-employed too but hes one of those self-employed people that uses it to their advantage and takes time off whenever they feel like it (although I must add, to be fair, that when he does work he works hard)

[expatinscotland]

I can't abide 'man-flu' types.

Buck up, jessie boy!

[loopylou6]

typical bloke. After the first day he will be fine maybe slightly tender but nothing to keep him off work. Do keep the kids from jumping on him though.

[weegiemum]

My dh had his done on the Friday, was pretty wiped out on Sat, bit more like it on Sunday and back to work on Monday (in sitting down job).

Ice, Ibuprofen and very tight pants seemed to do the trick.

He did say that it was only when he got in the door and the dcs ran down the corridor to meet him yelling "daddy!!" that he realised at what level a 3yo head makes contact with your body!

He got a minor infection - oozed a bit - but a quick course of antibiotics cleared that up.

He did come in with a smirk though - he had a letter from the hospital explaining the procedure and the need to have (their bold) frequent intercourse to clear the tubes! Man, he liked that idea. Sadly, I was 7 months pregnant and very ill so it wasn't as frequent as he would have liked!

[madwomanintheattic]

i asked dh last night whether he drove himself back from the hospital. he looked at me like i was stark staring bonkers and 'yes, why wouldn't i?'

he then said 'and i walked to catch the bus to work the next day', so i guess he didn't have a day off work to recuperate either lol...

weegie, dh's letter after the second (clear) 'test' said 'you are now free to abandon all other methods of contraception'. it was the 'abandonment' idea that appealed to him...

bil was apparently walking like john wayne and chugging painkillers yesterday, but otherwise fine - we'll see - he's usually a manflu type so i bet he takes to his bed today (sis is staying at home 'to nurse him') rofl. she's obviously a much nicer person than i am.

[Snorbs]

I had some complications when I had my vasectomy so it did take quite a while to heal properly. I had it done on a Friday and was back at work the following Wednesday, but I did have to be careful for a good few weeks. Snug y-fronts are a must.

[expatinscotland]

Mine won't go get it done.

I'm going to see about referral for sterlisation myself week after next.

And because it's a much bigger op and a GA, which jacks me up, I'm going to be jacked up for a while.

[lemonadesparkle]

Mine had his done in baseport and then drove himself 370+ miles home but then he is absolutely not a man flu type and was circumcised (whilst serving in the Gulf hahahaha) and even then he was back at work within 72hrs . Although he has said that nothing on earth could be worse than that. He mocks his friends who make a big deal of it and pull the whole 'week off lying in bed' act.