What it’s like to get a vasectomy
January 18th, 2008 by Erich ViethMichael Lewis recounts his harrowing personal medical journey in Slate. It was difficult for me to read this account without cringing.
Then again (without getting too revealing), I know someone very close to me who had a vasectomy and it wasn’t as unnerving as the one Lewis describes. Perhaps it was because, in the case I’m describing, the patient chose general anesthesia . . .
January 19th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Michael Lewis is a wimp. Unwanted pregnancy is a bitch. When a couple decide together that they are done having children, then the man should get the vasectomy. It’s a simple out-patient procedure. (Michael Lewis drove himself home, for crying out loud!) It may leave a tiny scar, but honestly, could you *find* the scar amid all the normal wrinkly skin in the area? Tubal ligation is major abdominal surgery that requires a hospital stay and leaves a real scar.
And if someone thinks they aren’t a real man because they got a vasectomy, then they must be either terribly insecure, or not at all familiar with the biology of the situation. Everything still works, you need a microscope to tell the difference in your, um, “output”, and you can be done with pills and condoms.
Sure, there are risks to surgery, but the risks of a vasectomy are less than the risks of tubal ligation. If you need to prove you are a real man, getting a vasectomy is the way to go–what kind of wimp ask his wife to take on a bigger risk and more pain (especially after she’s already gone through child birth!) so he won’t have to?
As for the general anesthesia, that’s not a bad idea. Or at least some valium (if your doctor approves)–deciding to do the right thing and being unnerved at the scalpel approaching your privates are not mutually exclusive.
January 19th, 2008 at 8:54 am
The worst part of my vasectomy was that it was attended by two very young, very cute female med students and the antiseptic solution that they swabbed the area with is VERY COLD!
January 19th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Funny article.
I happened to be reading today about this guy who researched waterboarding with him as his own guinea pig. He seemed to be a tough guy and described the first levels as not as bad as vasectomy or doing a root canal. I also knew people who talked about their experience with getting a root canal done and it must be awful. That’s when I realized that vasectomy must be something nasty. It’s a good thing it’s for you guys.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Wasn’t a deal. Tenderness afterward was an annoyance but that lasted for only a few days. I understand there are better processes that are not legal in the U.S.