Snip....snip..snip..snip

Ok so we had decided ages ago that we are done. DP wants to go for the big snip, but we have a few questions....

1) did your GP do it or does a specialist?
2) so how does it work?.....see your gp and raise the issue, then get a referral...time frames??
3) costs?? if a specialist does it or the gp???
4)recovery. My DP has a pretty pyshical job...lifting furniture, unloading furniture trucks...so how many days off would he need??
5) DP wants to know if when you go to the gp for the initial appt to ask for the referral as in I want to have a vasectomy...do they feel your balls? (Total man question!LOL but it worries him)

hi my partner just had his done.

we got the gp to organize it with the hospital,
lucky for us the hospital in the town over bulk billed.
Yes the pre opp interview they are required to feel around to locate and assess the vas (thingy they'z snip snipping)

and my partner works it a kitchen and was required to take a week off. No heavy work allow for this week. treat it like a 'sprained ankle' .

My DH had his done in Dec.
1) did your GP do it or does a specialist? Dh had his done through a GP that specialises in vascetomies. He was highly recommended by other Drs in our area.
2) so how does it work?.....see your gp and raise the issue, then get a referral...time frames?? We googled (lol) and called around to find the best place to have it done. Word of mouth and other GP's recommendations are the best way to go I think. Dh had to wait about a month to get an appointment to have the procedure done as the Dr only did them on Wednesdays.
3) costs?? if a specialist does it or the gp??? The initial consultation cost $60 and the procedure cost $250 and we got $170 back from medicare.
4)recovery. My DP has a pretty pyshical job...lifting furniture, unloading furniture trucks...so how many days off would he need?? DH is an electrician and he took 4 days off work (2 of those were weekend). Dh was working on the car and he drove 300kms twice during his first 2 days after. He said it was a dull ache but nothing else. DH was also found to have had a slight hernia which the Dr had to move which DH thinks was where most of the pain was from. DH took 1 pain killer and a panadol or 2 during his days after.
5) DP wants to know if when you go to the gp for the initial appt to ask for the referral as in I want to have a vasectomy...do they feel your balls? (Total man question!LOL but it worries him) Dh didn't get checked over until the day of the procedure.

Some extra info - DH had to shave his balls the day before the snip. He chose to use cream hair remover. DH went to the Dr's and straight away they gave him a valium. After it had kicked in the Dr checked him over and then gave him local anesthetic and performed the snip. It took 2 hours in total to be done, which included the pre op.

1) did your GP do it or does a specialist?

Our GP referred DH to a GP that is an ex-surgeon. He gave us the choice of where we wanted to go and the waiting list was only a week to see this GP.


2) so how does it work?.....see your gp and raise the issue, then get a referral...time frames??

We saw our GP on the 11/02/11. DH got the referral. Rang the surgery for the other GP doing the procedure that afternoon. Had an initial consultation with him on the 14/02/11 and is booked in for his vasectomy next Wednesday (02/03/11). I was surprised how quickly it is all happening.


3) costs?? if a specialist does it or the gp???

DH paid $80 for the initial consultation and got $55 back from Medicare. The actual appointment will cost $500 and I think it is what Lisa said - $170 back from Medicare.


4)recovery. My DP has a pretty pyshical job...lifting furniture, unloading furniture trucks...so how many days off would he need??

No idea about recovery yet but DH's best mate had it done last year and he said one day of it being sore and then he felt fine. Both DH and his best mate have desk jobs though. DH is taking 3 days off and making it a 5 day weekend because he can :)


5) DP wants to know if when you go to the gp for the initial appt to ask for the referral as in I want to have a vasectomy...do they feel your balls? (Total man question!LOL but it worries him)

Our GP didn't but the GP who is doing the procedure did and showed DH where the incisions will be made. DH wasn't phased by it but I reckon it would be pretty awkward for lots of guys. I had to giggle at the pictures DH brought home that the doctor drew for him and the fact that the doctor went to uni for years, completed years of experience as a surgeon and now draws pictures of penises all day long ... most boys in high school sound qualified to do that job :)

Our initial visit with our own GP, he checked that DH and I were both prepared to go ahead with it and understood the procedure and took details like how many kids we have, DH's age etc. DH's consultation with the surgeon was basically the same thing and then he explained the procedure, the risks and scheduled a time for it.


Just in case you were wondering and weren't sure - they have to go for follow up testing 12 weeks after the procedure where they take a sperm count to see if there is anything left (DH will just have to provide a sample). So you have to continue to use protection for 12 weeks following the procedure and ejaculate (love that word) 20 times in the 12 weeks. If they fail the test, they wait for a few weeks and do the test again. Sometimes, it takes longer for some men to get it all out of their system than others. If they fail the test, they may need to repeat the procedure. Apparently it is possible for some men to have more than one tube on each side and if this is the case, they will remain fertile until the second tube is cut. It is really important to do the follow up testing.

The other thing to be aware of is that men still produce sperm, the tubes are just cut to stop it from being ejaculated but it is possible for the tubes to reconnect themselves down the track. Also reversal has a 40% success rate (also in case you were interested). Apparently a vasectomy is the most reliable form of contraception though, even more than women having their tubes tied (or so we were told).

I'll let you know how it goes on Wednesday if you are interested :)

1) did your GP do it or does a specialist?

Our GP referred DH to a surgeon.

2) so how does it work?.....see your gp and raise the issue, then get a referral...time frames??

We went public so we got the referral, booked in with the surgeon and wait until we got surgery date. We went to a small country hospital so DH had his op within 3 weeks. There are private Vasectomy clinics but I don't know how much they cost and whether it's Medicare rebatable.

3) costs?? if a specialist does it or the gp???

It cost us $120ish. That was the cost of the consultation with the surgeon. I think we got about half back. Everything else was free.

4)recovery. My DP has a pretty pyshical job...lifting furniture, unloading furniture trucks...so how many days off would he need??
They usually do it on a Thrusday or Friday and back at work on Monday. If he's doing heavy lifting he might have to have extra time off so he doesn't do any damage.

5) DP wants to know if when you go to the gp for the initial appt to ask for the referral as in I want to have a vasectomy...do they feel your balls? (Total man question!LOL but it worries him)
YES, they did have a look at DH's balls. It was quick lol. You will have to go to the appointment with him, I had to sign forms to say I consented to the procedure.

The dr pretty much explained the ins and outs of the operation, he asked us how many kids we had, whether we'd want more kids later on etc.

Adam got done about 3 weeks ago now!!!! :D

He went to our Doc, who gave him a referal to a GP that does them at his office... got in really fast.

That Doc gave him the madatory "are you sure?" talk... yep, were DAMN sure!!!:p
Checked his testicles, and made an appointment for the procedure.

Procedure......
Dropped him off at 2.30pm... told to come back about 4.30.. he had a local, some fiddling around, and called at 3.30 to come get him!!, All done!

He had one small tiny stitch we could barely see at all, and he didnt even use his pain meds!! They went black looking, but weren't sore.

He was normal in 2 days, and we DTD in 5 days...;)

Would definatly go the "local needle" and no hossy again, it was awesome!!


sorry, cost... $300, got back $170 from Medicare.

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I'll let you know how it goes on Wednesday if you are interested :)

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That would be great Just Me!!

Thank you all for the quick responses. I might book DP into the GP to get the referral soon then. And damn its quite cheap to have it done! Great news!LOL Wish us(ok well him) luck!

DP just asked me to ask another question...does he have to give a sperm sample at any point before the surgery??

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DP just asked me to ask another question...does he have to give a sperm sample at any point before the surgery??

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My DH didn't have to. He has to provide one in 2 weeks time to see if there is any remaining sperm.

Can they take in the sperm sample from home? Like can they "supply" the sample at home or do they have to do it on the spot sort of thing?

And CRAP 20 times in 12 weeks LOL. Thats a lot of pressure on me! I think when DH is ready to do this he will have to do a bit of self pleasure LOL. I don't have that high a libido!

1) did your GP do it or does a specialist?
Dh had his done by a Urologist

2) so how does it work?.....see your gp and raise the issue, then get a referral...time frames??
DH came with my to my 6wk check up after DS2's birth and he got a referral to the Urologist. DH had the surgery done when DS2 was 5 months old, so not long. It would have been quicker only they had to reschedule his surgery and put it back a month.

3) costs?? if a specialist does it or the gp???
I'm not sure, it was done in a public hospital and medicare covered it.

4)recovery. My DP has a pretty pyshical job...lifting furniture, unloading furniture trucks...so how many days off would he need??
If he has a job that physical, then he could need up to a week off work. My DH doesn't have a terribly physical job, and went back after 4 days, but he said he should have had more time off before going back. Mind you this will vary depending on the technique used to do it.

5) DP wants to know if when you go to the gp for the initial appt to ask for the referral as in I want to have a vasectomy...do they feel your balls? (Total man question!LOL but it worries him) no, they weren't felt at that appointment, but they will be felt during the op LOL. One thing my DH did do though was shave himself. He wasn't keen on someone else shaving him down there so he did it before we left for the hospital. Otherwise a nurse was going to dry shave it with a crappy old BIC single blade razor LOL.

With the sperm test afterwards, it is best to have a 'live' sample apparently and he was advised to do it before taking it into the testing place. He never had it done though, we just used condoms for a while then used charting to avoid ovulation. It must have worked though because he had it done 3 years ago now and no more babies for us LOL. I woudln't recommend that to everyone though.

With the cost - I was surprised to see that we were paying so much compared to everyone else in here for DH's vasectomy and I mentioned it to him. He said the place he is having it done had a price hike on the 1st of January from $380 up to $500. I don't know if it would be similar everywhere, but it might be something to keep in mind.

DH doesn't have to give a sperm sample until 12 weeks after. When they cut his tubes, they cut a small section out and will send those off to the pathology lab for testing. I am not sure what they are testing for, DH said something about making sure they removed the right thing :o

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Can they take in the sperm sample from home? Like can they "supply" the sample at home or do they have to do it on the spot sort of thing?

And CRAP 20 times in 12 weeks LOL. Thats a lot of pressure on me! I think when DH is ready to do this he will have to do a bit of self pleasure LOL. I don't have that high a libido!

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I think they do it at home and take it in but has to be within an hour after they produce the sample and there are a bunch of guidelines on that too - organising a time to drop of the sample beforehand, the sample has to be collected within 3 - 7 days of last ejaculation (and days since last ejaculation have to be recorded on the outside of the specimen jar), keep it in your pocket until you drop it off so that it is as close to room temp as possible.

Fun times ...

It is all so different for everyone it seems.

Down our way the only way to get one done locally is via a specialist which requires a referral from a GP. That appointment took 3 months, then it was 5 months after that before DH got the operation. DH's surgeon only performs vasectomies under anaesthetic, as he has had too many men get nervous and have their testicles retract. I believe he had a feel at the appointment, one of DH's work mates went to the same surgeon and he found a lump at that appointment. He is now having that removed. So really it is not a bad thing to have a feel by the doctor.

Only cost was the initial appointment with the surgeon. If we did not go local, then there would have been a 2 hour drive, at least, to a vasectomy clinic.

DH developed an infection in one testicle afterwards and was in a lot of pain. He needed to go on antibiotics and I think that testicle may be sterile now, but hey that is not a problem for us.

this is a question on behalf of my DF

he wants to know after you have a vasectomy do you still cum????

this is a question on behalf of myself, TMI i honestly HATE the smell you get from their cum and the 'leaking' feeling, having a vasectomy does this change the smell to their cum IF they do still cum???

we are thinking of having a 3rd then him getting this done, but he was asking me Q's about this earlier and said i shall find out, i think its so he has alot of time to prepare for this

also PB can you please PM me the details for the GP you used for your DH since we are in the same town!

Yes they still cum. Honestly I have found no difference to amount, colour, etc. It is just the sperm that is blocked from getting through, not the rest of the ejaculate.

ok thank you astrid!!

I shall pass n this information to him tomorrow morning!

Well, I said I would come back and write how DH's vasectomy went, so ...

DH didn't end up having a vasectomy until today. We had it booked in February, two weeks after my c/section and decided it was too much stress until I had recovered so that at least one of us could drive. So we rebooked it for late March and the day he was meant to have it I got really sick with gastro and couldn't get out of bed and then we have just been busy ... BUT today, finally, DH had his vasectomy.

He had it about 10am and the apart from some abdominal muscle pain, he feels fine. No other pain or soreness. The abdominal pain is because the doctor pulls on the tubes to make sure he is cutting out the right thing. A piece of tube from each side is sent off to pathology and the tubes are tied off with nylon cord that doesn't dissolve (to make a reversal easier apparently). DH said the doctor forgot the anesthetic for the one side when he was doing the tubes so he could feel the tugging quite painfully but only for a second and couldn't feel anything on the second side.

It hasn't stopped him doing any of his normal daily activities so far. He didn't work this afternoon but he has taken the whole week off - not for his vasectomy just because he needed a bit of a break and time to get his head together. He booked his vasectomy because he was having the time off anyway. The doctor told him lots of guys drive home after the procedure and some even go back to work.

It really doesn't sound that bad. I'll let you know how DH goes over the next few days. The stitches will take a few weeks to heal and he has to have a follow up test to check that there is no sperm but apart from that, 48 hours and he should be completely normal.