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7/5/07 02:30 am
Okay, so I've been working on posting a real update for about a month now - and hopefully I'll be able to get that out of the way before I leave for Chicago in a few days - but I just wanted to get this out of the way now.
I got a vasectomy saturday morning. Ranking somewhere inbetween "going vegan" and "dropping out of school" on the list of best ideas I've ever had, this is a huge deal for me - it's something I've been thinking about for years, and a choice I firmly believe should be considered by every male in this culture. I feel like most of you know me well enough that I don't need to explain why I did this, and it's definitely not my intention to use this as a forum to debate the ethical irresponsiblity of birthing children, so I'll just offer my personal experience with the hope that I can strongly encourage my male friends to consider surgical sterilization as an option, and to show them that, no - it's really not that bad.
I should get this out of the way first: Thanks to having a brother who owns a medical clinic, I was able to sidestep the most inconvienent and tedious part of the vasectomy process - attending "consultation" after "consultation" and having ignorant old men question my sincerity, doubt my capacity as a young person to make informed decisions about my own reproductive future, and ask that I "wait a while". I'm forever indebted to my brother for sparing me this insult.
The surgery itself was virtually painless, save for about 10 seconds when my vas defrens were in a set of clamps that made me feel like someone was attacking my abdomen with a sledgehammer. That passed immediately though, and I got to watch my tubes be pulled outside of my body, cut open, and burned - none of which I felt. When all was said and done, the set-up, procedure, and clean-up took less than an hour - and all I had to show for it was a tiny little inscision, some minor brusing, and a small plastic bottle containing pieces of my vas. I went home, nestled up to a couple ice packs and slept off the next 6 hours.
The four days following were spent entirely inside, and passed fast thanks to text messaging, "rolling nowhere: on the rails with america's hobos", and my housemates' collection of "scrubs" box-sets. I'm starting my sixth day with little more than a dull ache and a small scab, both of which should be completely gone by the end of the week.
By no means is it pleasant to endure 5+ days of that "i-sat-down-on-my-bike-seat-too-fast" feeling, but the pain subsides when I begin to consider the far more agonizing potential alternatives: casting aside the next 20 years of my life, putting someone I care about in the position of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, or bringing more humans into this world. Yikes. No thanks.
xxx
I got a vasectomy saturday morning. Ranking somewhere inbetween "going vegan" and "dropping out of school" on the list of best ideas I've ever had, this is a huge deal for me - it's something I've been thinking about for years, and a choice I firmly believe should be considered by every male in this culture. I feel like most of you know me well enough that I don't need to explain why I did this, and it's definitely not my intention to use this as a forum to debate the ethical irresponsiblity of birthing children, so I'll just offer my personal experience with the hope that I can strongly encourage my male friends to consider surgical sterilization as an option, and to show them that, no - it's really not that bad.
I should get this out of the way first: Thanks to having a brother who owns a medical clinic, I was able to sidestep the most inconvienent and tedious part of the vasectomy process - attending "consultation" after "consultation" and having ignorant old men question my sincerity, doubt my capacity as a young person to make informed decisions about my own reproductive future, and ask that I "wait a while". I'm forever indebted to my brother for sparing me this insult.
The surgery itself was virtually painless, save for about 10 seconds when my vas defrens were in a set of clamps that made me feel like someone was attacking my abdomen with a sledgehammer. That passed immediately though, and I got to watch my tubes be pulled outside of my body, cut open, and burned - none of which I felt. When all was said and done, the set-up, procedure, and clean-up took less than an hour - and all I had to show for it was a tiny little inscision, some minor brusing, and a small plastic bottle containing pieces of my vas. I went home, nestled up to a couple ice packs and slept off the next 6 hours.
The four days following were spent entirely inside, and passed fast thanks to text messaging, "rolling nowhere: on the rails with america's hobos", and my housemates' collection of "scrubs" box-sets. I'm starting my sixth day with little more than a dull ache and a small scab, both of which should be completely gone by the end of the week.
By no means is it pleasant to endure 5+ days of that "i-sat-down-on-my-bike-seat-too-fast" feeling, but the pain subsides when I begin to consider the far more agonizing potential alternatives: casting aside the next 20 years of my life, putting someone I care about in the position of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, or bringing more humans into this world. Yikes. No thanks.
xxx