vasectomy reversal? update in post 15

[wifecat]

My husband is having post vasectomy pain, and has been on and off since the procedure (2.5 years ago). It's getting worse, and he's going in to see a doctor.

One of the treatment methods is a vasectomy reversal, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has been through this, has advice, can tell me how much it might cost (looks like most vasectomy reversals aren't covered by insurance, even if it's pain-related).

TIA!

[aa2mama]

Well, DH had a vasectomy reversal due to pain from his vasectomy, but it was before we were together. It did resolve the pain from the vasectomy. It was many years ago so I don't know what the cost would be, but I will try & hit him up for any advice or considerations.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

no BTDT or advice but just subscribing to this thread bc my DH has mentioned that this is one of the reasons he's worried about getting a vasectomy which we are really considering now. People always joke that guys are afraid of the procedure itself but i guess it seems there are more long-term consequences as well.

[lil_acorn]

A coworker had a reversal - it was unsuccessful (for fertility, not pain related) but cost $10k

Hope your husband feels better!

[meggswife]

My husband had a reversal in 2006 with Dr. Finnerty in Washington state. Dr. Finnerty did a wonderful job and was very kind. The cost was around $3,500, (I'd have to look it up to be exact). Back when I was researching, costs ran from $1,800 (or so), to $10,000+. There is a lot of info out there once you start looking. We chose Dr. Finnerty based on cost, location and success rate, (we wanted more children). I am expecting my third reversal baby, so I'd say the procedure was pretty successful. If you'd like any more info, please let me know.

I'm sorry your husband is experiencing pain. Vasectomies can have a number of negative side effects. They are generally touted as easy and safe, but there are quite a lot of problems that can arise after the fact. :(

[wifecat]

Meggswife, I'd love more info! We are looking into it because of pain, but our life circumstances have also changed since we made the choice to have a vasectomy and we're open to having more kiddos, so if we're going to have the procedure done, I'd like for it to be successful in terms of fertility as well as in terms of pain. $10,000 really isn't in our budget, and my husband has an appointment with a local doctor. Would you suggest just calling around and asking for price quotes (I feel like I'm shopping for a used car!) or did you find support group sites or??? Any info is appreciated.

For the other mama's interested, my initial research shows about 10% of men have residual pain issues. We knew pain was a possible issue before we elected to have a V, but it seemed like so many men had them without issue, so it seemed worth the risk, and we really thought our family was complete.

[joonbug]

DH had a reversal in 2008 and we had no trouble conceiving afterwards (as you see in the siggies, DD was born in 2009, conceived mere months after the VR). We were extremely lucky as it was covered by the insurance and done at a local va hospital. I was very skeptical, there used to be a very active VR board on ivillage and all the successful VR were the costly ones..

[megs4413]

no BTDT or advice but just subscribing to this thread bc my DH has mentioned that this is one of the reasons he's worried about getting a vasectomy which we are really considering now. People always joke that guys are afraid of the procedure itself but i guess it seems there are more long-term consequences as well.

FWIW, my Dh just had a "no-scalpel" V done and is absolutely fine. he is less than 2 weeks out and says he feels "totally back to himself." He's had an orchiectomy in the past and that was much more traumatic, but has no residual pain from that either.

[twowhat?]

Huh. Subscribing too since I want DH to get one...but now I'm not so sure...

[pb&j]

Are you positive the pain is due to vasectomy?

DH had post-V pain for months afterward. Turned out he had two hernias. Had them fixed; no more pain.

[wifecat]

We don't know. He has a doctor's appt scheduled next Fri. It seems like a logical conclusion because it matches post-vasectomy-pain-syndrome (pain is intermittent; worse with sex or vigorous physical activity) but we'll see what the doc says! It's been going on for 2.5 years and is getting worse.

[aa2mama]

Ok, I talked to DH and this is what he told me:

1) He struggled with post-vasectomy pain for approximately a year and did alternate therapies before the reversal, such as antibiotics, etc.
2) The reversal procedure was much more invasive than the original procedure. The vasectomy was done in the doctor's office. The reversal was done in a hospital as an outpatient under general anesthetic.
3) Insurance covered his reversal. He had to get pre-authorization from the insurance company. If they agree to cover it, he highly recommends getting it in writing. His insurance ended up disputing it after it was done, and he had to submit quite a bit of documentation in order to get them to cover it as originally agreed. In the end, they did cover it, though.
4) The reversal completely resolved the vasectomy pain issues, so he is glad that he had it done.
5) His sperm count was lower after the reversal, but he was told that he could father children. He and XW tried unsuccessfully to conceive for several months (less than a year) before they called off TTC. Since our family is complete, we haven't TTC.

ETA: DH's post-vasectomy pain was better with intercourse so that is one difference from your DH.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

FWIW, my Dh just had a "no-scalpel" V done and is absolutely fine. he is less than 2 weeks out and says he feels "totally back to himself." He's had an orchiectomy in the past and that was much more traumatic, but has no residual pain from that either.

thanks for this! i will have to show DH this thread, very informative.

[wifecat]

thanks for this! i will have to show DH this thread, very informative.

Dh felt fine for a a few months after his no-scalpel V. Intermittent pain then began. Now, it's bad enough that he asked me to do some research and get him an appointment. My research was what led me to think post-v pain and that reversal might be the best solution...

[wifecat]

Just an update - dh went to the appt and the doctor basically said his pain was pretty insignificant and not worth doing anything about. Take some advil. Deal. He said some guys will basically jump 6 feet in the air when touched, and that's when it's definitely time to do something.

If we want to do the vasectomy reversal, it's about $6000 (at that office) and not covered by insurance. They said there's about a 70% chance of a return to fertility.

Dh is pretty on board with doing it - he's ready for a 3rd. Turns out, I'm the one on the fence. Probably another post coming about that shortly. ;-)