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Hydrocele Surgery

Posted , 69 users are following.

matt12
matt12

Hello,

I had my hydrocele surgery on February 15th, 2013 in Houston, Texas. I wanted to share my story as I was terrified before having the surgery from all the posts I read.

Mine was on my left side and was about the size of a small grapefruit. I was living with this hydrocele for about a year, but going to the gym started to get quite uncomfortable. I started to show a bulge even in my dress cloths for work. It was quite embarrassing and all I could think about was people staring at me and mumbling "whats wrong with this guy." I am married with my first child on the way so I wasn't to worried about what some single guys worry about.

The day of the surgery I was pretty terrified, I work in Healthcare so being on the other side of the privacy curtain was pretty dramatic for me. I wasn't as much scared about the surgery as I was being put to sleep. I am 27 years old, live in Texas with my pregnant wife. My entire family all reside in Indiana, as we moved down to Houston 3 years ago. I kept thinking "What if I don't wake up?", "Ill never meet my kid", "I wont get a chance to say goodbye to my family.".... I questioned the anesthesiologist for about 5 straight minutes on what I could expect. They put in an IV and started pumping me full of water to hydrate me. This did calm me down a bit, then they gave me some valium. I highly recommend this before getting put out for anyone, this really calms you down. They rolled me into the surgery part, put a gas mask on me and I was out.

The surgery took about 30 minutes and I woke up about 30 minutes after that. Obviously when you come out of being put to sleep you are very groggy and confused. I couldn't feel any pain. I got dressed and the nurse rolled me to my wifes car and we went home.

I had about 10 stitches (dissolving ones) and a drain tube inserted to help reduce swelling. The first day wasn't bad as everything was numb. When I woke up the second day I had a migraine from hell. Probably from all the drugs the day before. It was hard to walk, but I didn't have any problems peeing.

The third day the pain started to come, honestly the stitches never hurt from beginning to where I am now. The pain I had was from the drain tube. Do not be alarmed when you have a lot of blood from the drain tube for the first 3-4 days, its normal. My surgery was on Friday and the drain tube was removed on Monday.

Swelling. Lots of swelling, expect this. Swelling will most likely be bigger than what the hydrocele was before it was removed. Looked like I was carrying around a softball in my pants. It has been three weeks and the stitches are gone and the drain tube hole is closing. I still have some pain from where the drain tube was, but not to bad. I am walking fine and going back to the gym tomorrow. Swelling has gone down, but still noticable. Feels like a hard rock sitting on top of my testicle. You have to remember, the testicles and sac are very vascular. Lots of tissue and what not so you will have swelling and bruising.

The swelling is smaller now than the original hydrocele and it can take a few months to fully go away. They say people can live with a hydrocele with no long term effects other than it getting bigger, but honestly, why would you want to do this? It's not normal, so why risk anything by just accepting that it is there. Get the surgery done and move on. You will be laid out for about 4 days. I was back to work on Tuesday (Surgery on Friday). Let me know if you have any other questions, don't read into all the horror stories. Everybody's body is different and if you have a solid doctor, they will take care of you.

I was asked about costs. I am on a high deductible plan with my wife to keep our monthly premium low as we are pretty healthy people. The doctor fee was $350. The surgery center is where it gets you. For everything it was $4,900. So in total for me out of pocket was $5,200. Fortuantely I have a HSA account and had the finances in that which are all tax deductible. Just depends on the type of insurance you have. My deductible is now met, so with the little one being born all doctors visits will be paid 100% in full for the rest of the year.

Also- Find a good doctor. It's your body, so always get a second opinion. Make sure you are comfortable with the Urologist

Good luck

Matt

9 likes, 148 replies

148 Replies

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  • kenneth95354
    kenneth95354 matt12

    Posted

    Matt,

    Thank you so much for initiating this thread.  You have described valuable experience for those of us who have followed you to surgery, and as importantly, generated an extensive conversation regarding many of the issues faced by others.

  • gopal0608
    gopal0608 matt12

    Posted

    Hi Matt,

    I had b/l hydrocele and grade 1 vericocele (left) surgery 2 months back..and now I can feel that my left testicles still feels hard and little bigger then left one..and some time after bike riding it's started little paining....I called my doctor 2 days back and he said that it happens..you just use warm water in the scrotal area for some days you will get relief..I did the same for 2 days and m getting releif from pain .but size is still bigger then left one..

    Is it the normal condition and it happend with u also?..and when this two testicles will became identical in there sizes...

  • rich1748
    rich1748 matt12

    Posted

    Thanks Matt - your words about a hard rock on top of your testicle sounded like what I am going through.  how are things now?
  • david24060
    david24060 matt12

    Posted

    Many of the surgery experiences related here really give me pause.  I think I will just continue to have mine drained every three months..  At 70 I am more active than ever hiking and the like nearly everyday and don't want the downtime or other issues associated with the surgery.

  • lewis98265
    lewis98265 matt12

    Posted

    Hi everyone.

    I had my hydrocele operation 5 days ago.

    But im still very confused and please help me understand.

    Soo where my stitches are underneath i still have a large hard lump above my testicle which im sure all the strange lumps after operation are ment to have been removed?. Is that correct?

    ALSO my testicle is a lot higher than the other side its a very noticeable difference. The higher side is the side they operated on.

    Will this ball drop or something in time?.

    I just dont know.

    Please help?

    • mark27278
      mark27278 lewis98265

      Posted

      I had a hydrocele removed or I should say drained in December. I had a 1 inch scar and it left a large lump and my testicle was raised. My testicles also swelled up to size of grapefruit, which freaked me out. I went to my doctor and he said that it was normal and I must say, I didn't believe him as I looked deformed. The swelling does go down and the lump disappears and the testicle descends back to normal. I credit wearing tight fitting brief underwear. I tried boxers to let it air out, but when I wore tight briefs it cleared up. Also try and walk a bit as it gets circulation going and helps reduce swelling. The minute that you think it will never be better, it does get better. Hope this helps! 

    • JTee
      JTee lewis98265

      Posted

      Hey this wont be of too much help but I am experiencing the same thing... my stitches were a heavy gauge and are still somewhat in after two months. And I am seeing them slowly loosen but my testicle is still hard and is not moving freely. Like yours sitting in place up high. I saw my surgeon about two weeks ago and he was happy and said I look ahead of healing schedule. I go back in a few weeks for my last post op visit.
    • david83748
      david83748 JTee

      Posted

      Hi,

      I just wanted to hear if you tried to fix the issue where the testicle is not hanging low or did you learn to live with it? 

      Thanks

    • a86804
      a86804 david83748

      Posted

      I had my surgery last week and it looks great just after one week.I am glad that I went for surgery.I don't have any hanging.I would recommend seeing your urologist.

    • JTee
      JTee david83748

      Posted

      Well its been another month and no change. Still hard, not fluid and stays tight in my scrotum. My doctor says it looks good, not sure I agree. 
  • Elvis135
    Elvis135 matt12

    Posted

    Hi matt12,

    If u r still seeing this then I want to ask some questions.

    RZVP

  • bln5165
    bln5165 matt12

    Posted

    After reading posts I was scared to death. But I went ahead and did it 15 days ago. Results:

    A PIECE OF CAKE!!!!

    Absolutely no pain, swelling came down 80% immediately and keeps getting smaller.

    The scar is healing beautifully and it's great to walk around without my siamese twin in my pants.

    My advice: DO IT!!!

  • bln5165
    bln5165 matt12

    Posted

    After reading the posts I was scared to death. But took the plunge and did it 2 weeks ago.

    Results?

    A PIECE OF CAKE!!!

    Absolutely no pain, swelling went down 80% immediately and is still going down.

    My advice:

    DO IT!!!

    • a86804
      a86804 bln5165

      Posted

      Totally agree with you.I was in the same situation after reading some posts here.I went for surgery a week ago.I was little sore which is totally understandable but pain1/10.Swelling almost gone within a week.I would say the same JUST DO IT....
  • mendis_01982
    mendis_01982 matt12

    Posted

    Hi matt,

    I hv done my surgery 2 weeks before, and itz now swollen like lemon and itz hard too. How long it will take to normal size? Now am wearing tight underwears. I was literally worried until i read this. And am planning to meet my surgeon after tomorrow. It doesn't affect on sexual life, right?? Because am still bachelor. Will masturbate makes situation worse? Wen we can start for morning walking after the surgery?

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