Hydrocele Surgery
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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
HydroHelp matt12
Posted
a86804 HydroHelp
Posted
david81801 matt12
Posted
Hi Matt and anyone else that can help with experience/perspective.
I have a hydroceole in the left. It came about after hernia surgery about 1 1/2 yrs ago. It is now about 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2". Yup, a $2.50 avocado. It's not painful but jeees. I've been putting off having anything done because of fear of both pain and further complications.
The one urologist I went to said the procedure involved about an 1 1/2" incision in the scrotum, taking out the testical, removing completely the inner surrounding sack, then sewing it up with a drain tube. She said it would feel like getting kicked in the nuts every day for two months. What a surprise I've put it off, huh?
my questions are: pain level and duration? Procedure? Was yours as my surgeon describes? I'm single and tired of the shock and awe expressed in the bedroom.
Anything anyone has to offer would be much appreciated.
bln5165 david81801
Posted
Get a good surgeon and get it done!
david81801 bln5165
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bln5165 matt12
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How did it go?
apple999 matt12
Posted
restarted..and I am back now to the same size as before the
surgery.
gregg09830 matt12
Posted
After surgery, im sure the pain woke me up... EXCRUCIATING! like I was being squeezed and not let go. The nurses were concerned with tortion, gave me a shot in the ass for pain. It dropped (1-10) from about an 15 to a 4 in a few minutes.
I do not have a drain tube. Every time I feel any discomfort, I rest them on an ice pack, moreso on my left. Other than waking up in pain, Ive felt very little, other than the spikes when the scrotum is touched.
Today I removed the bandages, leaving steristrips on for two more days.
Swelling is minimal. A deep purple bruise is forming on right side of the base and underside of scrotum. My insision appears to be on the seam, hard to tell at this point but its close.
I might try to wear my jock without the cup to see if that supports better than the briefs. I have zero discomfort hanging freely, but to lay on either side, they need support resting on leg or something. They cant sway and sitting is tricky that they arent between the legs! Haha youll do that once!
So far Im happy with the surgery, two days in. When I had my ultrasound for the hydrocele, they found bilateral ungunal hernias. I had that surgery 5weeks ago and the dr found and fixed a third hernia while he was in there.
bruce13735 matt12
Posted
I've had similar experience of pee issue. You should see a doc because at our age swollen prostate causes that and is totally treatable with pills, 30% of older men. Prostate restricts urine flow. I ignored it then got a bladder infection since bladder wouldn't empty out, medicine fixes drip too..
david81801 matt12
Posted
I had my surgery yesterday. My hydro formed as a complication from a hernia surgery 3 years ago. It became the size of a $3 avocado. I was kept in the hospital overnight for observation at my discretion. (I experienced excruciating pain for a couple weeks following the hernia surgery and nervous, very nervous hence the 3 year delay in getting this taken care of). Till now it’s been very little if any discomfort- but this is how the hernia went as well. I have a drain tube but not much drainage. The drain tube is a plastic tube that extends from the scrotum to a 3”x3/4” plastic pouch/reservoir. The reservoir is detachable for emptying. The doctors are resistant to prescribing really strong pain medication as a result of the heroine epidemic. So I got jello and many interruptions during the night, mostly for stuff that wasn’t necessary. If the “discomfort” gets no worse I’ll be very happy.
I will keep you posted.
david81801 matt12
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david81801 matt12
Posted
Hi guys,
More in the continuing saga:
Today is day 4 from the surgery last Friday. The testi in question is all black & blue, is enlarged from its prior state and quite sensitive though not painful. I’m happy to report the pain has been far, far less than expected. I’ve been on Percocet 10-325. I’m thinking about stopping that today. I woke up full of energy and made breakfast and did a couple things and hit a wall. My energy just drained completely. I’ve now got a slight headache and am going to lay down. I’m hoping the healing goes quickly. I guess we’ll see.
david81801 matt12
Posted
Hi,
Its now day 6 from my surgery. Stopped the pain meds the day before yesterday. No more pain just sensitive. Was active to a point yesterday. Get to a certain point and have to stop.
The testi in question is still black & blue, is still slightly enlarged from its size immediately prior to surgery. I would really like to see the swelling begin to subside. That’s it except getting really bored with the hanging around required and the lack of energy.
To be continued...
david81801 matt12
Posted
Now it’s day 9 from the surgery. Just waking up. It’s now back to the size it was pre-surgery, or maybe ever so slightly reduced, (this may be wishful thinking). Still no pain just sensitive. Oh, I should probably mention I’ve been wearing a jock strap and tight underwear usually at the same time. I’ve also been icing it a little, (could have been more disciplined here).
That’s it for now. Still hopeful...
david81801 matt12
Posted
day 16, post surgery:
the size is only about 10% less than before the surgery but it feels heavier. No pain and hasn’t been for a while. I rode my motorcycle today. I’ve also been in the gym three times in the last 4 days doing arms only, (absolutely no crunches, planks, sit ups, etc.), still feels good to get, at least, some exercise It was beautiful here yesterday and I got a very quick dip in the ocean. (Against doctors orders - that worry about infection).
So it seems I’m recovering but am disappointed with results while still hopeful for continued improvement.
Oh details: still using jock straps. Get yourself two in advance and hand wash every night. I usually put regular briefs over these. My thinking is something like the Japanese foot binding. If there’s constant pressure then the fluid hopefully won’t build up.
I ice it with my 1 lb. pack of frozen peas every day now. Can’t tell if it’s helping or not. Also I have some 500mlgm naproxen I’m taking before bed every night to hopefully help with inflammation.
This really wasn’t bad at all though I was terrified prior. As I said, still hopeful for improvement.
apple999 david81801
Posted
When exercising should we avoid abdominal pressure like in
crunches, planks, etc ?
I think jockstraps are a must...perhaps for a long time.