Flying Back Home the Day Afterwards – Nov. 2nd

FOLLOW-UP APPOINTMENT:
The following morning we went back to the office so that Dr. Hickman could take a look at everything and make sure there were no problems. He said that a small percentage of patients could get a “haematoma” which is basically a collection of blood that forms inside the scrotum (more frequently with vasectomies). When I looked it up later, it appears that it makes everything swell up quickly with lots of bruising and lots of pain. I didn’t have one (I wasn’t really worried that I did, since I felt fine), but he said I would know if I had one. We finished with a quick Q&A session and 10 minutes later were on our way back to the airport.

BREAKFAST:
We stopped at a shopping center and went to a Panera so that we could eat breakfast and also (more importantly) to answer nature’s call (sorry, Panera). In retrospect, I probably should have taken a Colace or something the previous day to help things go a little smoother, but I was still able to take care of business without popping a stitch. Also, their Turkey BLT is a good sandwich.

AIRPORT:
To avoid trying to take a large step on and off of the rental car shuttle, my wife dropped me off at the airport entrance and I lounged around inside a bookstore, where I could lean on things and sit down (more because I -knew- I should sit down, rather than because I -needed- to). She dropped off the rental car, took the shuttle back, and we stood in the security line for about 30 minutes (there’s a lot of military that flies through San Antonio) before I could sit down again. This entire time, she was hauling around 2 backpacks and her purse while I walked/limped beside her, looking like a jerk to everyone else. Fun times.

Dr. Hickman had given us a letter to give to the TSA to tell them to be careful if they needed to pat down my body for any reason, but I didn’t seem to need it.

AIRPLANE RIDE:
We had a bumpy ride back, but neither the sharp take-off, the bumpy ride, nor landing (with the hard braking) seemed to really affect me much. That said, I had taken one of the painkillers and the Advil dosage prior to the plane, so that may have helped.

HOME AGAIN / THE WEEKEND / SWELLING:
Not being able to lift, push, pull, or anything else over 15 pounds is pretty restrictive, so I ended up just laying in bed for the entire weekend. It was Saturday before I remembered that we needed to put ice or frozen veggie packs to reduce swelling, so things down there swelled up to the point where it looked like I was carrying around two plums. The right side was much darker than the left side (although it had the larger granule that was removed, which is probably why). At one point, it was nearly black all over (and you thought blue balls was bad), but still relatively no pain.

I started putting packs of frozen peas on, 15-20 minutes per side, but it didn’t seem to do much by the time I had started doing this. Still, it was probably better than not doing it. I then read that I was only supposed to be doing it for up to the first 72 hours, so I stopped on Monday.

THE FOLLOWING WEEK (SHOWERS, RESTROOM, AND NATURAL REACTIONS):
Over the course of the following week, swelling SLOWLY reduced and normal color began to return. I had some cramping and some tightness every once in a while, but nothing terrible or long-lasting.

I did continue to take one Colace per day for the first week, which definitely made things easier in the restroom.

I felt increasingly better over the week, and I started having to force myself to remember that things could still pop/snap/etc… and force myself to not do certain things. I’d already done a couple of no-no’s just off pure reaction (moving quickly to catch something that was about to fall, etc…), but for the most part, I’d been good. It would’ve been nice to have a walk-in shower, but I was still able to get in with relative ease. My wife helped towel off my legs afterwards and put socks on, etc… anything that would normally require me to bend over all the way.

SEX AND STUFF:
I’ll be blunt, having to go three weeks minimum without any ejaculation is a little tough when you’re married (recently or not). I wasn’t doing anything proactively to encourage erections, but you can’t always control dreams nor natural body behavior, so I had to just wait it out whenever I had an erection. I hate cold showers with a passion, so waiting it out and focusing on something else was the better option. Still, I was thankful that everything was still working and responding!