[sarha81]

My account of varicocele repair surgery for any couples thinking of this option:

DH and I left the house at 6:30 a.m. last Wed, drove two hours to (awesome) Yale U. Hos., where they put a gown on him and went over his medical history. The surgery prep took about two hours and then they whisked him to the OR room while I waited nervously another 1.5 hours alone. The doc told me it went well and that DH was a good candidate because of his "big veins," so that was all good news. When I saw DH next in recovery, he had woken up from the anesthesia and was in a LOAD of pain, and he had a one-inch cut on his pubic area. (I'm so glad this was his idea, else I prob would have felt very guilty for being the reason for his pain.) The drive home was long and he was cranky or asleep, I preferred asleep.

The next few days, he was up and moving around, slowly. Day 2 we DTD to make sure all was working and i'm happy to report it worked, lol.

DH had a lot of swelling and day 3 brought a lot of bruising. He missed four or so days or work because his job involves heavy lifting. His mood was ok.

Then he was back on roofs, hammering nails yesterday and came down with an infection, we think. 103 fever this a.m. The doc put him on meds and the fever has gone away.

I'm really nervous about the medical bills (anyone have any info to share?), and I can't help but think IUI would have been way less painful and maybe have produced faster results. But this was what DH wanted, and I make sure I remind him of that :-)

[wishfulgal]

DH's varicocele surgery was 100% covered by insurance (we had met our deductible) so the cost wasn't an issue for us. DH was sore for a few weeks but other than that it was a pretty simple procedure for him. He and I are both glad he had it done

[ajs0810]

DH had his surgery 2 weeks ago (bi-lateral) and had a similar experience - tough time for the initial 2 days but slowly he's right back to normal routine, including lifting and playing with our 2 yr old. Surgery was also DH's choice (covered by insurance) even though RE said while we could try IUI, she was pushing for IVF due to greater success rate. For now, we are seeking a 2nd RE opinion and taking one day at at time hoping his SA improves in March ... unfortunately time is not on our side as we both just turned 40 so we may well end up at IVF. (we conceived #1 on first try at 37, got pg again on first try at 39 but m/c at 7 wks ... and now we are at 8 mos trying w/no luck).
I really appreciate and am grateful for reading other's experiences with DH varicocele and what choices they are making - so helpful as we try to navigate our own choices!

[sarha81]

Thanks for posting ladies!!! I also like reading about others' experiences, and your info is priceless. ajs, I hope you get good news in March!

UPDATE: DH is still home sick with a fever despite being on meds for an infection since Monday. The wound is just swollen and pink —*not signs of infection. He's also coughing, so we're hoping the fever is not from the surgery, but the flu. Poor guy!