Varicocele Surgery??

SeattleSuz · #1 (**permalink**) 08-11-2004, 09:14 PM

I was just wondering about the Varicocele surgery and how much it cost and how did your DH feel afterwards... Any success stories that anyone wants to share. DH has put the surgery off about 4 or 5 times now, cuz I think he's pretty nervous about it. And if any of you know his history with his Ulcerative Colitis related surgeries, you will understand why he is leary...
Anyway. Any advice or stories about the surgery would sure help!!
TIA!!

ladybug · #2 (**permalink**) 08-13-2004, 07:54 AM

Suz,

I don't have any expereince with this but I looked around in another forumn and this is what a friend of mine said, I hope this helps!

Eden

Quote:
the vericole is a mass of veins in the testicle that can interfere with sperm production. With the mass, it can heat the testicles and inhibit the production and/or motility. Motility is the biggest side affect of the vericole so hopefully if this is definitley the problem, it will be fixable. The way that they fix that is to go in and clamp it. As with any surgery there is complications but very rare to have any. There are 3 different procedures. The one dh would opt to get is the one that day surgery and is the least invasive. It involves only a very small incision and everything after that is done with a catheter fed mechanism. Sounds painful and disgusting to me, but then again....what procedures for women are pleasant and not humiliating?

Fruitsy · #3 (**permalink**) 08-14-2004, 10:21 AM

Suz, My DH had a left varicocelectomy on June 10 for a grade III varicocele (aka large). He did wonderful with surgery and post operatively. He had his done subinguinally and microscopicly (at a same day surgery center). His left testicle was a little bruised and sore because they pull the testicle up to get work on the varicose vein. He was sore for several days following the surgery but he laid around on the couch with ice packs around the incision. By one week post op we were back to normal in the bedroom. We go back in October to do another sperm analysis to see what kind of results the surgery has made. (our 2 pre-surgery sperm analysis counts were 3.7mil, 8.0mil.)
Cost of the surgery... Looking at the insurance papers it looked like around $1500, that's both anesthesia and the surgeon fees. Our insurance covered almost everything..All we have to pay is $150, which I'm not complaining about.
Our surgeon did say on the day of surgery that he had a patient that came in with a sperm count of 1.5mil, following this guys surgery (4 months post op) he had a sperm count of 24 mil. So there is hope with increasing the sperm count....

Good luck to you guys with trying to figure things out with surgery. My husband is so happy he did this not only because of the TTC thing but because his varicocele was causing him pain.. he felt a dull ache on his left testicle almost all the time and now that is completely gone.

Suzanne

#4 (**permalink**) 08-14-2004, 11:05 AM

We were advised that many doctors do this surgery just so they are doing something, when really they should be looking for other issues. What grade varicocele does your dh have? They are graded I (smallest) to IIII (largest).

My dh was told by his first uruologist that he should have a varicolectomy. Then when we went to the second doctor (urologist who specializes in IF), this doctor said that my dh's varicoceles were only a grade I and wouldn't cause such poor sperm. He said that the surgery should only be done on grade III or larger. So now the new doctor is looking for other causes for the poor sperm quality.

Not telling you this info to deter you from the surgery, just to inform you.

countrygirl · #5 (**permalink**) 08-15-2004, 11:36 AM

Hi!

My DH had varicocele surgery on both his right and left testicle. He had two very large varicoceles. He was also very nervous. The surgery began at 7:30 a.m. and we were home from the hospital around 2:00 p.m. He had very minimal bruising. The only pain medication he had to take was Advil. He went back to work within four days (desk job) and was working out again within six weeks.

We went for our three month follow-up in June and unfortunately we haven't seen any improvement yet. However, my dh is still glad that he had the surgery and we are praying for an improvement at our eight-month post surgery appointment.

Infertility is not covered on our insurance. However, because my DH was in pain, they covered the surgery as a medical necessity.

Good Luck!

Julie

jjuhlz · #6 (**permalink**) 08-17-2004, 08:17 PM

My DH had the surgery the beginning of April. He thought he'd be up and around the next day...NOT. He was walking bow legged for a few days and didn't work out for probably 3 or 4 weeks and then just a little. Sex was pretty much the last thing on his mind for a while. Once the doctor told me that DH's penis could turn black due to bruising, I wasn't all that interested in sex either! They ended up finding about a dozen varicoceles, some grade III. DH's issue was more morphology and motility than count. We go back for follow up in October. I would have had him do a S/A sooner but we got pregnant through IVF. Poor DH! Anyway, I told him it's for baby number two. I know on the old boards there was a woman who got pregnant naturally I think two months after her DH's surgery. It seems like it can work but is definitely not guaranteed to improve results. Good luck to you and your DH. I think to be honest with him, it is painful but not unbearable.

Jen

SeattleSuz · #7 (**permalink**) 08-18-2004, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Mandi

We were advised that many doctors do this surgery just so they are doing something, when really they should be looking for other issues. What grade varicocele does your dh have? They are graded I (smallest) to IIII (largest).

My dh was told by his first uruologist that he should have a varicolectomy. Then when we went to the second doctor (urologist who specializes in IF), this doctor said that my dh's varicoceles were only a grade I and wouldn't cause such poor sperm. He said that the surgery should only be done on grade III or larger. So now the new doctor is looking for other causes for the poor sperm quality.

Not telling you this info to deter you from the surgery, just to inform you.

I have no idea what grade his is. It was hard enough to understand what he was saying, cuz he was so upset when he was telling me. He has 0% motility and a very low count. The dr. thinks that the varicocele is causing some of this, but not all. He made it sound very hopeless at the time...

SeattleSuz · #8 (**permalink**) 08-18-2004, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by countrygirl

Hi!

My DH had varicocele surgery on both his right and left testicle. He had two very large varicoceles. He was also very nervous. The surgery began at 7:30 a.m. and we were home from the hospital around 2:00 p.m. He had very minimal bruising. The only pain medication he had to take was Advil. He went back to work within four days (desk job) and was working out again within six weeks.

We went for our three month follow-up in June and unfortunately we haven't seen any improvement yet. However, my dh is still glad that he had the surgery and we are praying for an improvement at our eight-month post surgery appointment.

Infertility is not covered on our insurance. However, because my DH was in pain, they covered the surgery as a medical necessity.

Good Luck!

Julie

Hmmmm... Ours doesn't cover it either. I wonder if he is in any pain from this.....