Decision made this morning: eunuch to be!

[BudleyBare]

Final clearance with the doctor this morning. The surgery had tenatively been scheduled for next Tuesday (May 23, 2006), but it has been moved up by one day -- now officially scheduled for Monday afternoon, May 22, 2006. Current expectation is 2 (possibly 3) days in the hospital.

This time next week, besides having some other minor surgical procedures to correct problems (primary reason for the extended hospital stay), my one remaining (left) testicle will be gone and I will be a eunuch. I still plan to avoid HRT, but will reassess as I go down this path. A future option to be considered is scrotum removal, but that won't be addressed until way into the future.

[EricaAnn]

Dear BudleyBear,

Congratulations on setting the date. My thoughts and prayers will be with you on Monday afternoon. I sincerely hope that everything goes well!

[kristoff]

Dear BudleyBear,

Congratulations on setting the date. My thoughts and prayers will be with you on Monday afternoon. I sincerely hope that everything goes well!

One can only echo the obvious... Good luck, and gods-speed....

[Uncle Flo]

I join everyone else here in wishing you well! --FLO--

[Blaise]

Good luck, indeed.

[Sac_mec]

Hi Bud,
It's getting very close now and you will be aware that there are loads of us
across the planet who are with you in spirit during the procedure and it is so good to know you have a good friendly and 100% supportive Doctor in this.
You have a good team all around. Sending you the best warmest wishes for
a good surgical operation and for a good recovery afterwards.
Here's the very best to you. I'm assuming, I guess correctly, that you won't be sitting up to a PC for a little while. So in the interim be aware that you have all
our solidarity and when it is safely comfortable for you to hit the keyboards, then we'll be delighted to see how you feel. All the very best xx

[BudleyBare]

I am up early this "special" morning. Next posting will be delayed until return from the hospital (there won't be any Internet terminals in reach, natch). Talk with you in a couple or three days from now.

Thanks for all of your support!!!!

[tugon]

BudleyBear as Sac_mec said we are with you in spirit. Please let us know how you are doing as soon as you are able. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

[BudleyBare]

Hi everyone. I'm back home from the hospital as of this afternoon. Immediately went to bed for a couple of hours of sleep. There is pain involved in the procedures that I had done, and so the pain killers and sleeping pills (along with anitbiotics) are warranted. Everything went fine. I plan to provide more details in the near future, but wanted to let all of you know that I am probably one of the newest eunuchs on this web site. The other two procedures were the reason for spending so much time in the hospital, but they went well, as well.

Absolutely the right decision for me. My doctor was (is) great!

Now for some more sleep.......

P.S., for a preview of one comment that I will elaborate on, given what I saw of the testicle and cords removed from me, I would strongly recommend never doing self castration (burdizzos, banding, etc.). It can only be risk prone in the worst case. More to follow.

[Jesus]

Glad to know that everything went fine. It's great to have you back. Take good care of yourself and we'll look for your return to posting.

[Sac_mec]

Best wishes for a good recuperation. It must have been a sort of out of this world experience, certainly a one off experience and congratulations on your outcome. I'll read with great interest about your recovery fromthe surgery and how you actually feel now with your ongoing postings. It sounds like you have good on the spot health support Budley B and that is the excellent. Maybe some time down the road you'll choose bare instead of bear! A nice goal to reflect on
if somewhat of minor importance right now. All the best, Bud

[BudleyBare]

This now is day four since surgery, and first full day at home. The purpose for this posting is to document the sequence of events beginniing last Monday through today at noon.

I did not sleep much Sunday evening/early Monday morning -- presumably in anticipation, and certainly not regrets or second thoughts. Anyway, I drove down of the mountain area where I live and got to the hospital about 10 AM as expected. After check-in, which was only a minor amount of paperwork, I was shown my room, a double occupancy room, that was vacant, and so I picked the bed closest to the door (and restroom). I was instructed to remove everything, get into the usual "open down the back" hospital gown. I did that, and a friend who accompanied me then took all valuables with him back to my home, leaving me by myself.

Shortly two nurses, both female, young, quite attractive, then needed to prep me (meaning wash, shave, an sterilize the area), which they did in a very professional manner. The door to the room was locked from the inside during this time. When they finished, I was again covered back up, and stayed in bed. I was not allowed to have any lunch or liquids of any kind (including water).

Approximately 1:00PM I had guests, my sister and brother-in-law, who live in the same general area where I do. They stayed in the room and we had a great conversation. The doctor had indicated he would arrive about 2:30, which he did, and by 3:00 I was transferred to a gurney and then wheeled down the hall to surgery. Sis, etc., went with me to the operating room doors, and then chatted with the doctor for a few minutes (we all use the same doctor), and then they said some personal things to me and off I went. I have had many surgeries in the past, and so you know when you go into a surgical room because they are always so chilly. I was introduced to the entire staff (something which is normal for the country where I live).

I had been told that I would have an "epi-dural" (not sure of spelling?), which is something I have never had in prior surgeries. I asked, and it was described to me as a "you're awake, but you're asleep; and then you're alseep, but you are awake" type situation. I never knew when they gave me the epi-dural. After what seemed like an eternity (to me it seemed like at least one hour had passed), I asked the doctor (I recognize his voice) when they were going to start. He leaned over so that I could see his face, which was covered with the normal cloth mask, and said, we're over halfway through. That was the strangest feeling I have had in a long time. Not good strange, nor bad strange, but just simply strange. I could not even feel them working on me. (Recall that I was actually having three separate procedures done, and the removal of the last testicle was only a minor part of the agenda.)

After a bit more than 2 hours, the surgery was completed. I thanked everyone, especially my surgeon (friend and doctor), but including everyone there. I then told my doctor that I was going to tell him a joke, which kinda surprised him, but he obliged me, and then I said "Oops, I changed my mind, can you put it back in?" We both burst out laughing, and he shared that with the others in the operating room (in Spanish), which resulted in a huge roar of laughter. I then asked my doctor if I could see the testicle (the one remaing one that was removed from the left side) and the cords associated with both (that were also removed as part of this orchiectomy). He showed them to me. I was surprised at how large my testicle was, and the cords were not what I expected at all. They are much larger in diameter than expected, and not uniform in dimensions. The cords were about 5 or possibly as much as six inches long.

Total surgery time had been priedicted to be 2.5 hours, but actually came in at about 2 1/4 hours. I was wheeled back to my hospital room, and then was moved from the gurney back to my bed, but I was not able to assist at all, simply because of having absolutely no motor control over the bottom half of my body.

During my surgery, another patient had been checked in to the "B" bed, but I slept through the rest of the evening unaware of anything.

Tuesday morning, I was feeling great. My doctor makes his first visit about 6:30 AM. Of courrse, having not moved during the night, I was totally unaware of how much pain was to involved in simply moving. When the doctor arrived, I said I was feeling great, and why not go ahead and send me home. He laughed, and said "as your doctor, I cannot recommend that, and you will shorlty find out why". Boy howdy, did I find out why. Any movement at all was incredible pain. My abdominal wall had been cut in two places, and that is less than a fun experience. Anyway, drugs were begun to make things tolerable, and I was happy not to be going home.

The rest of Tuesday was a difficult day pain wise. Any movement at all let me know with certainty that things had been done to my body. I had a really comfortable and intense sleep Tuesday evening. By Wednesday morning, things were signficantly better, but I was still not sure about going home. By noon Wednesday, it became my choice. I opted to go home, and got home with the help of friends and family by late Wedesday. Total time in the hospital was about 48 hours.

I continued pain and sleeping meds Wednesday evening, and today (Thursday) involved a trip to the local clinic for checking on things and antibiotics via IV. I will stay on the routine for several more days. On Saturday, assuming things continue to go well, there will be a decision about shutting down antibiotics, and then the possibility of removing the stiches perhaps on Monday. I have a total of 40 stitches.

[BudleyBare]

An additional piece of information. I had considered scrotum removal at the same time of harvesting the final testicle. However, readings on EA suggested that might not be a good idea due to swelling. And so, I decided pre-surgery that scrotum removal for me was reserved for some future date.

I am sooooooo glad that I made that decision. There has been substantial swelling, which I estimate to be about 20% to maybe 25%. In my case, the swelling may also have been associated with the other 2 procedures that were done on me during the surgery (and that are geographically very close to the same area).

Now early on day five post-surgery, that swelling is significantly reduced, but still noticeable. Pain is also signficantly reduced, but still noticeable.

I feel great. My only regret is not having done this earlier in my life. (But then let's wait and see what the hormonal changes causes me to think as I get further down this road.)

[Uncle Flo]

I've not been on the boards for a couple of days so it is a pleasant discovery to find that you're home and doing well.Take care of yourself. --FLO--

[Hash]

Congrats! Good to know that you're doing well. Hope the swelling has gone down and that the pain is going away. Thanks for sharing part of your life with all of us, I greatly appreciate it. It's good to hear about the experiences of others. One question, "Are you going to use any testosterone supplementation or are you planning to try things without it?" Hash