Let's get caught up first. It's summer
now, the weather is heating up, but is not yet at the point where
everything outside is terrifying. Casey is still a baby, and still
doesn't do much, but she smiles a lot more now, especially if you've
been away at work for a while and you come back and look her in the
face. She likes that. Tyler is still three, so he's mostly a big
jerk, but sometimes he runs up when you're leaving day care to make
sure to give you one last hug, and that's pretty nice. Also I got a
new desktop computer.
Jessie decided, because she is a crazy
person, that all of the faucets in the house needed to be changed. I
attempted to change one of them, and then we hired a plumber. Which
was nice, because they also swapped out all the angle valves in the
house, which were all getting old, so that we don't have to worry
about that for a while. It took a professional most of a day to get
that done. I don't even want to think about how long it would have
taken me. Money well spent.
Still working at the same
job...starting giving myself injections of medicine and I'm getting
used to the needle...got new phones that are very fancy and
nice...starting to exercise again though my three mile pace is still
really slow...yeah that about catches us up.
Monday I went in to see a Urologist
named Dr. Chopp. I picked him because I wanted to get a vasectomy,
and if you were going to get a vasectomy, I can't imagine why you
would pick anyone else in the world to do it. After a quick
consultation I decided to get the procedure done on Thursday. Quick
turnaround on these procedures, let me tell you.
They offer you a 'mild sedative' if you
have someone to drive you home. I wasn't sure what it was going to
be, but it turns out they just gave me a couple of Zanax. An
anti-anxiety medicine. If this is ever an option for you, take this
medicine. I did, and am very glad.
The physical process of a vasectomy
isn't that interesting, or hard to figure out. They go in, make some
tiny cuts, stitch things together and you walk out under your own
power. That's not the rough part. The rough part is laying down
while a man takes sharp instruments to your most instinctively
protected regions. It's panic-inducing. It's scary. I was lying
there mostly just trying not to think about what was going on,
especially when I felt stuff...moving. It didn't hurt bad, just a
sting from the numbing agent. I did ask for a little extra after one
of the snips felt a little harsh, but that's it. It's just laying
there, thinking about what's going on. Trying not to move. Trying
not to panic. I ended up humming the spider man theme song to myself
a few times. Fortunately the procedure doesn't last long, but it's
scary.
Later that night, I just was brushing
my teeth and thinking about the surgery a little bit. Just thinking
about it, hours later, almost made me throw up. The thinking about
it...that's definitely the worst.
Time heals that, though, as well as the
physical wounds. I'm definitely 'swaggering' around the house a lot
more (sauntering?) and I can't move quickly. Also, doctor
instructions were to essentially be a couch potato for the first few
days. So there have been a lot of ice packs, and Jess has been doing
a lot of parenting. I considered doing it on a Friday, but having
somewhere to take Tyler for the first few days has been a real treat.
I can take care of Casey a bit. You can do a lot of baby-rearing
without getting up from the couch.
I'll definitely need some more time
before I really know how I feel about this all the way. My head is
quite certain, but my heart is more nervous. Especially as my
biological instinct is to protect that area with everything I can.
Some distance will put things in better perspective. I just wanted
to write this all down so I don't forget about it later. I will want
to remember things like this.
-N
