Ouch...

[Losethem (imported)]

This far out, do you have anything other than a very pale discharge tinged with a bit of red, or is the stuff coming out thicker and more white? If the latter, go to the doctor - you've got an infection. If it's not that, you may want to get some hibiclens at the drug store (though I've seen it in Target), and when you shower, scrub with soap as normal, but then put some of the hibiclens in the palm of your hand and use it to scrub over your scrotum. It's a very watery, red liquid, so make sure you put it in your palm so you don't waste it.

After you do this, dry off normally and apply your dressing. I'd be willing to bet it clears up in a few days this way.

[Jared_in_UT (imported)]

The only thing coming out is dark, somewhat thick blood. So I think I'm ok on the bacteria front. I'm still on some stout antibiotics too.

So, I went to bed last night with these stitches bugging me like crazy. They itched like somebody mixed up some asbestos, fiberglass, and thistles and shoved them down my shorts with lemon juice. I mean, I've never had something itch so bad, for so long. I'm at my wits end here. Finally, I take off the bandage and spray on some antiseptic numbing spray. It stings like mad from the alcohol right away, but then dies down and starts to provide some relief. I finally get to sleep a little after midnight. I slept ok for about half the night, but then started having this really stupid dream. I dreamed I was camping with some high school friends and then we start finding ticks all over each other. We're all frantically pulling ticks from ourselves but they just keep coming. In my dream, one goes down the front of my pants, and I reach down and pluck it off.

Only it was real - well not the ticks. But I really did reach down in my sleep, and with pinpoint precision in the dark, eyes closed, fully asleep, pinched my itchy incision and gave it a good, hard yank.

I don't think I've ever shot up awake as fast in my entire life. My scrotum felt like it just took a point blank shot from a 12 gauge, and I had two or three ripped-out stitches still pinched between my thumb and forefinger. I was pretty dazed and didn't know exactly what was going on yet, but I fully expected to turn on the lights and find a two inch hole in my sack. I staggered over to the light switch, sutures in one hand, ball sack in the other. When the light came on, I didn't see any blood but it was hurting a LOT. My wife was asking if I was okay, and I said "I think so" not really knowing yet. I sat down for a few minutes to gain my composure and took another look. Everything seemed to hold together, gratefully, it was just bright red. I took a gentle, curious tug at the remaining stitches and found they were broken and ready to fall out. So, I had my wife grab some Q-tips, alcohol and tweezers and finish the job.

They came out pretty effortlessly with one exception. There was a big, blue thread that started to come out about 1/4" and then hurt like hell if she continued pulling. It was different than the other stitches in color and about 5x the size. I'm guessing this is an internal stitch holding together the muscle layer of the skin. We left that one alone and just snipped it off close to the surface. The thought of it hanging out of my skin is still kind of creeping me out.

The pain was getting better after an hour or so and I got ready and went to work. We cleaned it up, and did a fresh bandage with plenty of Neosporin, like we do every day. I didn't really notice any issues until around noon, when it started feeling like I'd overdone it by being up and about too much. Really, all I did today was sit around at the office. I'm feeling better after resting at home for a couple of hours, and I don't think there was any permanent harm done. This is day 17 from the surgery and they say the stitches usually fall out after 10-20 days.

It just amazes me what your brain comes up with during a dream to try and explain what your body is feeling while you're asleep. It also amazes me at how coordinated my asleep body was at finding the exact spot on my sack that was itching! I'm just glad I didn't tear myself open in the process. But, the stitches are finally out and the itching is getting SO MUCH BETTER.

[dvdbll (imported)]

Ha! Great story. Glad you're OK and didn't tear your scrotum open. Thanks for sharing.

[Jared_in_UT (imported)]

Thoughts on sutures...

So when I was all stitched up after the surgery, the stitches created what I'm going to call "kernels" - they looked like corn on the cob. There were three below the incision and four on the top side, pulled into tight bulging little squares. I didn't think a lot about it until about four days in when the pain from the cords and the incision started to die down. At that point, I really noticed that my stitches were itching, and I mean itching bad.

Looking at my wound, the "kernels" were about in the center of the incision. They were squeezed TIGHT by the stitches. Like tight to the point that the skin was dying due to a lack of circulation. The actual stitches were at the bottom of the cracks between the kernels, and were getting covered in toe-jam-like goop, which I figured was dead skin. Before the stitches came out, I tried to carefully clean out the goop with peroxide on a Q-tip, and got most of it out. But when I'd jam the Q-tip down there, the sting/itch sensation increased about 10 fold. Now that the stitches are out, the kernels are still there but starting to flatten out. ALL of them are shedding a LOT of thick dead skin. They were dead right down to the pink, almost bleeding layer of skin.

This is my first real surgery and I'm not at all familiar with different stitches. But looking at how I was sewn up, I think this healing process could have been a heck of a lot more comfortable using a different style of stitch that avoided the pinching and balling-up of the scrotal skin. After the first 3-4 days, this has been BY FAR the worst part of healing. I'm glad to say it's finally getting better, but I would really like to have not been in such constant discomfort for those two weeks.

Has anybody else had this experience?

[dvdbll (imported)]

I did not have that experience. My only problem was that the holes would not close and heal. Have yours?

Instead of one long incision I had two incisions, each about an inch long across the front of the scrotum. They were about right in the middle of where each testicle hang. My stitches were not pulled tight like yours, so I didn't have a problem with the kernels or the itching. In fact, you could barely see where my sutures were. My biggest problem was that the doctor left a drain on the outside of each incision, and the drains came out after a day. After that, I had holes that would not close, and eventually internal sutures kept sticking out the holes and wouldn't let it heal. I had to pull out and cut off several internal stitches over 4 or 5 weeks before the holes would close and heal.

Did you have a thick scrotum? Were your testicles usually tight or hanging low? Was your incision higher on your sac or lower?

Mine hung low, and the incisions were low and on the front of the scrotum. But after I was castrated the incisions almost looked like they were on the bottom sides of the sac instead of the front. I watched the process and know they were on the front, but now the scar is on low on the sides of my floppy sac.

Is your sac still tight? Mine was tight for a few months before the internal swelling went away and the skin started to hang free.

[micdavi24 (imported)]

I had a very easy time of it, I had a single 3/4" incision along the mid line of my scrotum and no drain at all.I had virtually no discomfort at all and definitely no post surgical pain, which surprised the nursing staff no end. The incision healed very well and quite quickly except for a small part at the bottom where the stitches dissolved a bit too quickly. This also happened when I had my vasectomy and caused a massive infection after the vasectomy, which ultimately lead to the complications which caused me to have myself castrated. Luckily I didn't get an infection after my castration, but maybe this is because I was on antibiotics, unlike after my vasectomy.

As for my scrotum, it swelled up a bit and I had 2 heamatomas at the ends of my cords, but they didn't cause me any pain at all. Once all that had resolved itself after about 6 week, my scrotum initially hung down and was very uncomfortable, but since then it has shrunk very nicely and now spends most of its time tucked neatly below my penis. When it gets hot, it does still droop down and get uncomfortable. I want to have it removed as soon as I can afford the surgery.

[Jared_in_UT (imported)]

I did not have that experience. My only problem was that the holes would not close and heal. Have yours?

Did you have a thick scrotum? Were your testicles usually tight or hanging low? Was your incision higher on your sac or lower?

Is your sac still tight? Mine was tight for a few months before the internal swelling went away and the skin started to hang free.

My incision sits on the lower front of the scrotum. With the cords still swollen, I can't see it unless I pull/roll the scrotum upward. It is fully closed as of a few days ago, but I still have that little 1/8" of internal suture sticking out. It's still leaking just a little fluid, but no blood at this point. Because I had to use so many adhesive bandages, and change them twice a day, I've got a pretty raw strip of skin about an inch below the incision. It's red and oozing a little from having the irritation of the adhesive and being ripped off so many times. I switched up my bandage yesterday to just a non-stick pad with a narrow strip of adhesive on each end. I had been using a 2x2" flexible fabric bandage that stuck all the way around. I'd guess I'll be bandage free in a few days.

Seeing that I've never handled a scrotum other than my own, I have no idea how thick mine is relative to the population at large. Mine probably hung a little lower than average. The sac is not still tight. It's fairly full up top where the cords are, but the bottom 1/3 is pretty much empty at this point.

Those kernel-shaped bits of skin are still around and have stopped flattening out. I'm starting to think they might be more permanent than I'd like. I just don't want any spots for germs to collect and have a hygiene issue in the future. On a positive note, they don't all have a ton of dead skin edges hanging off any more, and are starting to clean up and heal. They don't itch unless the skin gets disturbed.

[Jared_in_UT (imported)]

I had a very easy time of it, I had a single 3/4" incision along the mid line of my scrotum and no drain at all.I had virtually no discomfort at all and definitely no post surgical pain, which surprised the nursing staff no end. The incision healed very well and quite quickly except for a small part at the bottom where the stitches dissolved a bit too quickly. This also happened when I had my vasectomy and caused a massive infection after the vasectomy, which ultimately lead to the complications which caused me to have myself castrated. Luckily I didn't get an infection after my castration, but maybe this is because I was on antibiotics, unlike after my vasectomy.

As for my scrotum, it swelled up a bit and I had 2 heamatomas at the ends of my cords, but they didn't cause me any pain at all. Once all that had resolved itself after about 6 week, my scrotum initially hung down and was very uncomfortable, but since then it has shrunk very nicely and now spends most of its time tucked neatly below my penis. When it gets hot, it does still droop down and get uncomfortable. I want to have it removed as soon as I can afford the surgery.

Glad to hear they got it right the 2nd time around! Sounds like you've had about the most trouble-free experience of anybody on here. A lot of guys have stated their scrotal reduction/removal was a worse recovery than the orchiectomy. So in my mind to have both done at once and be pain free is pretty amazing.

Like most guys, I think the loose, empty scrotum is going to be a big discomfort and hassle once my cords shrink down, particularly in hot, sweaty weather. I'll probably be looking to get it removed sometime down the road. I get hot very easily and sweat a lot when I do.

[dvdbll (imported)]

Hey Jared - All healed up? Scrotum hanging floppy and low now? Incision healed? Hope all's well and back to normal. Curious, any pain in the leftover cords? Did he take the cord, too? My doc cut right where the testicle met the cord so I still have the cords in my sac and they sometimes hurt.

[Jared_in_UT (imported)]

I'm six weeks as of about exactly right now. So I suppose it it's time for an update.

I would say the incision would be considered sealed up officially at about five weeks post op, or maybe just a couple of days prior to five weeks. The wound is still deep and visible where the drain was placed on the right side, but it has finally stopped oozing anything. I even dared to hit the hot tub last night and had no issues. That is the first time I've done anything other than a shower since the surgery. At about three weeks my wife and I had tried to remove some of the internal stitches without much luck. We we're able to clip one spot where there was a loop exposed close to the surface, but whenever we tried to pull either end, it just tugged on stuff inside and hurt. I was cleaning out the wound earlier this week and tried again to pull on one of the lose ends poking out, and was surprised that about 1/2" of the, suture came out effortlessly.

The balled-up scrotal skin has almost completely flattened out by now, and I eventually figured out they we're caused primarily by the internal stitches rather than the external.

Once in a while, like about once daily, I'll get a random shot of pain at the incision as if it got jabbed or stretched. I've got no explanation for this, other than maybe nerves re-growing. The cords occasionally ache just a little but never more than just a little discomfort. They've shrunk down some, but are still clearly swollen. They are probably about 3/4" thick and 1.5" in length at this point, and continue to diminish oh so slowly. He left me with quite a but of cord, probably just like yours, cut off near the testicle. My bag is completely loose on the bottom, but still somewhat full on top. It still shrinks up when cold or during sex.

The only hurdle I may still be facing its that it seems like both my cords are attached to the incision on my scrotum. I sent the Dr. a text and he said to see how it looks at six months. It apparently isn't a big issue. It does cause discomfort, but only if the skin is pulled, which unfortunately can happen during intercourse or other fun bedroom activities.

Endocrine-wise, things are really good. Zero hot flashes so far, but remember I was on Androcur prior to surgery. Seems like my emotions are a little closer to the surface these days. Not only do I tear up a little more easily at sad stuff, but I get impatient a little more easily as well so I have to make an increased effort to keep a level head at times. Spontaneous erections have almost stopped, though I get one during the night or early morning once a week or so. I can still perform in the bedroom just fine, but it takes some physical stimulation as well as the visual and mental stimulation. Basically, my wife and I both need to be involved. I have yet to have an orgasm during intercourse since the surgery, and there is far less sensation than before during sex. I can have one with some manual stimulation after sex, and those orgasms are still as good as I remember them being. Before meds or surgery, I'd lay awake for hours needing sex sometimes, but now it's no big deal at all to skip sex all together if my wife isn't up to it. That is really great, as it was one ofif the issues I really wanted to address with this surgery. I'm still super attracted to my wife and like to touch and hold her during the day as we cross paths at home. She says I've done this a lot more the last few weeks. But that doesn't automatically translate to ask urgent need for sex. It's actually pretty nice!