Varicocelectomy Post Surgery Concern

STM

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I had a left sided varicocele operated on through the microsurgical technique (done near left side of penis). The healing seems to be on schedule, I'm mobile and now doing light activities, swelling has gone down considerably.

I'd be thrilled except it seems the varicocele is still there, except the veins are now even more pronounced?

I can't get in to see my doc for another two weeks.

My question is, should I be worried? Was the surgery a failure or are those veins slowing going to die off?

I slept great the last week thinking this thing was behind me, now I'm starting to freak out imagining another surgery is necessary...

Thanks to anyone that can shed some light on this for me. :)
 

v4lu3s

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My doc told me it would take 3-6 months for the veins to be reabsorbed into my body. Its not as if they are going to suddenly disappear because they are tied off.

How long ago did you have your surgery?
 

STM

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I wish my doc told me the same, would've saved me some worrying.

Were you able to feel your varicocele veins post surgery for a while?

My surgery was 9 days ago, aside from some lingering tenderness near the incision and some swelling in the spermatic cord as it enters my sac recovery is feeling good. Other than the varicocele still being there things are feeling decent.
 

v4lu3s

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Haven't had mine yet, its schedule for next week. I have asked my doc a lot of questions, and he basically told me expect to see it all gone by August which is 6 months out. He also warned me it may not stop the pain at all, and then added it will most definitely not help with hormone levels or any of that...even though i have seen a lot of research that says he is wrong.
I am mostly worried about recovery time. I am a firefighter and have 5 days off after teh surgery before going back to work...if I use sick time i get screwed (we accumulate 50% of our sick time monthly, and then if we don't use it the city doubles it at the end of the year to match the full amount they "give") so I am hoping I can be recovered enough to be working on an ambulance within 5 days of being cut.
 

STM

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That is reassuring, hearing it may take a long time to go away. Right now it almost feels like nothing has changed with the affected veins....

Regarding recovery time, after a week I was shoveling the driveway. Still slightly tender in my left testicle and at the incision 9 days post surgery, but manageable.

5 days will be close to enough time to start work. If you take it as easy as possible those first few days back I think you'll be alright.
 

STM

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Update on my concern after doctor's visit:

The solid 'veins' I felt were according to him very normal. He explained he dissected veins from the spermatic cord, that trauma, along with cutting the veins results in the hard feeling I felt along the spermatic cord all the way to my balls. Very normal in his opinion and will take 1-6 months to resolve, and may always feel a bit different in there.

The important thing is the abnormal blood flow has been stopped, and now it's just healing. According to him after feeling my 'area' the surgery was a success and all of the stuff going on down there is normal.

Some more info, if after surgery your testicle gets very very large (lemon sized) and then shrinks way down the artery was hit. Lucky for me he saved the artery :)

The scar is very hard right now, he called that the healing ridge (or something similar) and said it would soften and smooth out after a couple months.

I'm relieved to hear everything is as it should be after surgery, and glad to know that at the very least I've stopped things from getting worse either hormonally or fertility related.
 

jtstp17

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are your varicocele stil present.

i had the surgery 4 weeks ago. two weeks felt great and then i could feel it again.

so i believe different veins are bigger
 

v4lu3s

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it took over 6 months for the veins to disappear. 4 weeks is not much time at all...im sure they are still swollen from teh trauma of surgery.
 

jtstp17

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it took over 6 months for the veins to disappear. 4 weeks is not much time at all...im sure they are still swollen from teh trauma of surgery.
the problem is, they dilate with blood when standing and go away when lying down.
its not as bad as it was before surgery but its definitely not like the other side.

i think i still have some reflux, either he forgot some veins or the veins that pick up the slack dilated a bit and have some reflux.

what are your thoughts
 

v4lu3s

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As I said several times already it takes 3 to 6 months. If you still have this occurring in 5 months you might have a problem, until then you have to wait for or to change.
 

jtstp17

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As I said several times already it takes 3 to 6 months. If you still have this occurring in 5 months you might have a problem, until then you have to wait for or to change.
thank you for your reply. i do appreciate it!
 

v4lu3s

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think of it this way, you had veins that were not flowing properly, they are all swollen from the valves failing. they are supposed to flow blood from your testicles to your lower renal vein on the left side (where most guys have the most noticeable varicocele). the valves fail and blood pools, swelling the vein. When you have surgery they stop/cut/etc those veins. in the meantime you still have blood pooling into the dead end from the renal vein side, and you still have some blood pooling from the testicle side when hitting the dead end veins. it will take a while for new veins to take up the flow and the old bad veins to shrink and disappear.

I know you are impatient, nervous etc, i went through it all, i still had the pain and swelling for 3 months, and it wasn't until almost 6 months that the weins totally went away. To this day i still check for new varicocele on my left side where i had a grade 3...
 

jtstp17

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think of it this way, you had veins that were not flowing properly, they are all swollen from the valves failing. they are supposed to flow blood from your testicles to your lower renal vein on the left side (where most guys have the most noticeable varicocele). the valves fail and blood pools, swelling the vein. When you have surgery they stop/cut/etc those veins. in the meantime you still have blood pooling into the dead end from the renal vein side, and you still have some blood pooling from the testicle side when hitting the dead end veins. it will take a while for new veins to take up the flow and the old bad veins to shrink and disappear.

I know you are impatient, nervous etc, i went through it all, i still had the pain and swelling for 3 months, and it wasn't until almost 6 months that the weins totally went away. To this day i still check for new varicocele on my left side where i had a grade 3...
thank you. ill try not to worry about it. i do know my testicle is firmer and bigger. so that is good.
just worried because the surgeon did not do delivery of testis to get the gubernacular veins and external spermatic veins.

thanks again.

i did jog after two weeks as the surgeon said it is okay. do you think that is okay? i probably should have waited a little longer.
 

v4lu3s

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depends on how you feel. i took 5 days off from work and went back (im a firefighter) and started lifting at 2 weeks, though i had to take it easy.
 

jtstp17

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depends on how you feel. i took 5 days off from work and went back (im a firefighter) and started lifting at 2 weeks, though i had to take it easy.
i do have a question.

i know about the healing ridge. it very very slowly going down under the incision. however it feels hard around the incision like 1inch radius circle in all directions.
is this normal?

finally, is it normal that the spermatic cord is supposed to be hard as well? below the incision, i can feel the cord going into my scrotum and it is pretty thick and hard. worried about that as well since its been almost 6 weeks
 

colehamels

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Yes, my dr. said the healing ridge is normal for 6-12 months and it feels like a hard cord. I think that is normal. Try some mederma and massage that in to soften the scar he said.

I had microsurgical varicocelectomy 3 weeks ago and the varicocele is still there and larger as well. It actually feels more full and more painful, and that is super frustrating after going under the knife. I had an ultrasounds a week post-op and the artery is preserved, dr. said to wait 3 months before I see him again. It is hard to be patient so long for veins to collapse when you have pain. How long have others waited for these veins to collapse? I feel like I may be waiting forever given no improvement i3 weeks since surgery. thanks.
 

mhrdth

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jtstp17
I had microsurgery 3 weeks ago, and exactly like your case my varicocele was gone for 2 weeks and it came back. Did yours heal after a few months?
 

sam3077

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I had a varicocele surgery 6 days ago the first 3 days were good but after that i had started feeling mild pain in my left testicals and i am feeling some hot senation in the nerves and that sensation starts from the testicals and i can feel it even in lover abdominals please help i am realy concerned
 

King Beast

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You guys can’t be so impatient. Think about it, it’s surgery. These things have a specific timeline. I’m on week 2, and am going through the same healing process as each of you guys. I’m not worried.

I agree with the other posts. Start worrying at 5 months. The veins definitely need to collapse, and that is a process.

That being said, how is everyone progressing?
 
trtdoc

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Very true. The rough estimate is 6 months time with this surgery. Definitely wait it out. The failure rate for this surgery is extremely low.

Dr. B
 

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