My Circumcision Story

RolfHarris

Avant Garde

After a week, can I ask what sort of state you (and your old fella) are in? What are you able to do now in terms of walking, working and so on?

Avant Garde

Well week has flown by really! Tried to go back to work on Wednesday, very uncomfortable though, work in a jewellers so 7 hours on my feet probably wasn't a good idea, I was a bit naive! otherwise been lounging around the house in my boxers all week. But i'd say if ya had a desk job 2 days would be grand, but if its any more active than that, take a good bit more time off. Heading back to work on sunday now. My old fella is doing ok, no pain during the day, oozed a bit of yellow from incision on wednesday but thats meant to be normal and its stopped. night time is doing my head in though. waking up every hour and half with a stiffy and a good bit of blood, however it stops as soon as i'm down again. went back to consultant today, said its healing well so that made me a bit happier. said the blood was normal and will stop soon enough. glans are still quite sensitive, and skin is starting to flake, looks like he's had a bit too much sun! hope this helps

BankMan

Unregistered wrote: »

Hey there.Going back to see the doctor again next week. Just can't keep putting it off! I know he'll refer me to a surgeon, just got to go and do it.* I am going to ask him about the dosal slit and partial cut. Don't wanna be talked into full circumcision without discussing other options first. I am very very anxious too and embarrassed I left it so long. But from reading this thread its a good help to go do something about it. Cannot spend my life with this problem. It's so depressing.How was the sensitivity after the cut? I cannot retract flaccid or hard either and just curious how bad the pain and discomfort is after* the head been covered behind the skin for all this time. From reading this thread it seems some people had tight foreskins but still managed to retract the skin somewhat.* I cannot at all. Only about a 1cm diametre opening. I dread to think what its like what it will be like when exposed to the air. I cannot even touch it right now. I'm going to have to go through with whatever it takes* I supposeCheers for your advice

Sounds like you're in the exact same shape I was. I could never retract at all. There was hyper-sensitivity for about a week after the op, but it's grand now (nearly 4 weeks gone now). The front of the head is almost permanently exposed, and there's no problem with touching / clothes hitting it etc. The back of the head is pretty much still covered by foreskin, but I can fully retract flaccid / hard without any discomfort. I'm amazed at the amount of change in such a short period of time. I was able to recommence full relations will Mrs Bankman after 2.5 weeks. First time was a bit difficult (still some scabbiness), second time much better. 3rd time was . Way better than before, much more relaxed, better sensation etc. Delighted I went with the dorsal slit as opposed to full circ as well, as my recovery seems to have been much easier than others, and I still have approx 50-60% of my foreskin intact.

There's really no need to be embarrassed about going to the doc/surgeon etc. I certainly wasn't, and neither were they. My GP is male, the surgeon as male, the anaesthesist was female and so were the nurses. They were all ultra professional.

RolfHarris

Thanks Avant Garde, that's really good to know. It's good to hear it gets better and if you can survive the nights, the rest is OK.

How are the stitches?

Jim_Ben

Hi from the UK. This thread has been a wonderful source of information.

I'm 24, and since the age of 13, I've had a problem with soreness around the foreskin area. When I've had sex (which has only been a few times), it has been rather uncomfortable. I've tried the usual things such as cream and gently pulling the foreskin back and forth, but with no luck. I plan on seeing my GP this week. I've also been doing some research in having a circumcision via the private sector. A highly renowned clinic charges around £500 and appointment turnaround is 2-4 weeks. However, this particular clinic is a three hours drive away, which would mean asking for a favour from a relative.

JB

RolfHarris

BankMan wrote: »

There's really no need to be embarrassed about going to the doc/surgeon etc. I certainly wasn't, and neither were they. My GP is male, the surgeon as male, the anaesthesist was female and so were the nurses. They were all ultra professional.

That's my experience too. I think you've just got to keep remembering that it's their full-time job and they're equally interested or bored in your dick as anyone else's and want the process to be as easy as possible for you.

Shurwhynot

Hi just wondering what the story with health insurance is? Does it cover the cost of the operation? I'm with Vivas. If i go to my local GP, and they refer me to a urologist, am i put on a waiting list then?

Alun

Shurwhynot wrote: »

Hi just wondering what the story with health insurance is? Does it cover the cost of the operation? I'm with Vivas. If i go to my local GP, and they refer me to a urologist, am i put on a waiting list then?

VHI covered the cost of mine, so I assume Vivas will cover yours too. It might not be a urologist you get referred to .. I was referred by my GP to a colorectal surgeon who also does general surgery at Blackrock Clinic. I don't think I was waiting much more than 6-8 weeks in total.

tbh

my experience:

Went to GP, referred to Urologist, 3 month wait
Went to Urologist, diagnosed, (I think) a 1 month wait.

if you read through the thread from the start, you can see the time line, I posted at every stage.

Op was covered by VHI, I've listed the price here somewhere too.

Alun

tbh wrote: »

my experience:

Went to GP, referred to Urologist, 3 month wait

Wow, that was quite a long wait! I don't think I waited much more than a few weeks for the initial consultation with my surgeon.

EDIT: Mine cost a grand total of €1,144.20 (€929 to the hospital, and €215.20 to the surgeon).

tbh

Alun wrote: »

Wow, that was quite a long wait! I don't think I waited much more than a few weeks for the initial consultation with my surgeon.

EDIT: Mine cost a grand total of €1,144.20 (€929 to the hospital, and €215.20 to the surgeon).

I was surprised, to be honest, and I was private as well.

tbh

Alun wrote: »

EDIT: Mine cost a grand total of €1,144.20 (€929 to the hospital, and €215.20 to the surgeon).

funny, If I was to allocate the money myself, I'd give more to the man cutting my penis than to the hospital for making my tea :pac:

RolfHarris

€215.20 isn't very much, is it?

Do you think he gets to keep the tip? So to speak.

Alun

RolfHarris wrote: »

Do you think he gets to keep the tip? So to speak.

Apparently it went off to histology

Alun

tbh wrote: »

funny, If I was to allocate the money myself, I'd give more to the man cutting my penis than to the hospital for making my tea :pac:

Oh, I don't know .. there are lots of other costs too .. use of the theatre facilities, anaesthetist's fees, paying the theatre nurse, recovery care etc. plus I got a scone with my tea as well

RolfHarris

Given the cutbacks in the HSE, you've got to wonder what happens to the bits they snip off during a circumcision!

If they offer you calamari rings, just say no.

I'm at the stage where I'm thinking constantly about the 28th operation - nervous and excited.

Odats

Had it done May 2008. Went to GP on a Wednesday morning at 11,met consultant same day at 3pm and was on the operating table the following Tuesday. It was a private hospital Whitfield Clinic in Waterford and cost around 1,200euro but was fully covered by VHI.

LegacyUser

Hey guys, just a quick question.

I'm 17 years old, have notices over the last 2/3 years that i have developed phimosis(B-type I think).

Was just wondering what is it like having intercourse with the condition, and is it possible to live with phimosis? I intend on getting it sorted in a year or two, but for the time being can I have sex, and/or oral?

Jim_Ben

Is a circumcision usually carried out under general or local anaesthetic, or does it depend on each particular case?

Morf

Jim_Ben wrote: »

Is a circumcision usually carried out under general or local anaesthetic, or does it depend on each particular case?

The latter i found.

RolfHarris

I'm going under the knife on Friday morning and haven't been given the option for anything other than a general.

Given that I'd prefer to be knocked out for even the mildest piece of dentistry, I'm not sure I'd like to be awake during the process.

In 48hrs time, it'll all be over. Then the recovery starts!

tbh

Rolf, with the general, are you sure you'll be in and out on the same day?

RolfHarris

Yup. I was told to go to the day ward and I'd be out the same day. I think it's fairly normal for morning procedures to be out in the afternoon, once you've had a pee and been checked by the surgeon.

tbh

cool, I'll send you my number after lunch

RolfHarris

Good stuff. I'll give the urologist a call this afternoon and double check, but the instructions definitely say to go to the day ward. I suppose once they've checked that you're OK and can go to the toilet without bleeding, they want to send you home.

Plus, I'd prefer to be at home rather than in hospital overnight. I'm convinced they make you more ill than when you go in.

RolfHarris

Well lads, I survived the operation. Actually, it was dead easy.

I was due to arrive at the day ward at 10 but I was awake early and pacing the floor so I was there by about 9am. One guy had already gone in, and there was another fella waiting in reception to be admitted.

From beginning to end, the staff, nurses, doctors and surgeon were brilliant. Polite, interesing and interested, and quiet.

At 10 I was shown to the ward, undressed and put on the awful backless hospital gown and periodically nurses came in to see if I was OK, take my blood pressure and keep me informed of what was going on.

I went down to the operating theatre at about mid-day and was extremely nervous. Usually when you're in a hospital, you go in feeling unwell and know that you're going to come out feeling great. Well, this was the other way around. I felt great and knew I'd be sore when I came out.

I was shown into theatre and had the shunt put in the back of my hand. The next thing I knew, I was waking up feeling massively jetlagged. You know when you get the overnight flight from New york and arrive home feeling spaced out and groggy. It was like that. Plus there was a bit of pain in my penis. It was very mild. Just a bit bruised, and it was really the only way I knew I'd actually had anything done. The doctor asked if all was well and I said it was slightly sore so he gave me a shot of something in my buttock. Now THAT did hurt!

After a decent, dream-filled snooze in which I dreamed I was on the board of NAMA (?!) I was wheeled back to the ward where I had another snooze, read the paper and had my pre-ordered tuna sandwich and a cup of tea. I felt a bit light headed then but that was mostly due to having nothing to eat all day and lying down. I felt a bit wobbly when I first sat up but a very hot, sweet cup of tea helped a lot.

After a bit longer, at 4pm I was told I could go home, and here I am.

I'm still a little spaced from being knocked out and the old fella is beginning to thaw out, so apologies if none of this post makes sense.

Some observations:

• there's a lot sitting about, so take plenty to read. I've read the Irish Times cover to cover
• Do your homework - this thread has been brilliant, but if I hadn't had it as a resource I'm not sure I'd have been aware what was going on
• Apart from the surgeon, nobody I have dealt with today had English as their first language which made some queries difficult. For example, I knocked over the saline drip which was attached to me after the operation and it was difficult to explain to the nurse that I was OK. They were all absolutley brilliant, very reassuring and polite, but when you're at your worst, it's important to be able to communicate well.
• I've stayed in hotels which were less plush than the hospital.:D

I have to take the dressing off tomorrow, and then no more baths for 7 days when the stitches should dissolve. They gave me some gauze to cover it if I'm heading out.

I've a course of antibiotics for 5 days and some painkillers. In fact the girl in Boots said they've a very high codeine content so to be careful - excellent

Any questions, please do ask. I'll keep posting here over the next week to let you know how the recovery goes.

tbh

that's brilliant rolf, fair play looking forward to hearing how you get on, but fingers crossed that's the worst bit over.

RolfHarris

Thanks! I reckon there are three milestones:

1. the operation (done and dusted)
2. taking off the dressing and coping with night time erections
3. getting rid of the stitches

So I'm a third of the way through. I'm pleased I'm on antibiotics because from reading this thread and other reports of circumcisions, problem arise from infections more than anything else.

RolfHarris

Day Two

Good afternoon all.

It has been twenty-four hours and I've just removed the bandage as per instructions. I took one of my painkillers and gave it ten minutes, then dipped the little fella in a beaker of warm, salty water to loosen the bandage. I unwound it a couple of times and stopped occasionally to snip off the unwound bandage and loosen the next section.

It was like Frankenstein unwrapping the bandages and waiting to see if it's alive. There was absolutely no pain, not even at the frenulum where the bandage was caked in blood, and very little blood.

It looks brilliant.

When I unwrapped it all, I couldn't even see a single stitch. Is this normal?

I gave it a little dip in some clean warm salt water and have re-bandaged it loosely in some of the gauze the nurse gave me. It is allowing a bit more air at it than the bandage without it being totally exposed.

There is some very, very mild bleeding at the frenulum but not enough to soak through the layers of gauze yet. No pain (this could have been the painkiller) but my hands were shaking.

I'm going to lie on the sofa for the rest of the day, and maybe give it another dip in warm water later on tonight.

Sleeping was OK last night. I put on some very tight trunks under my pyjama bottoms and this seemed to hold everything in place.

A little too soon to expose the whole thing yet, I reckon, but after 24 hrs I'm OK.

Pissing like nobody's business though.

RolfHarris

Day Three

After I posted yesterday, I returned to the sofa with the old fella wrapped in the gauze but took it off when there was no further sight of blood and pretty much left it unwrapped sticking through the fly of my pyjamas . The whole area was still swollen and my dick looked huge. I should have got some photographic evidence!

I was dreading going to bed because of the horror stories people had told me about night-time erections, but by 11pm I had been up since 7am and was pretty wrecked. So, I took a painkiller (only the third I've taken since the operation), covered a gauze in vaseline and wrapped it around the cut and frenulum area, and held it in place with some toilet roll and tape (It's like Blue Peter, this). There was a very, very small amount of blood where I knocked the top of the frenulum scab but nothing more. I put on some fairly tight shorts to stop everything from rolling around in the night.

I read for a bit and then the codeine kicked in and I was asleep, curled up in the foetal position, which seems to be my natural sleeping position. I woke up a couple of times as normal, switched on the light to check all was in position and went back to sleep. There was a mild Morning Glory when I woke up, but being curled up really helped because there was no pulling. I could feel that the head was a bit fatter, but that's it. No pain at all.

Got up at 7 and had my traditional handful of multi-vitamin pills and another antibiotic (my prescription is four times a day for five days), and had a shower. There had been only very, very minor bleeding through the night and I think most of it was dried blood from the first day. The shower helped a lot and finally got rid of that nasty hospital smell which had been lingering around me. It was strange feeling the water drip off my penis. in a few weeks when I function normally, it's going to feel great:D

I'm a bit bored and restless now. I've been wandering around my flat since 7am with my meat and two veg resting over the top of the wasteband of my pyjamas, and I reckon I'll take a slow walk to the corner shop this afternoon, repeating the routine of last night - vaseline gauze, tape, tight boxers and tracksuit bottoms.

The tip of my head, which has seen the most daylight since the operation is much less tender than the sides which are more recently exposed. It's still strange if anything touches the side, but i guess it'll get better. There's still a lot of swelling around the stitches,including some weird bulges under the head, but the antibiotics will kick in and all should be well.

To be honest, I go through stages of wishing I'd never done it, and getting frustrated that I'm not healthy again. I got a text from a mate saying he was heading to the pub and it annoyed me I wasn't there.

But, similarly I know I'm healing faster than a lot of people and it won't before long I'm back to full health.

If anyone has any questions, please PM me or ask them here. I'll do another update tomorrow or if anything eventful happens here today!