A lot of sage advice. Approaching the one year post procedure. If you look on the web you will see probably more horror stories than not. From what I found, there were two camps that I could identify: 1. worst experience ever, and 2. no big deal. Contemplated the decision for some time before finally going ahead with it. Tips to consider (some may already have been mentioned):
If possible, choose the Urologist and scalpeless route. This is huge. From the data I gathered, the ones that had issues more times than not went with a GP that did things the old fashioned way (google it to see what that procedure consists of).
Go extra conservative on the local. Again, looking at others experiences, you hear about the tugging and pulling, and feeling in your stomach. Even if you can't feel the needle poke anymore, a little more to deaden the area real good will pay dividends. For mine I read a magazine the entire time of the procedure (~30 minutes) cracking jokes the entire time. Didn't feel a thing. Even had a student nurse observer that made the whole thing a little more bearable. Only thing that was a little unsettling was the smell of burning skin when they cauterized the tubes.
Wear a jockstrap (in fact buy an extra one) so you can wash one and wear one. My doctor provided me with one of them, I bought the other in addition to some boxer briefs. Support is crucial in the week or so post procedure.
Could have drove home, chose to have the wife do it. I got the pain pills and took one. Made me feel a little loopy, didn't take another one, and honestly didn't need them. Barely even took any Tylenol. Took it easy for one day and did the peas (two bags of them so you can alternate works well) and was back outside on day two staining my fence (lots of up and down leg squats) with no real pain. Some discomfort, but not unbearable.
The worst pain for me was at the site where they put the stitches in. As the skin grew back and stretched there was some discomfort with the stitches stretching with them, but once a week had passed a quick snip with a scissors made that all go away.
My doc wouldn't even take a sample until the 10 week mark. My doc said almost 50% of patients don't follow up with a sample to ensure a successful procedure. Personal choice I guess, but why risk it. And no monkey business for the first 10 days post procedure. After the 10 days, your goal is to hit your follow up sample with a "clear" mark and this could mean an increase in the frequency of your adult time to make this happen (SCORE!).
This far out now, every once in awhile I will still get a slight twinge (like someone tapped me in the area), but it is pretty rare and hardly worth mentioning.
In the end I am glad I did it. No more store bought birth control and all the hassles / complications that go with it.
