Thursday, March 30, 2006

Vasectomies

One of our stringers got really ill and backed out of a story commitment.

So at the -nth minute, just before the magazine goes to the printing press, I’ve had to take over the writing of the story. And guess what it’s about?

Vasectomies! For those who are really duh…I mean in the dark, that’s male sterilization you know.

I’ve had a hard time keeping a straight face as Urologists (fancy term for doctors who specialize in this field) speak to me about scrotal cuts, sperm tests and the importance of ejaculating the night before they choose to undertake the procedure.

One of the doctors even said that the technology is so advanced today that a lot of patients come to him during their lunch break, get a vasectomy done and go back to their desk jobs immediately after the procedure. So of course, me with my crazy sense of humor has to wonder how many men around me had a vasectomy done during lunch break!

Hah hah. The writing life. It never ceases to surprise me.

While one Urologist boasted about his “No Scalpel Vasectomy” another pooh-poohed it as a commercial gimmick to draw leery patients in. “How do you think we can find the vas deferens without a knife?” he said. Most patients are scared of getting cut with a knife and get drawn to the no-scalpel vasectomy. “But a cut is still a cut, whether you use a scalpel or a hemostat,” he said. The hemostat is a scissor-like apparatus and apparently cuts and dissects – the same thing a scalpel does.

Just when I think I know everything, I’m always learning something new. But then that’s the magic of the writing life. Knowledge, amusing encounters, and juicy stories. Oh what a heady mix it is!

1 comment:

PJ said...

Yeah and the story does have some valid points. Thats the main reason I didnt mention the doctor's names or their locations when I blogged.