This post was written in Winter 2022

My first urology appointment was scheduled in May 2022. I was told this would be the next step after having 2 semen analyses that showed zero sperm count, and I was also told that the urologist would be discussing possible surgery with me as well, which had me nervous. I was also nervous because of the last time I spoke with a urologist, which I described in my first couple posts. That doctor was incredibly dismissive of me and my situation, and I was scared this would be a repeat experience.

I had to take the entire day off of work for this, as there was no set time for the appointment. I was just told that the phone call would come at some point between 9 am and 6 pm. This was incredibly frustrating to me but I am glad to have a job that allows for this possibility. This turned out to be the case for several future appointments as well. Each day unsure of when the appointment would actually occur throughout the day.

I made sure to have a task for myself for each day, making sure to keep busy and continue using up my nervous energy until the call actually came.

He was very direct yet polite, asking how long we had been trying for a child and going over my test results. He was quite surprised when I told him I had asked to be tested 7-8 years ago and the previous urologist had told me there’s no point in doing so since I wasn’t sexually active at the time. It did not sound like he agreed with that decision at all, and this made me feel relaxed and more comfortable, knowing I would not be dismissed in the same way this time.

We basically only discussed that we would have an upcoming appointment and that we would be deciding what to do next after he examines me. There were no details about anything, really. It was just an absolute whirlwind of an appointment that left me feeling…..rather flat.

I mean, I was glad that he seemed like a nice doctor and I totally understand that this was just an initial discussion. I guess I just didn’t see the point of a phone appointment in the first place, knowing that nothing else would be done. I had been feeling so nervous about this appointment and built it up in my head, waiting for months and now that it had happened, I still knew nothing and felt just as uncertain as I ever did. I just wish that we could have skipped this one and gone straight to the actual in person appointment.

Many months later, I finally did have that in-person appointment and it showed that apparently I appear relatively normal and he advised that I should have a test done called a Karyotype, which examines my chromosomes to look for abnormalities within my genetics.

I really had no idea what to keep expecting from these appointments. I guess I was looking for an answer and just expect there to be one, but there never is. Instead we continually have process of elimination, which makes a lot of logical sense to do, but try telling someone’s emotional side to calm down. It just doesn’t work.

I ended up having to wait several months for the Karyotype results to come back only to show that there were no abnormalities. This was mildly frustrating only because it meant that I still had no answers, but good in that it meant I had no other health side effects to possibly deal with.

Overall, I was glad for this urologist. He was kind, friendly, not dismissive, and completely different from the previous one many years ago. My time with this urologist is already done as I finish writing this and there are still more steps to take. It was not a short journey (Around 7 months), and it was relatively uneventful with no definitive answers. But thankfully it was not a bad journey.