To any man who has ever had or heard of the infection epididymitis, the word brings terror. Epididymitis is the infection and swelling of the epididymis, the coiled tube behind the scrotum (sac which contains the testicles).
Just mention a possible pain in the penis, scrotum or testicles and most men go white in the face. And rightly so; epididymitis is probably one of the most painful conditions that a man could ever have. Epididymitis is pretty scary, too; especially when specialists banter about terms like ‘removal’ and ‘surgery’.
My poor husband became infected with epididymitis in his early twenties, after a hernia surgery. We aren’t sure if he contracted the infection at the hospital during surgery. He may also have put too much stress on his body after his hernia surgery too. I was expecting our second child and teaching night classes at the local high school. It was the dead of winter and our car broke down on my way home from class. My gallant hero came out to fix the car only days after leaving the hospital.
At any rate, by Thursday, he was in mortal agony and his left testicle was beginning to swell. His surgeon prescribed Keflex, but by Sunday, the pain was unbearable. His testicle had swelled to the size of a grapefruit. We called the surgeon and he told us to meet him at 11am, at the emergency room in the next city. We arranged for my mother to care for our daughter, arrived at 11am. Now imagine this; a waiting room overflowing with people and my husband cannot sit, stand, walk or even lie down. After an hour we are shown into a ‘room’ partitioned by curtains. My husband is given a metal examining table to lie on. In January, it was cold, hard and miserable.
We waited for the physician until 4pm. My husband was x-rayed, to determine if this was a torsion or epididymitis. The two are very similar. A torsion is a twisting of the epididymis and epididymitis is an infection. We lived the terror that my husband may need to have his testicle removed. At five pm, Albert was admitted into the hospital. He finally got a comfortable bed and a blanket after six hours, and was given something to eat. Tuna casserole, which of course, he hates, although at that moment, he said it tasted like heaven. He was given intravenous antibiotics and kept in the hospital for a week. The swelling had gone down some, but the epididymitis kept him flat on his back for the next month.
The biggest cause of epididymitis occurs in sexually active men between the ages of 19 and 35. The most common cause is due to an STD (sexually transmitted disease) such as chlamydia or gonorrhea. A surgery or illness can cause epididymitis as well. My advice is to lay low after surgery for as long as you can. Also, if you notice any irregularity,don’t pooh-pooh it. Get back in to see your physician immediately.
