HOUSTON -- A radio talk show host underwent a vasectomy live on the air Tuesday to encourage other men to consider the procedure rather than force their wives to go through more complicated surgical sterilization.
'It's over,' Dan Patrick of KSEV-AM said of the brief surgery. 'It's that simple, folks. It's like nothing happened. I feel no pain. I feel absolutely fine.
'If I can do this, guys, you can do it for sure.'
Patrick underwent the procedure in the office of his urologist, Dr. David Mobley, who also was live on the air during the surgery.
The no-scalpel operation, done under local anesthetic, used a Chinese technique in which no incision is made. Instead, a needle is used to pierce the scrotal skin and a special instrument is used to sever the vas deferens, the tube that carries sperm.
Although Patrick rated the pain a low 1 on a 1-to-10 scale, it was obvious several times that some discomfort was involved, and Mobley at one point gave Patrick additional anesthetic.
'Ow! That hurt. What are you looking for down there, doc?' Patrick said.
'That hurts a little bit, doc. Just a pinch,' he said at another point and, later, 'I see smoke. Ow! Ow! It's not a lot of pain. It really is no big deal.'
Patrick, who was bombarded by jokes from telephone callers before the surgery, broke into giggles numerous times during the surgery. He also tried to keep busy by reading sports stories and discussing the Houston Astros' eight-game win streak with Mobley.
But he also emphasized the purpose for the on-air operation.
'Women are forced, basically, by their husbands to go through surgery because the men chicken out doing it (having vasectomies),' he said. 'It's really a lot less riskier and a lot less expensive for men to go through this surgery.'
Patrick's wife watched the procedure. The couple has two children, ages 6 and 12.
Mobley advised Patrick to rest for the remainder of Tuesday, but said he could return to work Wednesday.
