{"id":5,"date":"2013-11-10T09:45:51","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T09:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/againstvaricoceleembolization.org\/?page_id=5"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:55:24","slug":"why-i-created-this-website","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/againstvaricoceleembolization.org\/","title":{"rendered":"PREFACE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em>If you are researching the true effects of varicocele embolization surgery, you are not alone.\u00a0 Gaining in visibility since its creation in 2015, by mid 2016 this website was on the first google result page while searching for &#8220;varicocele embolization&#8221;.\u00a0 It now appears further back on the search.\u00a0 <\/em><em><strong>Help spread the word on the dangers of varicocele embolizations by sharing and linking to this website.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">************<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I underwent a varicocele embolization procedure in June 2008 for pain in my left testicle that was moderate but not overbearing. I was 28 at the time.<\/p>\n<p>I had done some research online and, according to numerous websites, varicocele embolization carries basically no risks and the only possible problem that may arise from the procedure is a reoccurrence of the varicocele. In other words, you can\u2019t be worse off than you started. I thought to get rid of slight annoyance. I saw a radiologist specializing in embolizations who confirmed the low risks. He lectures all over the world on the subject and he eventually performed the operation on me.<\/p>\n<p>Having a varicocele embolization turned out to be the worst decision I have ever made in my life.<\/p>\n<p>The goals of this website are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to make people think twice about getting a varicocele embolization,<\/li>\n<li>to hear other people\u2019s stories and problems with this type of embolization, and<\/li>\n<li>to share detailed information on the solution to these problems.\u00a0 Specifically:\u00a0 the removal of the coils has proved to be a viable solution.\u00a0 According to testimony from those who have had the coils removed (including myself),\u00a0 their removal is extremely beneficial and more or less without side effects even months after the operation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Please note:\u00a0 I get a lot of people writing to this website, asking what they should do about their varicocele, and how to deal with the pain.\u00a0 Unfortunately, i can&#8217;t post all of these comments because the website would lose its meaning.\u00a0 This is <em>not <\/em>a varicocele-help website.\u00a0 This is a website dedicated to sharing the true dangers of varicocele <em>embolizations<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are writing to ask whether or not you should undergo an embolization for your varicocele, the answer is clearly, in my opinion:\u00a0 N<span style=\"color: #000000;\">O!<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <strong>I also get an occasional person trying to post that varicocele embolizations aren&#8217;t dangerous, that i&#8217;m wrong, that the medical establishment can&#8217;t be so wrong.\u00a0\u00a0 I won&#8217;t post these comments.\u00a0 I&#8217;m sure there are plenty of people out there that don&#8217;t agree with me&#8230; notably, all the doctors willing to perform embolizations in the first place.\u00a0 This website is about people sharing their <em>problems<\/em> with the procedure, not all the success stories (yes i hope they exist too) and second-hand opinions.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> PS.\u00a0 It seems there are important differences between embolizations with and without the insertion of metal coils.\u00a0 This webpage concerns primarily coil embolizations.\u00a0 See John&#8217;s posts below (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/againstvaricoceleembolization.org\/#comment-21281\"><time datetime=\"2018-05-31T18:19:43+00:00\">May 31, 2018 at 6:19 pm<\/time><\/a>\u00a0) for more information about non-coil embolizations&#8230;.. he seems to have had a very bad experience, although i havent had a recent update.\u00a0 \u00a0so, personally,<strong> i wouldnt do a non-coil operation either.\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>On November 18, 2016, I myself underwent laparoscopic surgery with Dr. Pierre Attignac of Paris, France to remove the embolization co<span style=\"color: #000000;\">ils.\u00a0 It has been years and I haven&#8217;t regretted it for one second&#8211;I&#8217;d do it again in a heartbeat.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">See updates on my page<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#8220;<a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/againstvaricoceleembolization.org\/?page_id=111\">COIL REMOVAL SURGERY AND RECOVERY<\/a>&#8220;<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> for more information.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Scientific inquiry since then supports the idea that coil removal can resolve chronic pain post-embolization.\u00a0 See <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/33457722\/\">https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/33457722\/<\/a>\u00a0 (The conclusion (&#8220;<em>To our knowledge, this is the first case report demonstrating the surgical removal<\/em>&#8230;&#8221; is a bit disingenuous if not faux-cul but i guess we&#8217;ll take anything we can get.\u00a0 thanks to Mike for sharing, see post 5 jan 2023).\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The following is a list of doctors that have performed the coil removal operation or expressed willi<\/span>ngness to try (please contact me to add to this list):<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>AMERICAS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Antonio Finelli<\/strong>, Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada (patient : Mike, see posts below)<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <strong>Dr. Kozlowski and Dr. Brandenberger<\/strong>, Virginia Mason in Seattle, WA.\u00a0 (patient:\u00a0 Kevin, see post below)\u00a0\u00a0 <em>(FYI&#8211; Kevin has not responded in months to questions regarding his status.\u00a0 I have no idea how he has fared since surgery.)<\/em><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr. Kevin Petersen of No Insurance Surgery<\/strong>, Las Vegas NV\u00a0 (patient:\u00a0 Chip, see post below)<br \/>\n<strong>Dr. Robert Stein,<\/strong> Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, US (patient:\u00a0 Scott, see post and operating report below, and Kathryn (4\/17\/2024)<br \/>\n<strong>Dr. Gary Alter<\/strong>, Los Angeles<em> (perhaps, suggestion from blog post)<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Dr. Egydio<\/strong>, Brazil <em>(perhaps, suggestion from blo<span style=\"color: #000000;\">g post)<\/span><br \/>\n<\/em><strong>Dr. Mohammed Waseem Salkini,<\/strong> JW Ruby Hospital, Morgantown WV<i>\u00a0(same patient that posted the youtube surgery video)<br \/>\n<\/i><strong>Dr Rutkowski,\u00a0<\/strong>WNY Urology, NY\u00a0 (procedure schedule for Ryan, see post below)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000000;\"><strong>EUROPE<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong> Dr<\/strong>. <strong>Pierre Attignac<\/strong>, <\/span><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Urologist based in Paris, France, (He performed the removal on me the 18th of November 2016)<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <strong>Dr. Beley S\u00e9bastien<\/strong>, Paris France (patient:\u00a0 Michael, see posts below.)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr. Neil Ba<span style=\"color: #000000;\">rber<\/span><\/strong>, Nuffield Woking Hospital, Woking England (near London) (see JH&#8217;s post below)<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><br \/>\n<strong>Dr. Hugh Gilbert<\/strong>, Nuffield Health, UK<br \/>\n<strong>Dr<\/strong>. <strong>Timothy H<span style=\"color: #000000;\">agreev<\/span><\/strong>, who performed an open surgery removal, from the interventional Radiology handbook, a retired UK surgeon<br \/>\n<strong>Dr<\/strong>. <strong>Bernardo Rocco<\/strong>, Columbus Clinic Center, Milan, Italy (Davide, via private email, see posts below, and MV see posts below)<br \/>\n<strong>Dr. Djinovich<\/strong>, Serbia (perhaps, suggestion from blog post)<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr. Azar Khan<\/strong>,\u00a0King&#8217;s College Hospital\/London Bridge Hospital, London<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Dr. Abhishek Reekhaye<\/strong>, Frimley Park Hospital, London and Surrey (see message from doctor himself below)<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr John Parkin,<\/strong> Consultant Urological Surgeon Birmingham UK<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr.\u00a0 Giampiero Campanelli<\/strong>, Milan (possible option, communicated by private email)<br \/>\n<strong>____?____, Erasmus MC<\/strong> in Rotterdam, Netherlands (patient:\u00a0 Edo, see post below)<br \/>\n<strong>____?____<\/strong>, the swiss doctor that performed the removal on Fabian from Switzerland, see topix posts<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">MIDDLE EAST<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Fahad Bamehriz<\/strong>, King Khalid hospital at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (patient : Mohammed, this is the video that can be seen on youtube, also see topix posts)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">AFRICA<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr. Kenny Du Toit, <\/strong>Cape Town South Africa, utoiturology.co.za .\u00a0 (See Viggo&#8217;s posts below)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">AUSTRALIA<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr Peter Burke<\/strong>, Brisbane Urology (Patient Glenn Petrie via facebook posts)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <small id=\"menu_1_lblQualification\" class=\"m-b-15 res-p-b\"><strong>Another doctor<\/strong> in Brisbane (Patient B) contact me directly for more info<br \/>\n<\/small><strong>____,\u00a0<\/strong>(See NC&#8217;s posts 26 june 2019 below.\u00a0 Contact me directly for more specific info)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">ASIA<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Dr Avanish Arora<\/strong>, Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai\u00a0 (See Sag&#8217;s post 26 sep 2022 below)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Feel free to send me comments; if suitable, I will be happy to post.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>First time commentors:\u00a0 if possible, please state where you are located, how old you are, and other related medical history.\u00a0 It gives us an idea where everyone is and their situation.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c none no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 1309px; left: 20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c none no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; 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