Well, it's been nearly 90 days, and we are finally getting used to the new implant.
(If you are new to this blog, please read the earlier posts, so you will understand about the implant I have, and why.)
This implant is, "flexible", and the last thing we want is a flexible penis. If approached straight on, it does not flex, or bend, but if one of us moves to the side, my penis bends at the base. Also, since I only have one implant, on one side of my penis, my penis is smaller in diameter than it would be if I had the normal two implants. That, said, with a strategically placed pillow under my wife's butt, this works MUCH better than what I had before. It is so wonderful to always know that I have an erection, and that it will not "go away". We can make love whenever we want to, and for as long as we want to. All of the pain and hyper-sensitivity that I wrote about in earlier posts, is gone.
All of that said, I plan to have revision surgery in a few months to get the inflatable implant I originally wanted.
In retrospect, the surgery was not much worse than a dentist's appointment. Outside of having to wear a catheter for two weeks because the doctor accidentially cut into my urethra, the post op recovery wasn't too bad (but I sure wouldn't plan to go to work during that period).
Monday, October 7, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
We Finally Tried It Out!
My wife and I finally tried out the new implant.
I am a little over three weeks post op, but my doctor has cleared me. My surgery was less invasive than it would have been if I had gotten the full 3 piece implant. As it was, I only got a semi-rigid implant on one side. (Read the earlier posts to find out why).
That said, the skin on the side of my penis with the implant is still a little tender to the touch, and I had told my wife that. It is interesting how, try as we might, there may be problems if we don’t communicate completely. During our lovemaking, my wife really enjoyed it. I felt that my "new" penis was too short and too small in diameter. I mentioned that to my wife after we were done, and she told me that she was staying purposely “loose” so as not to hurt my tender penis. I told her that it didn’t hurt at all while inside her, and that she should be as “tight” as she wants next time. I just needed to communicate that better before this attempt.
That said, all went well. I am still getting used to the fact that I am not going to lose my erection! I have had this problem off and on for the better part of 50 years, so it will take some getting used to. I can see the potential for us to have a heck of a lot of fun with this!
I am a little over three weeks post op, but my doctor has cleared me. My surgery was less invasive than it would have been if I had gotten the full 3 piece implant. As it was, I only got a semi-rigid implant on one side. (Read the earlier posts to find out why).
That said, the skin on the side of my penis with the implant is still a little tender to the touch, and I had told my wife that. It is interesting how, try as we might, there may be problems if we don’t communicate completely. During our lovemaking, my wife really enjoyed it. I felt that my "new" penis was too short and too small in diameter. I mentioned that to my wife after we were done, and she told me that she was staying purposely “loose” so as not to hurt my tender penis. I told her that it didn’t hurt at all while inside her, and that she should be as “tight” as she wants next time. I just needed to communicate that better before this attempt.
That said, all went well. I am still getting used to the fact that I am not going to lose my erection! I have had this problem off and on for the better part of 50 years, so it will take some getting used to. I can see the potential for us to have a heck of a lot of fun with this!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
The Catheter Is Out
As you know from my earlier post, I finally had the surgery. The doc was using a supra-pubic approach (incision about 2 inches above my penis), and in the process, accidentally "nicked" my urethra (which he has to "work past" with that approach). The result was that I have had to wear a catheter for two weeks. Please look at the page on catheters, to the right of this page, for important info on catheters. Also, he installed one of the "semi rigid" implants on the left side of my penis as a "place holder" until we can do revision surgery in 4-6 months.
The two weeks that I had to wear the catheter, were up yesterday, and the doc removed the catheter yesterday. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't wish a catheter on my worst enemy.
That said, we will be able to use the new implant in about 2 more weeks. As you might expect, it looks to me like it is not as large in diameter or length as the 3 piece outfits that you can pump up, but, in any case, it's always there, and I don't have to worry about "getting it up" any more! If anyone has any questions about this type of implant, fire away, and I will do my best to answer.
At this point, two weeks post surgery, things are getting more comfortable. The catheter is out. I am able to urinate with very little pain if any, thanks to the meds I'm taking.
My penis is however, still very sensitive to touch on the left side where the new implant is. It is so sensitive that I can't comfortably wear underwear. I have tried all three types, boxer, jockey, and athletic. All of them put too much pressure on my penis, and it feels like my penis is being touched by a hot iron. Do not plan to have this type of surgery on Friday, and go to work on Monday! I am most comfortable sitting in a lounge chair with a large towel wrapped, and safety pinned, around me. I also took an old torn out pair of Jockey shorts, and took the elastic off of them. I have that outside of my towel to help hold it up. As you can see, I'm one of those lucky guys with little waist, even though I am 5' 9" and weigh 184. My penis doesn't hurt unless something is touching it, so I am comfortable in the chair, or in bed at night. I expect this sensitivity to go away soon so that we can comfortably use the implant. Stay tuned for more info.
The two weeks that I had to wear the catheter, were up yesterday, and the doc removed the catheter yesterday. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't wish a catheter on my worst enemy.
That said, we will be able to use the new implant in about 2 more weeks. As you might expect, it looks to me like it is not as large in diameter or length as the 3 piece outfits that you can pump up, but, in any case, it's always there, and I don't have to worry about "getting it up" any more! If anyone has any questions about this type of implant, fire away, and I will do my best to answer.
At this point, two weeks post surgery, things are getting more comfortable. The catheter is out. I am able to urinate with very little pain if any, thanks to the meds I'm taking.
My penis is however, still very sensitive to touch on the left side where the new implant is. It is so sensitive that I can't comfortably wear underwear. I have tried all three types, boxer, jockey, and athletic. All of them put too much pressure on my penis, and it feels like my penis is being touched by a hot iron. Do not plan to have this type of surgery on Friday, and go to work on Monday! I am most comfortable sitting in a lounge chair with a large towel wrapped, and safety pinned, around me. I also took an old torn out pair of Jockey shorts, and took the elastic off of them. I have that outside of my towel to help hold it up. As you can see, I'm one of those lucky guys with little waist, even though I am 5' 9" and weigh 184. My penis doesn't hurt unless something is touching it, so I am comfortable in the chair, or in bed at night. I expect this sensitivity to go away soon so that we can comfortably use the implant. Stay tuned for more info.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
My (First) Surgery
My operation had a problem. As you may have seen in the videos on this blog, part of the process of installing an implant is to do an incision, then put an instrument, which looks much like the handle on a Channel Lock wrench, inside the channel in the penis where the erectile tissue is. This essentially destroys the tissue and makes room for the implants, one on each side.
When the doc put the instrument in, he somehow nicked my urethra. He then had to stop the normal three piece implant operation, sew up the urethra, and put one of the bendable implants in the space he had created, as a "place holder". So now also, I have a &^$* @%*^ catheter to deal with for two weeks.
Then the doc will do a test to see if my urethra has healed enough to remove the catheter. That test consists of forcing a dye around the outside of the catheter and up inside my penis. They will then look at the progress of the dye with a fluoroscope to be sure that my urethra is sealed enough to remove the catheter. My guess is that test will be "very unpleasant"!
Then, after 4 months, I can again go in for implant surgery.
During that time, the doc says I will be able to have intercourse (after one month from the original surgery). I now have what looks like a functional (for intercourse) penis, because of the one flexible implant which is in place. So we'll see. It sure is better than what I had before.
The hospital was great! The nurses were all very attentive, competent, and helpful. It’s wonderful to see a well run hospital. It has been my experience that this is rare.
When the doc put the instrument in, he somehow nicked my urethra. He then had to stop the normal three piece implant operation, sew up the urethra, and put one of the bendable implants in the space he had created, as a "place holder". So now also, I have a &^$* @%*^ catheter to deal with for two weeks.
Then the doc will do a test to see if my urethra has healed enough to remove the catheter. That test consists of forcing a dye around the outside of the catheter and up inside my penis. They will then look at the progress of the dye with a fluoroscope to be sure that my urethra is sealed enough to remove the catheter. My guess is that test will be "very unpleasant"!
Then, after 4 months, I can again go in for implant surgery.
During that time, the doc says I will be able to have intercourse (after one month from the original surgery). I now have what looks like a functional (for intercourse) penis, because of the one flexible implant which is in place. So we'll see. It sure is better than what I had before.
The hospital was great! The nurses were all very attentive, competent, and helpful. It’s wonderful to see a well run hospital. It has been my experience that this is rare.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
First Doctor Visit
I finally got to see the doctor who will perform my implant. He is the head of the urology department at a university in northern New York, and lists penile implants as a special interest. I needed more information than that to decide if he was qualified to do this surgery.
When I got to his office I was greeted and signed in efficiently. Then I got moved to a treatment room within 10 minutes of the time of the appointment. There I was greeted by a woman who admitted to being a trainee, who took my medical and medication history.
Then a young man entered the room who obviously is a resident. He performed a cursory inspection of my genitals, and discussed the dangers and opportunities of the surgery. I told him my preference for a Coloplast Titan OTR implant. I also said that I had a list of questions for the urologist. He asked me to ask him the questions, and he would answer them for me, saving the urologist's time. The long and short of it is that I asked him the questions, and then also asked the urologist the questions when he later entered the room. The resident’s answers were uniformly wrong. Do not trust a resident for anything. If you deal with an educational setting for your surgery, you are paying for the services of the fully qualified attending urologist. I realize that residents need to be trained. I just don’t want them to be trained on me. I’m sorry, because I realize that this is an unreasonable position, but that is my position, and this experience bears out the reasoning for it.
Finally, the attending specialist entered the room, and, after some pleasantries, I asked him the questions, which follow:
Will you be doing the surgery and visiting me in the hospital? He answered, “Yes” to both questions.
What is your infection rate? He answered, “Less than 2%”
I asked him how many penile implant surgeries he had performed, and how many he performs per year. He said, “I do about 30 per year, and I have been doing that for about 15 years.” That sounded like a reasonable level of experience to me.
What is your revision rate? How often have you had to repair or redo an implant surgery? “Less than 2%. I had one patient who was 82, who managed to break his implant! I also get a lot of revisions to do from implants which were installed by other physicians. I didn’t count them in the 2%”.
I use Fortesta, which is a testosterone supplement. It has the effect of increasing my age lowered sex drive. (This is a common problem. If you, or your wife have it, get to an endocrinologist. It is easily fixed.) It works well, but it didn’t make much sense for me to be using it immediately after my surgery, when I couldn’t have intercourse. He said I could do whatever I wanted about the Fortesta. I will not use it until I am physically ready to resume intercourse.
I asked which implant he would be using. He said that he would be using the Coloplast Titan OTR.
I asked him what type of anesthetic he would be using. He said he would use general anesthesia. I said that was great, because I had problems with local anesthesia. It doesn’t work well for me, and I had a very painful vasectomy many years ago.
I asked where he would do the incision. He said that recent research has said that there were fewer problems for incisions just above the pubic bone, and that was where he would do mine. That made me very happy, since that agreed with my research on the web, which stated that there were fewer infections for incisions there. If you think about it, it makes sense that an incision on your lower abdomen would be drier, and more exposed to the air, than an incision on your scrotum, therefore there would be less chance for infection. For more info on this, see the video by Dr. Eid in the video section fo this blog.
I also was told that I would be given a stool softener before the surgery. The anesthetic can make you very constipated, which is the last thing you need after abdominal surgery.
I also discussed the catheter with him. I told him that I had to use a catheter after a prostate biopsy, and that after I was discharged from the hospital, my urine flow had stopped and I had to rush back across town to be recatheterized. I also told him that the catheter was VERY uncomfortable while I had it in in the hospital. He said that he could either remove the catheter immediately after the surgery, or not use one at all. I said, “GREAT”!
Finally, I pointed out that I was living about 70 miles from the hospital, and was concerned about my wife driving me home immediately after I am discharged from the hospital. He advised that I should stay in a hotel for one more day afterI am discharged, before I go home. That made sense to me, especially since there is still some possibility that I might have some problem urinating immediately after the surgery.
In short, he answered all of my questions exactly as I wanted the doctor performing this surgery to do. Something like this is always a crap shoot. All you can do in life is the best you can do. In this case I feel that I have taken reasonable precautions, done reasonable research, and asked reasonable questions. We’ll see. My surgery is scheduled for July 15, 2013.
When I got to his office I was greeted and signed in efficiently. Then I got moved to a treatment room within 10 minutes of the time of the appointment. There I was greeted by a woman who admitted to being a trainee, who took my medical and medication history.
Then a young man entered the room who obviously is a resident. He performed a cursory inspection of my genitals, and discussed the dangers and opportunities of the surgery. I told him my preference for a Coloplast Titan OTR implant. I also said that I had a list of questions for the urologist. He asked me to ask him the questions, and he would answer them for me, saving the urologist's time. The long and short of it is that I asked him the questions, and then also asked the urologist the questions when he later entered the room. The resident’s answers were uniformly wrong. Do not trust a resident for anything. If you deal with an educational setting for your surgery, you are paying for the services of the fully qualified attending urologist. I realize that residents need to be trained. I just don’t want them to be trained on me. I’m sorry, because I realize that this is an unreasonable position, but that is my position, and this experience bears out the reasoning for it.
Finally, the attending specialist entered the room, and, after some pleasantries, I asked him the questions, which follow:
Will you be doing the surgery and visiting me in the hospital? He answered, “Yes” to both questions.
What is your infection rate? He answered, “Less than 2%”
I asked him how many penile implant surgeries he had performed, and how many he performs per year. He said, “I do about 30 per year, and I have been doing that for about 15 years.” That sounded like a reasonable level of experience to me.
What is your revision rate? How often have you had to repair or redo an implant surgery? “Less than 2%. I had one patient who was 82, who managed to break his implant! I also get a lot of revisions to do from implants which were installed by other physicians. I didn’t count them in the 2%”.
I use Fortesta, which is a testosterone supplement. It has the effect of increasing my age lowered sex drive. (This is a common problem. If you, or your wife have it, get to an endocrinologist. It is easily fixed.) It works well, but it didn’t make much sense for me to be using it immediately after my surgery, when I couldn’t have intercourse. He said I could do whatever I wanted about the Fortesta. I will not use it until I am physically ready to resume intercourse.
I asked which implant he would be using. He said that he would be using the Coloplast Titan OTR.
I asked him what type of anesthetic he would be using. He said he would use general anesthesia. I said that was great, because I had problems with local anesthesia. It doesn’t work well for me, and I had a very painful vasectomy many years ago.
I asked where he would do the incision. He said that recent research has said that there were fewer problems for incisions just above the pubic bone, and that was where he would do mine. That made me very happy, since that agreed with my research on the web, which stated that there were fewer infections for incisions there. If you think about it, it makes sense that an incision on your lower abdomen would be drier, and more exposed to the air, than an incision on your scrotum, therefore there would be less chance for infection. For more info on this, see the video by Dr. Eid in the video section fo this blog.
I also was told that I would be given a stool softener before the surgery. The anesthetic can make you very constipated, which is the last thing you need after abdominal surgery.
I also discussed the catheter with him. I told him that I had to use a catheter after a prostate biopsy, and that after I was discharged from the hospital, my urine flow had stopped and I had to rush back across town to be recatheterized. I also told him that the catheter was VERY uncomfortable while I had it in in the hospital. He said that he could either remove the catheter immediately after the surgery, or not use one at all. I said, “GREAT”!
Finally, I pointed out that I was living about 70 miles from the hospital, and was concerned about my wife driving me home immediately after I am discharged from the hospital. He advised that I should stay in a hotel for one more day afterI am discharged, before I go home. That made sense to me, especially since there is still some possibility that I might have some problem urinating immediately after the surgery.
In short, he answered all of my questions exactly as I wanted the doctor performing this surgery to do. Something like this is always a crap shoot. All you can do in life is the best you can do. In this case I feel that I have taken reasonable precautions, done reasonable research, and asked reasonable questions. We’ll see. My surgery is scheduled for July 15, 2013.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
My Story
Like many men, I have had trouble getting and keeping erections my whole life. It has been a constant problem for me. Lovemaking should be as simple, easy and carefree as a kiss, and it never has been for me. This is one of the major reasons my first marriage didn’t work, and it certainly was an obstacle in my second marriage. My third marriage is wonderful, and my wife is very understanding, but I know that I am frequently not able to make love with her the way I want to.
Over the years, I have tried every new thing which has come along to help with this problem. First, there were the pills, Viagra, Cialis, and Levetra. All of them worked wonderfully at first, but none of them continued to work after a few years. Soon I found that I was taking 2 of these pills at a time in order to get an erection which would last for 15 -30 seconds - long enough for a little fun, but not nearly long enough to do everything my wife and I wanted to do.
So I went back to my urologist yet again, and he talked about the vacuum pump, which I tried. It is a real pain - literally and figuratively. It feels like it is pinching the skin where the tube meets your abdomen, which hurts, as you are pumping it up. Then there is the problem of getting this very tight band between your body and the tube without losing the vacuum which is keeping your erection up. If you use enough lubricant e.g. slather it on about ¼ inch thick, you sometimes can get the band in there without losing the vacuum and erection completely. I have managed to do this --- once. Then you have an erection to work with, for up to 30 minutes. That was fun, but it also is a little painful, which is distracting. It feels like it is pinching your skin and pulling your hair. You can cut some of the hair off, and use more lubricant, but that is messy and artificial. Using this thing, if you get it to work, your penis will be cold and wet when you bring it to bed. That is not too appetizing for whomever you might find waiting there. This is caused by the lubricant on your penis, and the fact that the band at the base of your penis has stopped blood flow to it. The blood flow normally keeps it warm. Stopping the blood allows it to get cold, which it does. To help this, you can use a hot damp wash cloth to clean and warm your penis. Finally, you can not ejaculate with this tight band around your penis, so in the unlikely event that you do reach organism with this thing on, your seminal fluid will leak out after you are done with intercourse, and remove the band. My guess is that would be of little use to couples wanting to get pregnant. All in all this is an involved process which kills any chance at spontaneity, and most of the pleasure, particularly for the man, of making love.
So I again went back to my urologist. He prescribed trans urethral suppositories which you shove up the tube (urethra) in your penis where urine and seminal fluid normally come out. The suppository is about the size of a grain of rice. It stings to put it up there, then you must “roll” your penis to help distribute the medication, which also stings. Love is not supposed to hurt. The suppository worked for a few minutes the first time I used it, but never again.
So, I went back to my urologist. He said that the next step is injections directly into the penis, which you can do at home, just before intercourse. I would be injecting the same stuff that I had put into my urethra before. He swore that it would be more effective if it were injected. I was skeptical. Trying to inject something into a flaccid penis looked to me like a good way to go around for a while with an erect finger. When I checked this procedure out on the web, I saw that it can lead to scarring inside the penis, and a permanently bent penis. Plus, I wasn’t keen on going after my penis with a needle, no matter how painless my urologist swore it would be.
I told him that the idea of injections into my penis was a nonstarter. He said that the only remaining alternative was a penile implant. I tried to investigate them at length. No one wants someone cutting on them without knowing a lot about it. I looked at all of the videos and other information I could find on the web. I read all the blogs I could find on the web, written, mostly, by the brave men who had penile implants already. I found that most of those blogs were written at least 3 years ago, so I decided to start this blog. Hopefully, we will have updates from some of these men, and others who have had these procedures more recently. The videos are very good, and I have posted what I hope is a good selection of them on this blog.
Selecting a doctor to do the procedure requires some thought. The local urologist that you have been seeing for years may not be the best person to do this important procedure. Everyone says that you should select someone who does a lot of successful penile implants. When penile implants were first begun, there was a problem with infections. Since that time much has been done to help with this problem (look at the videos on this blog), but you still should find out what infection rate your proposed doctor has. Also, you should check how many times he or she has had to do “revision” surgery - surgery to fix the implants when something has gone wrong - and why. There is a lot of information out there. Take the time to review it before you make a decision. If you find a particularly good source of information, let me know about it, and I will put a link to it on this blog.
I have a preliminary appointment with the urologist who I have tentatively selected to do my implant, on June 28, 2013, and I am currently scheduled to have the procedure done on July 15, 2013. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.
Over the years, I have tried every new thing which has come along to help with this problem. First, there were the pills, Viagra, Cialis, and Levetra. All of them worked wonderfully at first, but none of them continued to work after a few years. Soon I found that I was taking 2 of these pills at a time in order to get an erection which would last for 15 -30 seconds - long enough for a little fun, but not nearly long enough to do everything my wife and I wanted to do.
So I went back to my urologist yet again, and he talked about the vacuum pump, which I tried. It is a real pain - literally and figuratively. It feels like it is pinching the skin where the tube meets your abdomen, which hurts, as you are pumping it up. Then there is the problem of getting this very tight band between your body and the tube without losing the vacuum which is keeping your erection up. If you use enough lubricant e.g. slather it on about ¼ inch thick, you sometimes can get the band in there without losing the vacuum and erection completely. I have managed to do this --- once. Then you have an erection to work with, for up to 30 minutes. That was fun, but it also is a little painful, which is distracting. It feels like it is pinching your skin and pulling your hair. You can cut some of the hair off, and use more lubricant, but that is messy and artificial. Using this thing, if you get it to work, your penis will be cold and wet when you bring it to bed. That is not too appetizing for whomever you might find waiting there. This is caused by the lubricant on your penis, and the fact that the band at the base of your penis has stopped blood flow to it. The blood flow normally keeps it warm. Stopping the blood allows it to get cold, which it does. To help this, you can use a hot damp wash cloth to clean and warm your penis. Finally, you can not ejaculate with this tight band around your penis, so in the unlikely event that you do reach organism with this thing on, your seminal fluid will leak out after you are done with intercourse, and remove the band. My guess is that would be of little use to couples wanting to get pregnant. All in all this is an involved process which kills any chance at spontaneity, and most of the pleasure, particularly for the man, of making love.
So I again went back to my urologist. He prescribed trans urethral suppositories which you shove up the tube (urethra) in your penis where urine and seminal fluid normally come out. The suppository is about the size of a grain of rice. It stings to put it up there, then you must “roll” your penis to help distribute the medication, which also stings. Love is not supposed to hurt. The suppository worked for a few minutes the first time I used it, but never again.
So, I went back to my urologist. He said that the next step is injections directly into the penis, which you can do at home, just before intercourse. I would be injecting the same stuff that I had put into my urethra before. He swore that it would be more effective if it were injected. I was skeptical. Trying to inject something into a flaccid penis looked to me like a good way to go around for a while with an erect finger. When I checked this procedure out on the web, I saw that it can lead to scarring inside the penis, and a permanently bent penis. Plus, I wasn’t keen on going after my penis with a needle, no matter how painless my urologist swore it would be.
I told him that the idea of injections into my penis was a nonstarter. He said that the only remaining alternative was a penile implant. I tried to investigate them at length. No one wants someone cutting on them without knowing a lot about it. I looked at all of the videos and other information I could find on the web. I read all the blogs I could find on the web, written, mostly, by the brave men who had penile implants already. I found that most of those blogs were written at least 3 years ago, so I decided to start this blog. Hopefully, we will have updates from some of these men, and others who have had these procedures more recently. The videos are very good, and I have posted what I hope is a good selection of them on this blog.
Selecting a doctor to do the procedure requires some thought. The local urologist that you have been seeing for years may not be the best person to do this important procedure. Everyone says that you should select someone who does a lot of successful penile implants. When penile implants were first begun, there was a problem with infections. Since that time much has been done to help with this problem (look at the videos on this blog), but you still should find out what infection rate your proposed doctor has. Also, you should check how many times he or she has had to do “revision” surgery - surgery to fix the implants when something has gone wrong - and why. There is a lot of information out there. Take the time to review it before you make a decision. If you find a particularly good source of information, let me know about it, and I will put a link to it on this blog.
I have a preliminary appointment with the urologist who I have tentatively selected to do my implant, on June 28, 2013, and I am currently scheduled to have the procedure done on July 15, 2013. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.
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