Dan's Story From Baltimore

Dear Readers

I'd like to introduce to you, a gentleman who hails from Baltimore and has generously submitted his story to share with everyone who reads this blog site. This guys name is Dan, and Dan is like many men who find this site. He was looking for answers to help with his decision of whether to have or not have penile implant surgery. Obviously, he opted for surgery and would like to tell you about his experiences. Folks here is Dan.

Hello Bob -

After reading your blog for about a year I finally decided to take the plunge. I'd like to share my experience if you think others might benefit. I have read alt.support.impotence for several years, but never found much information there that was helpful to me. If you want to use my story, please sign it "Dan from Baltimore" and omit my email address - I prefer to remain anonymous in these days of instant publicity via Internet.

I'm 64 and diabetic. I had a stroke 13 years ago, and my adventures with ED began shortly thereafter. I had satisfactory results with Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra for several years, but about five years ago they began to lose effect and I sought other solutions. I also developed a fairly severe case of Peyronie's about that time as well, and the combination of existing ED and Peyronies put an end to my sex life. We tried injections (Caverject, trimix) but they provided no effect at all; we also tried the pump, but I didn't like it much and my wife HATED it. She said that if that's the best we can do we might as well just give it up.

I was well aware of implant therapy all along, but the thought of surgery was daunting and the fact there is no turning back was frightening. That said, I missed intimacy so much that I finally decided to look into an implant. I got a referral from my PCP to Dr. Andrew Kramer at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He came highly recommended and has performed over a thousand implants. This is not the sort of thing you would want a beginner doing!

During the weeks leading up to my surgery I changed my mind about a dozen times, but in the end I took a deep breath, got in the car with my wife, and drove to UMMC. I was calmer about the procedure after I got there than I had been during any of the preceding days. We went to the Ambulatory Surgery Center where I was efficiently signed in. Before long I was wheeled into the operating room, and a short time later I woke up in recovery. Recovery from general anesthesia was not pleasant, but at least I didn't suffer any significant nausea. I was kept overnight and administered large doses of antibiotics. Between nurse visits and a neighbor in the next room who was flushing a very loud toilet literally every 15 minutes, I didn't get much sleep, but did not suffer too much discomfort - just some generalized aching in the pelvic region. The catheter was extremely annoying, however, and I was relieved to have it removed the next morning, when I was released.

So far, I have a fair amount of discomfort but am managing the best I can with Tylenol. Most of the stronger stuff makes me sick, and I'd much rather have a little pain than a lot of nausea. The catheter traumatized my urethra, so urinating is a little uncomfortable, but it's slowly getting better. I cannot sit in a chair, but have found that I can get fairly comfortable in my recliner - getting in and out is painful, but once settled I'm doing ok. I'm using an ice bag to cool the area, which is also helpful.

I developed a swelling on day two on the underside of my penis, near the head. I called the doctor, who believes it is a normal consequence of trauma, probably of no concern, and should clear up in a few days.

I have a follow-up appointment with my doc in two weeks, and we'll see how I'm doing then.

If you like, I'll send a couple of follow-up posts over the next month or so.

Your blog was key in my decision to go ahead with surgery - thanks for putting it up!

Cheers
"Dan from Baltimore"


Dan from Baltimore: Report from Week 2

My surgery was on June 11; today is June 26 and here's where I am now.

The past two weeks have been a blur of constant discomfort and not much sleep, but with gradual improvement daily. My airway remained irritated from the breathing tube for about 5 days, and then returned to normal. Urination remained painful for about the same period due to the catheter, but it returned to normal after a few days

I have not been able to get comfortable in bed, so have been sleeping and spending a lot of down time in my recliner, which allows me to distribute my weight away from the groin area, and also to keep an ice pack in place easily.

I also cannot drive comfortably, nor can I sit at a desk, so I have not been working. Because I don't tolerate narcotics and other strong pain killers very well I have been using 1000 mg Tylenol every 4-6 hours, plus an ice bag at every possible opportunity. I have taken off two weeks from work to recover - I plan to return on June 30 if I continue to heal at the current rate.

After 15 days the swelling is gone, and I experienced no bruising at all. I am more mobile: standing and walking are slightly painful, and sitting is still difficult, but all of this is getting better.

My doc left the implant inflated to about half-mast at the time of surgery, and I will be seeing him next week. The semi-erection is somewhat uncomfortable - bending my penis is a little painful, but as far as I can tell my sensitivity is no different than before the surgery. I am waiting to see what arousal is like with a mechanical rather than organic erection. Others tell me it is no different, but I'll have to see that to believe it.

As far as I can tell, I didn't lose much if any length as a result of the operation (a good thing, since I didn't have that much to work with in the first place), and the girth is a little greater. Time will tell...

My urologist elected to use the Coloplast (Mentor) 3-piece Titan implant. He has done hundreds of AMS and hundreds of Coloplast and believes Coloplast has a slight edge in material quality and pump reliability, but gave me the option of whichever I preferred. I deferred to his judgment, since my experience with these is precisely zero units, compared with his 1,000 +.

I remain optimistic - or at least hopeful - that, once healed, this all will have been worth the pain. Even so, I have had a few "what have I done?" moments.

Bottom line: expect a couple of weeks' healing time, with ups and downs along the way.

I will report back in a few more weeks when I am finally healed and able to embark on my shakedown cruise.

Cheers
Dan from Baltimore

Dan from Baltimore - report from week 3

Yesterday (7/3/08) marked the end of my third week of healing and my first post-op visit with my surgeon. He was very pleased with my progress and predicted great results when I'm fully healed, which he estimates at about another 3 weeks. I have no bruising, and my swelling is nearly gone - still some edema around the pump, which is apparently not unusual. I still have some aching in the scrotum due to the pump, but am managing with Tylenol and ice. It's getting better by the day: I can now sit and drive fairly comfortably (but with some squirming around) and was able to return to work half time on 6/30. I will resume full time work on 7/7.

Three pieces of good news from the appointment: 1) my implant had been at half-mast since the surgery and was becoming quite sensitive from rubbing against clothing and sore due to stiffness - he fully deflated me and I have been MUCH more comfortable; 2) the surgery and implant have corrected my Peyronies completely - hardly a hint of a bend (I had a severe bend near the glans, which together with ED made penetration impossible); and 3) he believes I will be able to put my rebuilt equipment to use after my next appointment on 7/24, a date I have marked prominently on my calendar!

I will post again at the end of the month. Cheers to all.

Dan from Baltimore

7/26/08

I had an appointment with my surgeon on 7/24, which marked week 6 since my surgery. He examined everything thoroughly and declared me to be almost fully healed*. He said (hooray!) I should expect to see up to 1" increase in length over the next year, as well as increased girth, resulting from stretching of the implant. He demonstrated how to inflate and deflate the device and verified that I could do it myself. It's pretty easy, but the deflation valve is much stiffer and harder to operate than I would have thought. The doc says it will become easier over time.

*Almost fully healed: all of the internal workings (pump, cylinders, reservoir) are completely healed and entirely comfortable - I no longer even notice that they are there. However, the incision in my scrotum, while healed internally, is being very slow to close externally. The margins of the wound keep separating and the incision oozes fluid constantly - I'm wearing panty liners in my Jockey shorts. My surgeon says there is no sign of infection, and that the incision "should" heal normally "in a little more time." I keep the area clean and dry, and keep a close eye on things, but I see no progress from day to day. On the theory that the scrotum is quite unstable and that the incision is subject to a lot of stretching, motion, and stress during normal movement (especially sitting), my wife (a nurse) and I applied some Steri-strips this morning to see if stabilizing the area would help. Time will tell.

In any case, even though my implant is fully healed and ready for use, I can't proceed until the incision heals. I'll post again when that day finally comes. I'll include a couple of before and after photos showing near perfect correction of the Peyronie's.

Cheers to all

Dan