Jack P, The Rest of my Story

The Rest Of My Story

Posted on Implant Group 8/13/08
9/28/08
As most of you know I was scheduled for my implant at Vanderbilt fortomorrow.7/27/08 I was eating lunch at the local O'Charleys and cut a bit largerthan usual piece of prime rib. With all going on with family andfriends I swallowed before I was ready.The meat stuck in my esophagus just before entering my stomach. Wenthome and tried everything I knew to get it to go one way or another. NOLUCK.2:00 in the morning my wife took me to the local ER. They tried twiceto get it out. The second try they put me to sleep. Woke up and stillthere.They transferred me to the main hospital in Memphis and brought in aSurgeon.Tuesday about noon they put me to sleep again and tried with a rigidscope. No Luck. Seems that I am longer than normal, esophagus that is.They were so aggressive that the doctors collapsed a my left lung andput my heart into A-Fib. Woke up in recovery with a doctor cutting inmy side to put in a tube, "called him a couple of bad words." Then theybrought in a heart doctor.Two day of hell in the room with at least six (6) IV's. Then onThursday afternoon back to surgery. The Dr. marked my chest thatmorning just in case they had to go after it. This time it went throughwhen they put the tube down. Back to hospital room NPO with a stomachpump. I was on ice chips until Monday morning. Liquid diet, did notknow so little would make you feel full.Saturday morning (I think) wife and I had a Come to Jesus meeting with all the Doctors. On what to expect.Tuesday afternoon the surgeon and then the heart Dr released me to gohome. While in the hospital I asked about the implant surgery and theysaid postpone it for a couple of months. Had a long talk with heartdoctor before leaving the hospital and he assured me that in a coupleof months I could get the implant but first I had to get the A-Fibfixed.Went to heart doctor today and the A-fib is much better. Wants me towait a couple of weeks and if the meds do not fix the A-fib they willshock it back.I've lost 15 pounds. When I came home the next morning I looked in themirror and did not see myself. What A Shock.With heart doctors blessing I have rescheduled the pre op at Vanderbiltto October 24 and the implant to October 30. I WANT MYSELF BACK BY THEEND OF THE YEAR!If it has not been one obstacle it has been another but come "Hell orHigh Water" I am going to get the implant.

8/21/08 Epilog: Went to Dr. Shirwany’s for my pre op before the cardiac conversion. Nurse checked my blood and that was fine. Went to the exam room and took my BP she said I hear a normal heart beat. She went and got the EKG and sure enough my heart was back to normal rhythm.
Dr. Shirwany came in and was almost as happy as my wife and I about not having to do the Cardiac Conversion.
For the arrhythmia in the hospital they added Cartia, a calcium channel blocker and Amodarone to the BP meds I was already taking, Ramipil, and ACE inhibitor and spironolactone are my normal BP meds and have controlled my BP well. I told Dr. Shirwany that in my past calcium channel blocker caused me lots of problems and fatigue and not sleeping were the worst. I asked if I could get off the new meds because of the side effects. He said that for now I needed these but he would cut the dose in half. He also said that in mid November after the implant I would ware a monitor for few days and then reevaluate the meds.
I signed a release so he could get the records of my last cardiac cath 7/07 and other history from my previous heart doctor.
He said after he received these records he would mail me a cardiac release for the implant surgery.
In the hospital the surgeons almost killed me. If it had not been for Dr. Shirwany I don’t think I would have made it. IMHO

8/23/08
Went to Dr. Walzer for semi annual DRE and PSA. DRE was normal.

8/25/08 Dr. Walzer’s office called with results of PSA. Result was 1.1 that is normal. Asked her to send me a copy.

10/15/08 Phyllis with Dr. Milam’s office called and wanted to move the surgery up a week. Pre op is now scheduled for 10/22/08 and surgery for 10/23/08 @10:30. Will drive up to Nashville the 22nd and spend the night at.

10/16/08 received cardiac clearance from Dr. Shirwany and faxed it to Phyllis 615-343-9815.

10/22/08 Vanderbilt Pre Op.
Pre op went well, had all my paperwork in order and a cardiac clearance letter from Dr. Shirwany. EKG was normal and cleared for surgery the next day.

10/23/08 Vanderbilt Hospital – Penile Implant
Check in time was 10:30. Went to pre op holding room and had 2 antibiotic IV’s. Dr. Milam came in about 1:00 we talked and he said everything looked fine. A few minutes later one of his assistants came in and we talked for a while. I mentioned the previous surgery where the Dr. penetrated my urethra and he said he knew all about it. I believe that Dr. Milam and staff had a pre op meeting and knew my history well.
About 2:00 I was taken to surgery and Dr. Milam had a few words and then I was asleep.
Woke up about 3:30 in recovery and felt like I had to pee real badly. Had a Foley Catheter and nurse said everything went as planned and the wanting to pee was normal.
My wife had meeting with Dr. Milam after surgery and he told her everything was OK but I would be in pain for a while.
About 4 or 4:30 Dr. Milam came into the room and said everything went well and he thought I would be well pleased with the outcome. He said I would have some asymmetry because of the scar tissue from the previous attempt but I would hardly notice it.
The next morning about 5:30 the catheter was removed. Had a light breakfast urinated on my own and was on the way back to the hotel by 9:00. We arrived home about 2:00.

To say I am satisfied with the results to date would be an understatement. Just the look on my wife’s face when I got back to the room told me everything was OK. She has supported me all these years and I never saw her happier for me.

My testicles are black and blue, but that was expected. The pump is in front of my right testicle and I have to pull it down to the center every day. Dr.said it would be easier for me to get to there.

I have the AMS 700 LGX. If I am reading the paperwork right I will have an erection of about 12 CM (4.7 inches). If I get a 20% increase over time I will be within ¾ inch of my pre peyronies size. Right now I can tell the flaccid state is larger, no more turtle effect. This is more than I expected before surgery I would have guessed about a 4-inch length. I know size is not everything we have been dealing with peyronies about 13 years and learned length is not where it is with sex. You can adapt to most any size and still have fun.

A better than expected length is credited to the proper VED exercise given to me by Old Man of peyroniessocitey.org. That year of proper VED exercise gave me a better than expected outcome.

11/5/2008 Post Op with Todd Doran, Everything normal. Still sore. Pump is in place so I do not have to pull it down anymore. Advised to remove the strips on the incision the next time I shower (looks good after removal). No tub or hot tub for another 4 weeks. Lifting restriction of 15 pounds.

Had to wait in exam room for about 90 minutes. Nurse came in and said they were having a problem with an anther patient. Offered juice while I waited. Told the nurse wait would be ok I would appreciate it if I had a problem. Left home at 11:00 and back by 8:30 after stopping for dinner at Cracker Barrel.

12/04/08 Activation: I was at Vanderbilt at 8:30 this morning for my implant activation. Doran showed me where the relief button is and them activated the pump. He then had me pump it up. For the first time in years I had an erection that stood straight out and stayed on its own.
AMS that gave full instructions on how to use the implant gave me an “owners manual”. I was advised to pump up the implant 2 times a day for at lest 5 minutes until the next appointment in 3 months.
I was told to pump the implant up at least 3 rimes before trying to use it. I now know why the first few times you pump the implant it stings some for a while. When I arrived home I showed my wife the erection and let her feel of it. Feels just like an erect penis of a 20 year old. When we went to bed I pumped it up again. Lying on my back with my penis sticking straight up and hard gave me a feeling of being normal again.
The actual measured result in the office was 4.25 inches. I was informed that over the next 3 months to a year I should gain at least another ½ inch. This puts me closer to my pre peyronies of approximately 5.5 inches.
The VED was a “gods send” over the last years. After I found the proper exercise for peyronies I gained some size back. Lost about a quarter inch from VED to implant. My Venous Leakage, and Corporal Fibrosis was so bad that I had to use a very tight constriction ring that sometimes did not hold, but I don’t know what I would have done without it. I will give the VED a proper send off New Years in a Barn Fire.
Took me a long time to get here. In my time I would have had the implant years go. God’s time was now. It has been a difficult road but here I am happily lying on my back with a hard on that a 20 year old would envy. I have a “date” with my wife to put it to use tomorrow after noon. Can hardly wait.

12/5/08 Date with wife: All went well still soreness when I pump up the implant and it interferes with feelings. This will all heal with time. Learning curve with use but that is part of the fun,

I HAVE MY NEW TOY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

1/5/09 One-month post activation. The implant is expanding into the head and have gained back some length. The last month has been a learning curve, tried to just not push it. Today when activated to full length there is no more soreness. Sex the last time was great.

There was still some soreness Christmas but New Years it was 98% gone. Feelings are returning. Great sex new years!!!

2/19/09 This afternoon I decided to take a nap. While lying there I pumpedup my implant. I kept pumping about 20 times after the bulb got hard.My girth got sore and a little soreness at the glans. Then I noticedthe best erection I have had scene the implant. Like my doctor saidit takes 3 month to a year to get the LGX to full size.I do not let the soreness keep me from using the implant. It is notthat bad. The first few weeks I was real sore, but that is the pricewe pay for success.

Rich's Story, 2 piece implant after hernia surgeries

Dear Reader's:
I wish to add Rich's story to my blog for your education on penile implants. I feel really fortunate to be able to add all of these gentlemen's stories to my blogsite. In the past 20 months, I have been priveledged to be able to correspond with thousands of men, their partner's, and many doctors around the globe about this sexual surgery. I now have 20 months of experience with a penile implant and it has exceeded my expectation a hundred fold. My experience has been echoed by almost everyone that I have talked to who has gone ahead and had this surgery. I hope these many stories are of great help to you and your loving partner. So folks, here is Rich's story.


I hope my experience is helpful to others. Rich

My active life of mountain biking and a related biking accident caused me to lose a testicle. I had previously had two hernia operations with mesh so I have had 3 surgeries in the groin area. I am in good shape at 6’4” and 200 pounds. I am an active married guy, 57 years old.
I noticed after the hernia surgeries that my 8” of manhood began shrinking. I went to the dr. and he said that I had Peyronies Disease and that I had fibrosis in my penis and the 2 hernia surgeries combined would cause less blood to the penis and that would cause shrinkage. I also noticed that I didn't have morning erections and started having trouble maintaining an erection.
I had my testosterone checked and it was 390,, but I had extremely low free and bio available testosterone, so my md prescribed Androgel and it worked well with nice calmness to my overall personality, more confidence, more energy and yes morning erections returned even though they were not hard, at lease something was happening. I used that for about 6 months when I developed a rash and started to get injections that last 2 weeks.
My md prescribed Viagra to help with the E.D. and it gave me terrible headaches as did Cialis and Levitra. I then tried Muse which is a pellet that is inserted in the penis and while it worked great, my wife was allergic to it. I then was put on Caverject and it worked very well for about a year but I noticed that I was still shrinking and the fibrosis in my penis seemed to be getting worse. Over the next 6 months I was getting very sore after the injections for maybe a day or so and I decided to check with the md to see what other options I had. He said I was too young for an implant so I just went along with the injections and then after 6 months I asked him again, reminding him that I was 57 and he replied that he thought I was in my mid forties. He said that yes the implant would be my only other option as if I waited, that the penile shortening would continue and an implant would have to be smaller. He said to discuss this with my wife and let him know. My wife said if I wanted to do it, great, but don't go through it all just for her, as she was satisfied with me as a loving husband. I did decide to go ahead and fix the problem. My doctor recommended a 2 piece AMS Ambicor implant since I had the two hernia surgeries, he didn't want to go into the abdomen.
I had the operation and it was less painful than I thought. I missed one day of work and only took the pain medication For 3 days, then took my Tylenol. There was swelling and black and blue and it was uncomfortable sitting at my desk. The implant is about ½ full so it is a bit hard to hide in pants. So I still keep it in the up position like I did the first two weeks and wear briefs with no problem. I am glad that I had the implant as it is a short inconvenience for a long term solution. It cost $9,000 which insurance covered.
I am now at 4 weeks and all the swelling and black and blue are gone and my penis looks about the same except it is longer when flaccid and my wife says I look great in the shower and in my briefs. I could never wear boxers as my penis would be obvious . I will go soon to see when I can pump it up and see how all that goes. The appearance is very normal, but to the touch, it does feel mechanical. The bulb in my scrotum is no problem since I just have one testicle and had plenty of room for it.
The 2 piece implant placement did permanently damage the spongy erectile tissue on each side of the penis when dilation took place because with so much fibrous tissue they had to use several instruments to create a space for the implants. So while I have good feelings early each morning, I do not get any type of erection at all and I have no expectation for that to change, which is ok. All good so far. I will let you know how it goes when I get the ok to pump it up.