Postop Week 2

I started my second week today, and I'm just taking things one day at a time. In talking with a couple of other implantees via email, the pump is an irritant inside the scrotum. A couple of us have noted that we are feeling sore both in the testicle and in the inner wall of the scrotum. Lets face it, theres not a lot of room inside the scrotum and the pump is banging around inside the scrotum. I don't know how long this soreness will stick around and the inflamation will go down, freeing up space inside the scrotum for both the testicle and the pump to coexists. Also this morning, I located the deflate button and squeezed out fluid from the cylinders and force down a slight erection that popped up during the night. Makes me wonder if pressure on the reservoir in the abdomen doesn't cause fluid to leak back into the cylinders. I've found that wearing compression shorts or a jock strap keeps the penis and the scrotum from moving around. And it keeps the penis in the upright position thereby helping to drain bruising and fluid buildup in the penis. The bruising of my penis has really changed from two days ago for the good. There is a small area that is now completely free of swelling and bruising. Small victories are huge. I'm looking forward to this time a week from now and I believe things will be significantly improved. In all seriousness. Keep wearing a jockstrip or compression shorts from the time you get home till the end of the 2nd week. You will feel a whole lot better. The more you can keep your penia in the upright position and your testicles and pump from moving around, the more comfortable you are going to be. Other implantees and I agree on this as good advise. Take care and one day at a time. On a personal note, my heart and prayers go out to Kelsy Smith's family. Kelsey was a young girl just out of High School who was caught on sercurity cameras as having a young male forcing his way into her car. Her body was found today and I feel realy sad for her parents. My daughter is 4 years older the Kelsey, and she just graduated from College. If my daughter were butchered by some sicko as Kelsy was, I hope and pray that the police have arrested the correct person responsible. That he is kept in a concrete and steel cage for however long he lives. He's proved himself to be a dangerous and viscious animal, and unfit to live among decent people. Maybe he will experience the same visciousness that he visited on Kelsey when he gets to prison. Then is when he will realize that he is among his own kind.

Surgery Date set for penile implant

My Uro called and I go in on Wed May 23rd to go over things with my Uro and meet with Anesthesia. Also need to pick up scrips for antibiotics. Then I have to wait for May 29th for surgery. I've done a ton of research both on the internet and since I work at a University Hospital with a rather large medical library, I've been able to access several significant periodicals that I could not access off of the web. I was having to choose between the Ambicor 2 piece and the Ultrex three piece devices. The Ambicor is not old technology, but a very reliable choice in implants. A large study in the January 2007 issue of the Journal of Urology show that it has the highest satisfaction of all the implants out there both from the patient and partner point of view. Out of a 101 patients from 3 months to over 10 years, 97% of the patients were still using the implant. 1 implant was removed for revision due to pain from incorrect measurement. One implant was removed for infection and one was removed for mechanical breakdown. With a mean period of 38 months. If I were having really poor control of my diabetes, the Ambicor would have been my first choice in an implant because of risk from infection. Because I have excellent control of my Type 1 diabetes over a 22 year period, I'm going to go with the AMS 700 Ultrex implant because of the expansion of the device which has the potential of increasing girth and length. My girth according to my spouse doesn't need expansion as she is satisfied with the fit.

penile implants

I visited my Urologist yesterday (Dr Weinstine) to discuss being implanted with a penile prosthesis. A little bit about me. I'm 52 years young, a juvenile diabetic since age 31 and have been been diagnosed as having erectile dysfunction for the past 13 years. I've also been married for 26 years to a very understanding and wonderful wife who just had open heart surgery March 30th of this year. I've tried vacuum pumps (hated them), viagra and cialis and have used injections for thirteen years with pretty good success. My wife loves the erections I had from bimix or trimix in that even after ejaculation, I remained hard for about two hours. Why am I considering an implant at this time? My penis is showing signs of fibrosis or scarring from the shots and the shots are loosing their effectiveness. The implants are considered the last resort in that there is no going back to anything else. The implants destroy the tissue in the Corpora Cavernosa which is what fills with blood. I've done a ton of research and have worked previously in PATHOLOGY and have examined numerous explanted devices that failed in patients for one reason or another. But I'm still a little undecided on which implant I want to have implanted. I thought I wanted the AMS 700 Ultrex which is a 3 piece device that expands to increase length and girth somewhat, but there is a 4 % failure or infection rate that requires removal of the device in the first 48 months. My urologist also showed me the AMS Ambicor two piece device and also told me about an article in the January issue of the Journal of Urology. This devise has less than a 2 % failure or infection rate over 48 months as well as a high satisfaction rate among users and their spouses or partners. I need to make up my mind by Monday which is two days away. I also am hoping to have the surgery on May 29th. I plan to keep this blog over the next six month to a year so that others can read about my experiences and can email me with questions. Having this surgery is a scarry situation. I know that I will have significantly more pain following this surgery than I had with my vasectomy. The same surgeon\urologist who did my vasectomy 20 years ago will do my implant as well. A very skilled doctor at University Hospital in Columbia, Mo. Some of my concerns are the same as other men have. Size and width following the surgery. I have a 5.5 inch erection with a 5.5 inch circumference when erect which fits my wife like a glove. So we are very compatible sexually. These devices don't last a lifetime and do fail after time. They have an estimated 10 year lifespan. The Ambicor device is very easy to pump up, has a smaller pump placed in the scotum, and is easier to implant for the surgeon. The satisfaction level with this device is very high and it is simple to use. it only requires 3 to 5 pumps to obtain a satisfactory erection and is very durable. On the other hand, a significant number of men report a loss in size with implants, especially men who have had prostate removal. The Ultrex allows for expansion in girth and length. Some men reported thicker erections and longer erections with the Ultrex. The Pump in the scrotum is larger and a little more complex to use. Also, the reservoir is implanted within the body in the lower abdomen. And the reservoir has to be connected to the pump and filled with saline which increases the risk of infection. AMS has coated the Ultrex with antibiotic to reduce the infection rate. The Ambicor comes from AMS presealed with a saline supply and is simpler and easier to implant so that is an important consideration. Guess I had better get back to my research.