My Story

[Woodworker57]

Post-op: Days 1 and 2

I had my surgery on Friday, March 8th at 8:00 in the morning. The procedure went very smoothly and I was in post-op about 10:00. I remained in the hospital until Saturday morning. I was administered a variety of IV’s of Lactated Ringers (electrolytes) and antibiotics. For pain I was administered Dilaudid – an opiate that was wonderful in easing the pain and allowing me to sleep. My prosthesis was also inflated to a size that my penis hasn’t experienced in years. My surgeon arrived a 7:00 am Saturday and removed the catheter and said that I was discharged. He told me to simply rest, rest and rest some more. I have a follow-up visit with him in a week. He also reduced the size of my prosthesis to about 60% erect. When he squeezed the deflate bulb I thought that he was disembowelling me! It hurt!! I was surprised that he did not give me any prescription meds for pain. He said to take some Naproxen (Alleve) and that should be it. He also did not administer any additional antibiotics.

When I arrived home I was very sore. My nuts are the size of bocce balls and feel about as heavy. I’ve remained in bed most of the day. As far as urination goes… initially I tried to urinate standing up leaning at about a 45 degree angle over the toilet. Not only was this extremely uncomfortable but not particularly accurate either. I’ve read enough on this site about using the shower or bath tub as a toilet and I’ve taken this advice. In our master bedroom we have a full size shower – I simply open the door and piss away. This has really simplified the process. I did succumb to taking a couple of Naproxen last night and again this morning (Sunday). I will say that the pain has subsided significantly since yesterday but sitting for any lengthy period comfortably is difficult.

Another issue – underwear. I am normally a boxer guy but I bought six pair of Adidas comfort briefs as recommended by some of the other posts on this site due to this procedure. I have found that they are too tight and the bottom of my scrotum, where the incisions are, are irritated by the cotton. I have since returned to my boxers and then wear a firm fitting pair of sweat pants to hold everything in place. I believe that in a week or two (when the swelling subsides a bit) the briefs will be the better choice.

Wednesday – Post-op 5 days

A good portion of the swelling has subsided. The bulk of the pain is in the scrotum but the testicles still remain oversized. They’ve shrunk to billiard ball size. The penis has almost no pain whatsoever. I have spent most of my days in bed sitting on a heating pad or a bag of peas. I bet the packagers of those organic peas had no idea what they would eventually be used for! I do walk around from time to time but I find that it becomes painful if I walk too much. Sitting on a chair or a stool is painful. I am wearing gym shorts that have a built in supporter made of the same nylon material as the shorts. I have found that the smooth material is more comforting to the “boys” then the cotton underwear was. Earlier today I took my first bath (I’ve only showered) since the surgery and was in heaven. I have my first post-op visit with the surgeon tomorrow – Thursday.

So now my questions to the guys who’ve been down this road before:

• The pump: my scrotum feels like it swallowed a key chain and it is lodged at the bottom of the sack. (hence my discomfort when I sit down on anything but a soft surface) Does this go away? The pump will not change in size nor will it move to any other location. Will I always feel the presence of the pump when I sit down?

• The AMS DVD talks about using a two handed method when pumping. I always thought that pumping could be done with one hand. Any comments or suggestions?

• Would it be helpful to practice pumping in the bathtub as the warm water does wonders for relaxing the whole region?

As always, thank you for your feedback!

[Bionic_by_AMS]

Will I always feel the presence of the pump when I sit down?

Yes you will ... however it will not be as tender as it is now ... try an inflatable donut cushion, as I still use mine. It works well when you have to travel, or go to a Stadium event.

I always thought that pumping could be done with one hand. Any comments or suggestions?

You can once you become more experienced ... they mention the two-handed since you don't want the pump ball to slip, while squeezing it.
See if this helps: Double-Handed Inflation http://www.franktalk.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=932

Would it be helpful to practice pumping in the bathtub as the warm water does wonders for relaxing the whole region?

Yes the warm bath approach works great! ...

[greggshere]

Good to hear you are doing well sir! I went today and had mine deflated to about 20%. I go back on Monday, and unfortunately my Doc has not given me the soak ok yet. I'm still only allowed showers, but that suits me just fine. My recovery is going excellent, so I'll do whatever he says. I'm just thrilled to death to finally have my new found hard on back. Keep us updated on your progress.

[bd5403]

Don't be afraid of injections. I have used bimix injections for 13 years and get wonderful erections and no problems of any kind. I was concerned the first time I injected but the pain was hardly noticable. My erections last for 1 1/2 to two hours which is great. I think I would change Dr.s before considering an implant

Best Wishes on your journey.

[rschweiger]

Congrats, hope you are feeling well today?
Plenty have said the warm water helps,personally I've never used it.
As for the pump in your scrotum I am 7 mos. Out and it will loosen up as swelling deminishes and the pump will have more give and room to bounce around(if I try to drive for extended periods it can get uncomfortable and feel like a pinch and need an adjustment) and the one hand versus the two hand refers to hands on bulb.een if I use one hand I usually take the other and hold tubing at top of pump so the pump does not slip and I'll use two hands on bulb to get extra pumps when the pump becomes more difficult to squeeze,it works but sometime the pump will slip and smarts a little but its all good you'll see what I. mean. Lol.
For right now concentrate on getting better.
Best wishes,Rich.

[mimmo51]

I think I would change Dr.s before considering an implant

I have not had any luck with the injections.
Caverject worked only occasionally and I caused an initial formation of fibrotic plaques. I decided to have the implant and the surgeon had to make Wilson Maneuver after implantation of AMS 700 CX...
I am now very happy with my choice, and the period in which I practiced the injections I was unsatisfied and sad

[gerryp]

Congrats, Woodworker! Our surgeries were the same day. Best of luck to both of us!

Gerry

[Woodworker57]

To Gregshere and Gerryp: best wishes to both of you. I have been following your posts and look forward to comparing notes on a regular basis. Gerry – I’m looking forward to Part 3 of your story. Both of you, please continue to post as you are up to it (no pun intended)

Post-op – 9 days

The swelling has subsided considerably in the scrotum. The penis has no pain whatsoever. The scrotum still has sensitivity where the stitches remain and where the pump is positioned. I had my first follow-up visit with the surgeon on Thursday morning and he gave me a lesson on how to inflate and deflate the prosthesis. I am still in a little too much pain to practice but last night my 40-50 percent erection was starting to become uncomfortable so I decided to try to deflate my new toy. I could feel the release button but when I tried to apply enough pressure for 4 seconds or more it was just too painful. I spent the remainder of the night with my partial woody. My wife did spend a little time working on me as well and I will tell you that I am amazed at how natural the whole thing feels. I lost some sensitivity as a result of the prostate surgery in October 2011 so I don’t anticipate that I will be able to orgasm with the regularity that I had pre RP surgery but I can honestly say that I was feeling the “tingling” sensation that I hoped would return. My wife also said that she could not feel the cylinders that run the length of my penis and said that everything feels quite natural to her. She said that if she didn’t know I had the implant, she wouldn’t have known by the way it feels in her hand. It’s too soon to take it to the next level (the ultimate test) but I’m very optimistic based on last night’s experience.

Finally, this morning I reached down, located the deflate button and pushed. It hurt! I then tried squeezing the inflate bulb. It too hurt but I heard a “pop”. I didn’t want to continue to inflate so I returned to the deflate button and held it. I heard and felt the saline solution run through the tubes in my penis. With my other hand I pushed down on my penis to decrease the partial erection as much as I could. In the end, as deflated as I can get at the moment my penis still stands at about 4 o’clock. It packs away neatly and relatively comfortably in the new briefs that are now a staple garment for me. Knowing what I looked like almost fully pumped (when I woke up from surgery last week) I am not concerned about length or girth but (and I never imagined that I would every say this), I hope I can learn to deflate this puppy to a normal dangle. My next doctors appointment is on the 28th.

[gerryp]

Woodworker, your progress is amazing! I'll post more separately, but have had a bit of a problem with bleeding from the surgical site, and talked to the doc by phone this a.m. Not a serious issue, but I'm suspending the warm baths for a day or two. Still having enough pain that I'm taking a couple of rounds of percocet daily. Have an appointment the 23rd to have stitches removed.

Definitely looking forward to starting with the experimentation you mentioned--and beyond!

All the best,

Gerry

[radiodec]

Just a bit ahead of you, implnated November 7, 2012. For me, I am already to the point where I don't know the pump is down there unless I reach for it. I was able to do a 13 hour drive from North of Nashville to Lakeland, Florida with only gas and restroom breaks.

If you know what to feel for the cylinders can be felt by hand for me, for sex however my wife has only noticed one difference; it now works. Depending on how different your size was between flacid and erect, you may never get back to your original flacid state. You will however get to one that is comfortable and not too obvious. I went from about 3 inches flacid to 5 inches flacid after surgery. Quite flexible but definitely larger. I am now back to my preop length and girth when inflated. Actually maybe a little more girth and the length might be just a trace larger too. That may just be my imagination though.

Had very little pain through the whole time, but the tenderness near the pump has just recently gone away totally. Stretching level inflation is always uncomfortable, working level is not.

David