After working perfectly for 4 years, one day I went to inflate and I could immediately tell that the fluid wasn't being transferred to the cylinders properly - the next day it was flat, as though the air had been let out of a tire. No pain & no discomfort of any kind - just the psychic anguish of knowing I was now in for a revision.
Dr. Eid had implanted the original, and my experience with him and his office had been better than I could ever have hoped for, so I immediately contacted him. As soon at it failed, I texted him on the cell number he gives all his patients and he got right back to me - after 4 years! I am a registered nurse in the emergency department of a large teaching hospital here in NYC and I find this level of attentiveness to his patients astonishing.
He had me come in and immediately confirmed that the device had sprung a leak - he said that, although rare, he had seen this before. The weak point of the Coloplast is the tubing, and indeed, that is where mine failed. His office staff helped me set a date for surgery, and 7 weeks later it was done.
Now, here's the important part of this post - this board was ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE to me when I was trying to figure out what to do the first time, so I want to "pay it forward" by providing information that might answer someone else's questions. I will forever be grateful to all of the people here who have given their time and expertise unselfishly.
Okay, here are some questions I had that I can now answer:
1) In a revision, the old reservoir is left inside you, the new one is placed on the opposite side. I have absolutely no sensation that there is anything there, and I'm posting a photo of my torso (taken just before this revision) so you can see that there is nothing visible. As you can see I am extremely lean after exercising regularly for over 34 years, I wanted to keep that look if at all possible.
2) The new cylinders are the same size as the old ones. Although you can find literature indicating that with revisions a larger cylinder can sometimes be placed, Dr. Eid points out that if the surgeon was aggressive in sizing the first time around, this won't be possible. As you can see, he was pretty aggressive in sizing me the first time - in fact, even with prostate cancer and a radical prostatectomy, followed by 2 years of no organic erections (I injected with Trimix), I am still essentially the same size I was before. This is why you want to go to the best surgeon you can find.
3) Although the first week was still painful, it wasn't nearly as bad as the original surgery. I actually (partially) inflated on DAY 3 when I took the Foley out! Although I was quite sore and tender, there was no visible hematoma. Today is day 14 post surgery and I can now fully inflate but it is still uncomfortable. This is absolutely normal and will get better with time and daily cycling. I went in today for suture removal and Dr. Eid seemed impressed...
4) With the original prosthesis, because I am so thin, he used a 100cc reservoir - that is what you see in the picture below. It worked great and certainly didn't look like it needed more fluid to be any bigger. When I told him I would inflate the old one until the pump went flat, he said "you need more fluid in the reservoir." So in this new one, he used the 125cc reservoir. When I am fully healed and back at the gym, I will post more photos.
Because I am an ER nurse, I understand the importance of visuals in teaching. To that end, here are photos of what the device looks like both flaccid and erect, as well as what my torso looked like before this revision.
Flaccid before revision:
Erect before revision:
Torso before revision:
I think the takeaway here is that the Coloplast is a superb device, however, the weakest part of the design is the tubing. I do NOT think what happened to me was typical. I have no way of knowing how many fail like this, but I think it's rare for it to happen in 4 years, the literature seems to support 8+ years. Dr. Eid indicated he didn't think I did anything that might have caused the device to malfunction.
Here's the bottom line: If you have intractable ED and you have exhausted all other therapies, penile implants are incredible devices. I had become so obsessed with my loss of erectile function secondary to nerve damage from the radical prostatectomy that it was preventing me from moving on with my life. As soon as I had the surgery and regained erectile function, all of that negativity just faded away. Having sex with a rock hard erection that's there as long as you want it is just insanely good.
In fact the aesthetics of the erection is so good that I don't think anyone could tell unless they saw or felt the pump in your scrotum. But the bottom line is "Who cares?" It just works, with full sensation - and at the end of the day I don't think anyone is going to be complaining!
So although mine failed a bit early, Dr. Eid did a beautiful job of replacing it with a new one. I am cancer free after 7 years, I have a penis capable of maintaining an erection as long as I want, and I am completely comfortable with how it looks and feels (as is my wife). Everyday above ground is a gift - life is good!
Hope this helps. If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer, please be patient as I don't get on this board everyday...
