My Australian Implant Story

[LGXDownunder]

Before I get too far along I'm going to try and recreate my progress to date. Partly to share and partly for my own monitoring.

Day 0: Surgery. Went well, no complications. Although surgeon said he found (and removed?) some scar tissue.
I was expecting that due to my earlier eventual failure with Trimix injections. Scar tissue had been identified back then.
Massive mummy bandage around my now 20% erect member, and catheter tubing sticking out from urethra.
Reasonably comfortable considering, but hard to find a good sleeping position in hospital.

Day 1: Woke up feeling mostly OK but discomfort in the expected areas. No swelling or bruising as yet.
Eventually two attractive young female nurses arrived to remove the bandages and catheter.
After that it was interesting having them examine my dick like it was a museum exhibit .
"Are you circumcised?" Well, yes but it looks a lot different now to yesterday.
I was obviously erect and I explained that it had to stay that way for 6 weeks. I don't think they had seen a lot of these procedures. But they were caring and attentive, and seemed genuinely interested in what I was going through.
Surgeon eventually arrived, very happy with the procedure and what he implanted. That lifted my spirits but I was conscious of the long road still ahead. Discharged around lunchtime, a little over 24 hours after being admitted.

Day 2: As a side sleeper, having to sleep on my back and keep my dick pointed towards my chest is not part of my usual routine. Wearing stretchy but tight boxer briefs to keep things in place as much as possible. I had gotten through the first night with some fitful sleep here and there. That's been the case every night since I came home. Pain is tolerable and mild so far. I was allowed to shower and remove the surgical bandages from the penoscrotal incision this morning, but instructed to only pat it dry and keep it that way. I applied Betadine as a precaution for the first week or so.
Can only pee in a bottle, so I went and bought a large wide mouth version. Producing a lot of fluid regularly.

Day 3: Massive swelling and purple bruising of scrotum is now very apparent. Ball sac the size of a grapefruit, which I had been expecting. Discomfort has increased as a result but still manageable. Mild pain relief (Paracetamol) when needed. Getting unwanted side effects from the strong antibiotic (Augmentin). Immediate very strong gut discomfort, nausea an feeling faint, followed by chronic Diarrhea not long after. Persisted for first 3 days but then got them changed to something milder with fewer side effects. From this point on I sometimes get what feels like a natural erection occurring, and it feels much harder than usual. Unexpected and not unpleasant, I'll take it as I haven't had that feeling for over 3 years.

Day 4: Feeling a little better after changing antibiotics today but some residual symptoms still present.
Still very swollen and bruised but not too uncomfortable most of the time.

Day 5: Much the same as yesterday. Have some concerns that the new antibiotics are causing the same side effects, although less severe. Able to pee straight without the bottle but getting some side spray. Squatting a bit helps with aim.

Day 6: We have to travel about 90 minutes by train to attend a pre-booked event during the day. My first significant outing and I'm a bit apprehensive. Symptoms from antibiotics are slowly diminishing but I take Loperamide for the residual diarrhea to be safe. All goes well apart from the usual discomfort, and walking around feeling like everyone can see the bulge in my shorts. They couldn't really see anything due to loose clothing but your mind plays tricks sometimes. Email message from surgeon that I'm likely still getting residual side effects from the original antibiotic. Bananas and Metamucil might help. One banana a day seems to help the gut issues. Yet to take Metamucil as things still aren't 100% calm and you shouldn't take it with active Diarrhea.

Day 7: Swelling has gone down significantly and I'm now getting increased discomfort as I can feel the MS pump and tubing resting near the base of my scrotum. I can move it a little but don't want to disturb things too much or cause an auto inflation. Taking Paracetamol more regularly to deal with the discomfort.

Day 8: More of the same but now also getting occasional sharp pain along the cavernosal channel.
Getting more comfortable with the appearance of my dick. It's quite hard and hangs at about 3:15 pm, and about 4 inches distal at 20% inflation, measured without pressing into the pudendal fat pad. I didn't take pre op measurements as I couldn't get a natural erection anyway. But pre RRP I was around 6 inches at full tilt, maybe a little over at my peak. During VED therapy I was getting bone pressed to approx. 185 mm, so about 7.4 inches. Hoping to get back to 6 inches erect, but I know that's a long way off.

Day 9: Fewer cavernosal twinges today but still the usual discomfort from being partially erect and having the new equipment settling in my ball sac. I'm getting used to the idea that I'm going to be like this for at least the first 6 weeks, and likely much longer once cycling starts. So I need to lean into it and own it.

[SWorks17]

I'm getting used to the idea that I'm going to be like this for at least the first 6 weeks, and likely much longer once cycling starts. So I need to lean into it and own it.

Great update LGXDownunder, keep leaning into the healing journey, you've got this. I'm sure the doc has told you to gently pull down on the pump to prevent it from migrating upwards. That was pretty good that you could get around for that event on day 6, I don't think I could have done that. Even at 4 weeks out, I was having problems walking longer distances without having pain afterwards and sitting in a chair that didn't have cushion was not great.

Hang in there, we'll help with questions
SWorks

[LGXDownunder]

I'm getting used to the idea that I'm going to be like this for at least the first 6 weeks, and likely much longer once cycling starts. So I need to lean into it and own it.

Great update LGXDownunder, keep leaning into the healing journey, you've got this. I'm sure the doc has told you to gently pull down on the pump to prevent it from migrating upwards. That was pretty good that you could get around for that event on day 6, I don't think I could have done that. Even at 4 weeks out, I was having problems walking longer distances without having pain afterwards and sitting in a chair that didn't have cushion was not great.

Hang in there, we'll help with questions
SWorks

Thanks SWorks. He didn't mention pulling the pump down (that I can remember) but I have to see him in a week for initial check up. I'll follow up then. In the meantime it's actually right at the base of my ball sac and one of my main discomforts/annoyances. I have played around with it but couldn't really pull it down any further. So I think it's OK for now. Walking around is not especially comfortable as things are rubbing in places that I'd prefer they didn't, but so far I can manage it, as long as I don't overdo it. I keep forgetting about the cushion idea when sitting. I'll give that a try tonight when watching TV as my armchair base is quite firm where those bits rest.

Day 10: Overnight I think I had a bout of food poisoning. We had reheated takeaway for dinner and I now think mine may have been contaminated. Woke up around 3 am with nausea, profuse sweating, abdominal cramps/pain preceding an explosive diarrhea episode that took a long time to pass. Still a bit under the weather this morning, so restricting diet and drinking peppermint tea. We are also in the middle of a heatwave (forecast is close to 100 degrees F here today) and had been to a local event with small granddaughters in the heat yesterday afternoon. So I was feeling the heat a bit as well. I can't see or feel anything abnormal with the implant. I think this episode is unrelated to it but I have been getting similar, but far milder, symptoms from the antibiotic I'm taking. Otherwise no changes, same level of new normal continues.

I will give further progress updates for significant changes or milestones, but won't continue with a day by day account after this one. All that minutiae would probably drive everyone nuts eventually, including me .

[LGXDownunder]

A quick update as I've just had an infection scare. Last night I decided to have a detailed look at the incision line, as it has started to become more painful and stinging quite a bit since the swelling in my scrotum has all but disappeared. So I lifted and stretched everything as far as I could to see better. I noticed a tiny white-ish/yellow-ish looking spot with a tiny black spot, also a little red looking in another spot. No discharge or bleeding etc. Tiny things in a very small area in the centre of the suture line, but it worried me. So I sent the uro nurse a photo this morning. She messaged me to say nothing to worry about and emailed later saying my uro has also reviewed it and agrees all good. Just keep it clean and dry. I also had to visit the GP today for a referral so I mentioned it to him as well. Not my usual doctor but he asked if I wanted him to take a look, to which I said yes. He also said it looks fine, nothing of concern. He was curious about the implant, as I had told him I was partially erect for that reason (not just happy to see him ). So I explained what's in there and how it all works. He knew about implants but I don't think he had seen a real life implementation before. Anyway, phew! I was starting to have nightmares.

[SWorks17]

LGXdownunder, now you are the talk of the town Hey we've got a bloke in town that has a Bionic weapon

Hang in there Downunder
SWorks

[LGXDownunder]

LGXdownunder, now you are the talk of the town Hey we've got a bloke in town that has a Bionic weapon

Hang in there Downunder
SWorks

[newhope]

with LGX 21 you should get close to your original length: but you need to be consisent with cycling

Keep in mind that LGX 21 expands in length to about +3cm. So at full inflation it's like having a titan 24cm (and that's very big)

[LGXDownunder]

with LGX 21 you should get close to your original length: but you need to be consisent with cycling

Keep in mind that LGX 21 expands in length to about +3cm. So at full inflation it's like having a titan 24cm (and that's very big)

Thanks! I was a bit surprised, and pleased, to find that my surgeon was able to implant the longest length LGX. He seemed very happy about it as well. The possible expansion was one of the features that attracted me to that model. So I'm hoping that between my uro and the Boston Scientific rep they have right sized me, and I can get back to pre RRP size eventually with diligent cycling. In some ways it's fortunate that I'm a bit OCD oriented, so I have the discipline to maintain a consistent cycling routine when we get to that point.

[raband]

I've been lurking here for some time and finally managed to sign up. Keen to share my story and really appreciate the information already shared on FT.

My ED and implant journey started about 4 1/2 years ago when I was diagnosed with low range/low risk prostate cancer.
Erectile function was still pretty good, although 25 mg Sildanefil definitely helped with keeping it up.
Initially I was just on active surveillance to monitor the PC. My urologist had a lot of similar patients whose cancer never progressed.

But after about 12 months of that I had an MRI that indicated an increase in the size of the tumour. A further biopsy confirmed it had grown about 1.3 mm, but was still completely contained within the prostate gland. PC was regraded to Gleason 7/Medium Risk and my doctor strongly advised immediate surgery. He guaranteed that he could rid me of the cancer as it hadn't gone anywhere else. So I took the plunge and went ahead with a Radical Robotic Prostatectomy with Bilateral Nerve Sparing in March 2022. Thankfully I've been cancer free since then, all PSA tests have been zero/undetectable for PC.

Unfortunately the side effects from the surgery have been diabolical. Initially I had awful urinary incontinence, heavy leakage that went on for many months despite conscientiously applying all the conservative treatments. It has very slowly improved over the last couple of years, and a further procedure in 2024 to inject Botox into my bladder wall has gotten me to where it's mostly a trivial problem. No pads etc unless doing something really strenuous, although I can occasionally get a small amount of arousal leakage or climacturia during sex.

The ED is another story altogether - I've had zero erectile function since the RRP despite the nerve sparing procedure. Initially I tried Tadalafil and so on, with minimal effect. Then I moved to Trimix injections, which worked well for a while until scar tissue built up and I could no longer get any results at all, despite trying every cavernosal location I could find. I briefly underwent a course of shockwave therapy, which did absolutely nothing. Also tried another oral concoction of Phentolamine and something else that my urologist suggested, but it didn't help either. Ultimately I switched to using a Vacurect VED both for sex and penile rehab, but found that it's not a great solution for PIV sex due to the "hinge" effect. However that's the only semi-workable option I've had and it's been my regime for almost 2 years until implant surgery last last week.

I delayed getting an implant in the hope that the erectile nerves may recover. I asked my urologist in January if he has had anyone come back after more than 3 years. He told me that he has only ever had one guy who recovered good erectile function naturally, after 4 years, but he was much younger than me. I didn't like the odds, so I started planning and preparing for an implant. I considered both malleable and IPP but was eventually sold on the IPP.

I had researched implants a lot, including on FT. So I started on a fairly aggressive program of daily VED use, probably overdoing it at times if I'm honest about it. However I wanted to try and recover lost size from the RRP if possible, so trying to maximise the size of the cylinders that could be implanted. I chose to use my existing urological surgeon. We have very few high volume implanters in Australia, in fact probably only one or two who would qualify using USA parameters and they are both interstate, which would not work for me. We just don't have the same population size. Much less volume, but my own urologist implants regularly, usually two or three a month. I have grilled him at length about how he would ensure that my surgery is successful. He was very keen to ensure the outcome I wanted and so far so good. I'm not overly well endowed, probably average, but he was able to implant the AMS LGX 21 cm with no RTEs (MS pump) and was really happy with the results when we discussed it the day after my operation. I also considered the Rigicon Infla10 Pulse AX, which is available here. He has also implanted those but said that the last couple he did the patients were not happy with the results, so we ruled it out.

So here I am a few days post surgery, suffering diarrhea from the post op antibiotics, soreness, bruising, scrotum the size of a grapefruit etc, and getting around with an uncomfortable partial erection for the next 6 weeks until he activates me. Curiously he only inflates to 20% initially, where I've read on here that 60% is more common. I'm already finding it a real challenge to cope at 20%, I can't imagine how 60% would be.

Anyway, let the bionic journey begin .

Hi LGX, you have a very similar story to mine.
Im also in Sydney. Can I ask who the surgeon was?
PM me if you like.

[LGXDownunder]

Hi LGX, you have a very similar story to mine.
Im also in Sydney. Can I ask who the surgeon was?
PM me if you like.

PM sent