How many of you traveled out of state to get the implant?

[ViaSwiss]

Just curious if you did, did it cost more out of pocket for you? How much more?

My urologist in my town (250k) does and will do it, but I dont think he does more than 30 a year. It makes me wonder if I should go to Eid or someone else... but if I did would it cost me way more because its out of network?

[Quincy]

I travelled 700 miles. I live in the Boise area and there were several doctors here that did implants. I wanted an expert, and someone who had done thousands of implants. In addition, I wanted a surgeon that did infrapubic, minimally invasive surgery and one to whom my fears, such as infection, size, recovery time, etc., were as important as they were to me. I feel good about my choice. Looking back after a year, I imagine I would have had a fine experience just by staying local, but who really knows. I do know that I'm happy with the surgery and result I got.

The extra cost for me was the gas for driving and a little over a week in a hotel. There was also some amount of additional discomfort from the traveling. I do not at all regret having travelled.

FWIW, my doctor is in Silicon Valley, on the left coast, and I think he's outstanding. I'd choose minimally invasive infrapubic, every time.

Quincy.

[newbie443]

Just curious if you did, did it cost more out of pocket for you? How much more?

My urologist in my town (250k) does and will do it, but I dont think he does more than 30 a year. It makes me wonder if I should go to Eid or someone else... but if I did would it cost me way more because its out of network?

I traveled 1/2 way across the US for mine. My local docs do 2-3 a year. Said I would loose 1" in length if they did the implant as did the 2 patients of doctors in my area I talked to. My doc did not have a patient that he implanted that would talk to me and when asked what his infection rate he replied that infection does happen. Cost for me to stay local was something in the area of 4 to 7 thousand. Don't know for sure as I did not. Cost for me was approx. 27k out of pocket.

You don't need a doc that does over 30 a year to have good results. You can research docs in your area with health grades. They rank doctors by numbers of procedures they do a year compared to other docs in the US. They also list awards and papers published. My local docs were not ranked as the numbers were so low it just stated that they may perform. I would stay away from those. I would look for a doc that was concerned about infection rate enough to know what his/her rate was. I would look for one that was concerned about size loss. I would ask to speak to at least one patient that had an implant surgery. I don't have the link on this computer but the study on reoperation rates reference numbers of implant surgeries a year showed if I remember correctly that docs who did 8-30 a year were very close to the low numbers of reoperations as the above 30. I would not exclude a doc that did 1 or 2 a month just for numbers sake. 1 or 2 a year I did exclude. You need to find a doc you can trust that will do the best for you. You can also use the Physician Finder at the top of this screen. I would start local first. There are draw backs with travel for this. One is the travel time and expense. Another is follow up care after the surgery. If, as in my case, you cannot find anyone local and are able to travel then you can expand your search.

Good luck with your search and going forward with this.

[strongagain]

I travelled 6,000 miles - from South Africa to Germany, it was well worth it. What are the costs for a ticket, really...

I'll never understand people who think about distance in connection with an implant. But I guess in most cases it's pure stupidity and/or laziness. Alibaba will agree with me... If you are not prepared to put some effort into it than live with the consequences if something gets wrong.

[Lost Sheep]

I live in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. I get most of my medical care through the Veteran's Administration, courtesy fo my disabled Veteran status.

I met with a couple local surgeons, then interviewed Dr Eid and Dr Kramer (by emails) and traveled to Seattle V.A.

Then, fortune smiled and Dr. Shaw (who published with Dr. Garber and is quite expert at implant surgery,even having taught the procedure) fell (figuratively and literally) into my lap.

When I met with him, we had nearly instant rapport. He appreciated my knowledge of the procedure and issues and he impressed me as a caring surgeon who (in the words of Dr. Eid) is "in love with his craft" and dedicated to performance of his surgery and performance of the result.

Dr. Shaw is active duty Air Force and available to me through V.A./Dept of Defense cooperative agreement. I did not have to leave town, as he is stationed at my local Air Force Base Hospital.

He remarked, "If you go to Baltimore, you will be over-flying a lot of good surgeons."

Going with one of the surgeons mentioned in this forum as high-volume and highly skilled is the safe bet. Investigating a surgeon closer to your home to find one with equal skills but lesser known has the advantage of easier follow-up and maybe more flexible scheduling and lesser expense. But you HAVE TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

It wold have cost be a couple thousand dollars to fly to Baltimore, and the logistics of getting the Maryland V.A. to cooperate with the Alaska V.A. were challenging. As it is, my out-of-pocket was nil, travel was not an issue and sleeping in my own bed (23 hours post-op) was comforting. Flying with a semi-erect penis was not something I was looking forward to.

[jisherwood]

I live in Western Montana and am planning a trip to Seattle next week (6/21 Surgery date). I have a neobladder and require a top notch doctor to perform mine. Local Urologist says he never done one with person who has a neo but couldn't be that hard. He does neobladder replacement maybe once or twice a year So I am going back to where I had my surgery for my NEO installed and get my new IPP installed
More to follow after the install next week

[oldbeek]

I was seriously thinking of crossing the us to Baltimore/ Kramer. Talked to Dr Karpman here in CA. Heard he is very good. Karpman told me to go to Dr Boyd only 90 miles away as he was one of the best. Would have spent $2,000.00 in travel. Did research and found the best in my back yard.

[Smetro]

I live in Queensland and travelled to Melbourne-3hrs flying each way to have the best.

[merrix]

Could be the record holder in this field.
15000 km.
9500 miles.
It was worth every meter.
And every cent.

[ViaSwiss]

I travelled 6,000 miles - from South Africa to Germany, it was well worth it. What are the costs for a ticket, really...

I'll never understand people who think about distance in connection with an implant. But I guess in most cases it's pure stupidity and/or laziness. Alibaba will agree with me... If you are not prepared to put some effort into it than live with the consequences if something gets wrong.

In my case (and probably most cases) I am more concerned with will my insurance cover and out of network doctor.