FrankTalk.org

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I am similar in age to you and had basically the same question. I got a few responses on my post:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15201&p=134787#p134787

Hopefully people will respond with new insight on your question as well!

Not everyone can get implanted by the “superheroes”. That doesn’t mean there are plenty of talented surgeons out there. If you are comfortable with that doctor I say go for it. I was completely comfortable with Dr Yafi, and he works in the same dept as Dr Gelman. Gelman does not take insurance, so I put myself in Dr Yafi’s hands and I could t be happier. Just do your research to ease your mind and I’m sure you will be fine

there is a chance that your insurance will cover out of state surgery by a superhero---ask your insurance carrier (my private insurance (blue-cross/Blue shield PPO through my work) paid for it after the usual deductibles)

addendum:
I just noticed that you are covered under medicaid. Unfortunately, that coverage will almost certainly not be acceptable to a famous surgeon.

Agree with other posts on this issue, you will probably be ok locally

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I did a lot of research and finally decided to have a urologist I had seen for A few years do my surgery. Everyone cannot travel and spend nights away from home to have this surgery. That was me! I had the surgery at a major medical center within an hour of my home. Spend overnight in hospital as a precaution. I was dismissed the following day to go home and heal for six weeks. No pain and no complications. I was pleasantly surprised! My surgeon had me go home and heal for six weeks. I did just that and everything went very well. Waiting six weeks was the hardest part of the procedure. After six weeks went back to surgeon for a five minute appointment and was cleared for sex. Have been having sex regularly since and everything has worked very well. Very pleased with my outcome. I was very glad I did not try to go out of my area to have this surgery. Really there was no need. No prep for surgery just showed up and had it done. No complications of any kind.

I would ask him if he has done plenty of that type of surgery and if he is experienced I would let him do it.

I was in the same situation on my revision. I did not want to drive all the way into Los Angeles where I had my original surgery at USC. So I found a specialists a lot closer to where I live, so I decided to ask the nurses that worked there first if the two surgeons that were working out of there if they done many implant surgeries. The head nurse told me they done many with great success. So I gave DR Lee the go ahead to do the surgery and he was excellent. Perfect done a perfect job. I am very happy I went to him.

i guess my first question would be - if you have the $$$ to pay out of pocket, why in the world are you using Medicaid as your insurance instead of buying a better health plan?

Now, without going too politicophilosophical.....if the government is going to provide health care for all, they are going to be the entity deciding who gets what treatment and by whom. If you like your doctor, you can’t keep your doctor, basically. You can have private health care with choice or universal health care where choice is taken away. you cannot have both.

If I were you, I think I’d be happy to have been assigned someone experienced and knowledgeable. You could have gotten the proctologist who recently decided to expand into urological surgery and is doing his first case. His idea of trying nonsurgical treatments before implant is neither surprising nor ill advised.

My insurance would have covered Kramer, but I made the decision to get it done local. I’d put my satisfaction level at about 95% and I’m typically hard to please. Basically, I wanted a Titan , the Doc talked me into an AMS, I’m very happy with it, but wonder what the Titan would have been like.

if you fly off to see Eid or Kramer, no doubt you will get a great job done but you will fly over surgeons enroute who do equally good work. I would ask how many he does/has done.....my local guy installs 50-75 per year and I figured that was enough for him to know what he was doing.

Go for the best, but do it anyway if you can't. My local Dr. was enthusiastic, recommended, knowledgeable. But he was far from perfect. My reservoir eventually fell into my scrotum, his horizontal peno-scrotal incision cut nerves to parts of my penis which did not grow back, I am way undersized (lost 2 1/4 inches.) Not at all happy with his techniques. But I am very happy with the results. I give my surgeon a C-.
My reservoir sits right behind my left testicle, and it's the 100 cc size and large. Nothing can be done without another surgery. The horizontal incision has left me with no feeling of peeing. When relieving myself I have to let the pee hit the water to know if I am finished. The urethra nerves never grew back. And the size issue: Used the VED for months before surgery. I could easily measure 8 1/2 inches. The implant was floppy when first installed, the head bobbed up and down excessively. Since then, even after daily inflations for 2 hours each, my penis has contracted to the size of the implant. But...it still works great. As far as imitating a normal erection, I give it a 90% (no head engorgement.) But sex is great, orgasms are longer and stronger, and I can get it up without worry ANY time.

Find the best doctor you can afford, but get it done.