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I'm at the point where I'm ready to go for the implant. I've been approved by my insurance for a three-piece implant but my urologist says he will not do the procedure cuz I have too much scarring in my abdomen from prior operations. He's giving me a short list of other doctors in the area who perform penile implant procedures. I just have no idea how to find out how many surgeries they've done or what their customer satisfaction may have been. If you recognize any of these doctors please do give me any insight you may have? Also, does anyone know if Medi-Cal managed Care would approve the procedure to be done in another state? There is a doctor down in Houston I Believe who does pretty good work but I am in Sacramento california. I can handle travel expenses but no idea if that's something medical does. Thank you in advance

Dr. Karpman was on my short list of surgeons. Mt View CA. Only a couple hours drive from a relative with whom I could stay during recovery if I elected to travel.

Others were Dr. Eid and Dr. Kramer on the East Coast of the U.S., Dr Ostrowski in Seattle and local surgeons where I live, in Anchorage, AK.

I got lucky with Dr. Shaw, an expert in the procedure.

Setanta82 wrote:I'm at the point where I'm ready to go for the implant. I've been approved by my insurance for a three-piece implant but my urologist says he will not do the procedure cuz I have too much scarring in my abdomen from prior operations. He's giving me a short list of other doctors in the area who perform penile implant procedures. I just have no idea how to find out how many surgeries they've done or what their customer satisfaction may have been. If you recognize any of these doctors please do give me any insight you may have? Also, does anyone know if Medi-Cal managed Care would approve the procedure to be done in another state? There is a doctor down in Houston I Believe who does pretty good work but I am in Sacramento california. I can handle travel expenses but no idea if that's something medical does. Thank you in advanceScreenshot_20210316-152730~2.png

Hi,
I live in Phoenix, AZ. I just got my implant 03/11 with Dr. Shawn Blick. He is specialist in Penile implants. Excellent Doctor. He uses the infrapubic surgical approach. Only one incision. He has a videos in youtube.

There some good doctors out there. I used Dr Hakky in Atlanta for my second revision. My first implant was done scrotal approach. My second was infrapubic. I hated it and still do. The scar is huge and looks like Frankenstein
Dr Hakky did a scrotal approach and is a excellent doctor. We are are partial to the doctor that did our implant if we had a good outcome.
Just my two cents.

After care is something I value only second to doctors qualifications. So I do recommend staying as local as you can. But if you find no one you trust for this locally then consider travel. You can put the local doctors name in the search function upper right. You can also use Health Grades for ratings and experience. Karpman in CA has been talked about as a very good doctor in CA but one member here has had recent problems. But all doctors even the best have problems over time as no one is perfect. So you take that chance even if you travel. You just reduce the chance to very very slim by going to really good doctors. But after care is really difficult long distant. I have also read of other very good doctors in CA that have been posted on this site but cannot remember them. Maybe someone else will have some recommendations.

Good luck in your search.

Run Wang is one of the doctors who perform the sliding technique through ventral incisions.

Dr. Eid and I exchanged several emails before my surgery. He wrote this piece of advice, "Find a surgeon in love with his craft." He went on to explain that such a surgeon will put his patients' outcome above all else.

Interview prospective surgeons and go with someone in whom you develop confidence. Do not settle for less than that.

The surgeon I chose told me, if you go to the East Coast, "you will be overflying a lot of good surgeons". I liked him immediately and trusted him as he trusted me. He acknowledged the fact that I had researched extensively and treated me as a member of my medical care team, answered questions and shared his decision-making process.

NVMND

Dr Tom Lue is a big name at UCSF and is my doctor. He does implants and I have heard good things. He has written many papers on ED, etc. and teaches. UCSF is very proud of him. There is at least one guy on FT from California that discussed his implant done by Dr. Lue but I don't recall his name. If I recall correctly Lue told me in 2016 that he did 30 implants per month.

Thank you everyone for your input. I have a lot of homework to do.