Sharing implant progress--suggestion for the "first squeeze"
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:27 pm
Hi, all. I received an AMS 700 LGX eight weeks ago. Progress has been a bit slower than normal as it took a bit longer than normal for scrotum swelling to subside. Nothing horrible, just slower in healing. Stitches healed fine, but was still tender until a couple of weeks ago. Surgeon agrees that my device -- both the inflate bulb and the deflate button -- has been more stubborn than normal -- very hard to squeeze even though I'm in decent physical shape. We finally got the deflate button to respond a bit more easily, though it's still not a piece of cake. Part of the initial awkwardness is that the device is twisted a bit to the right, but have learned to maneuver "obstacles" out of the way. As to getting the inflate bulb to work with that first hard squeeze, that's been the big challenge. I've finally had some success by soaking in a hot tub to soften all the surrounding tissue and then doing the following: Rather than using my thumb and forefinger to squeeze, I put my hands in a "salute" formation -- fingers together and rigid making a flat plane; then I put the hands between my thighs, palms down, index fingers against the bulb just below the "block," and at least in the bath, the bulb doesn't tend to slip; then, using my thighs to push inward (a nutcracker motion, pardon the expression --but no harm done given that my hands don't slip off the bulb), I can get that first squeeze of the bulb to occur. The subsequent squeezes don't seem to push the bulb in much, but gradually I've managed a sufficient erection to believe it's an improvement over the painful and sometimes ineffective injections I'd been trying for a while. (Had prostatectomy and subsequent radation therapy a couple of years ago.) So for any of you struggling to find a way to get that bulb started, consider trying this method. I'm more optimistic than I was a couple of weeks ago, when my doctor was saying that it's possible we might have to exchange the pump -- which would be a pain but not as bad as having to insert new implants into the penis itself. Not as big an erect penis as before, but I understand that will improve some with exercise. As to deflated state, as others have noted, it's never really as flaccid as it used to be, which can be a bit annoying, but something one can get used to. Good luck to all considering or working through this process.