Implanted 2/14/24 - First Five Days
Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2024 4:34 pm
I really appreciated the information I found on this site over the last few years, which helped me get to where I am today and certainly helped me get comfortable with my decision to get the implant. The site allowed me to learn so much about implants, the surgery, recovery, doc selection, etc., that the final steps over the last few weeks were easy. I want to share my experience with the hope that it helps others going down this same path. Thus far my experience has been good, with no problems, major concerns nor any severe pain and no regrets.
I have been dealing with worsening ED for nearly 10 years and tried all the usual things. With the exception of the ED, I am otherwise healthy, active and try to stay fit. I was implanted by Dr. Clavell on 2/14 with a Titan 22cm, no RTE's and the classic pump. Dr. Clavell and his team were great from the office visit to scheduling to surgery. I first met Dr. Clavell on 2/2 and quickly determined I was ready and comfortable to move forward with scheduling the surgery for 2/14. I had already watched all his videos and seen all the good references here, so I was prepared and it made for an easy decision. I also had a doppler ultrasound during that visit that confirmed venous leak, so I knew things weren't going to get better. I wish I had the doppler many years ago and my timeline to this point may have been accelerated.
I slept well the night before surgery and was not even nervous the next morning, surprisingly. I was ready for the concerns around ED to be behind me. The surgery went well although a little scarring was found. I seemed to wake up relatively easily in recovery, without problems, was able to pee enough to be released and we were home before lunch. The surgery center staff, nurses, etc., were all great and everything went smoothly from pre-op to discharge.
I have been documenting my progress in bullet point format and will share that below. Please pardon any typos and grammatical issues. I hope the information is useful. I welcome any comments or questions.
Since everyone is always keenly interested in size related details I'll include those statistics here:
Pre-surgery measurements: Length just over 7" and girth of 5"
During and post surgery: Doc measured just under 7" length no girth measurement. My observations after through today do not really give me any concern about size, since I know it will take some time to reach max potential. Although beaten up it looks like it did before at ~50% erect. Girth looks about the same, although it looks shorter than it would have with a full erection, but that is to be expected. I guess the big take away is no freak out on size necessary.
2/14 - Day 1 - Surgery
- all went well and very little pain. Main concern was soreness from reservoir placement and concern when getting up/moving. Didn’t want to strain abdominals too much.
- Peeing was slow and i didn’t seem to drain entire bladder. I did go often and the stream was stronger at times and more drained.
- Hospital gave me some pain meds before leaving although I don’t think they were necessary.
- I then took some ibuprofen before sleep about 12 hours later.
- All looked good I.e. appearance of what we could see. Size seemed appropriate but seemed to shrink a very little bit during the day.
- Balls/sack seemed to be swelling under the dressing to me.
- Used ice packs throughout the day.
2/15
- My penis was hard when I woke up. Beyond the ~50% inflation. (natural’ish morning wood)
- Some additional feelings in shaft. Not really pain but pulses or prickly feelings maybe
- stronger stream peeing but still not “normal” emptying of bladder.
- Iced throughout the day but more swelling.
- All still seems to be going easily enough with little pain.
- Could feel pump or tubing below bandages. More swelling down below.
2/16
- bandages off in morning.
- Somewhat misshapen looking penis and swollen sack, but no real concerns.
- Took shower
- Continued to ice, used washcloth or towel to elevate sack.
- Took a little acetaminophen and Advil, but not much. Took one gabapentin. No severe pain yet.
- Penis look/shape improved during the day. Looks ok, but does appear smaller, but that’s partly just visual because of the extreme size of my balls/sack.
- Sack still very swollen. Ice and elevating sack (w/facecloth) and/or pelvis (w/pillow or adjustable bed) seemed to help.
- I cannot really keep it up against my belly, that would be close to torture.
- Not sure how I am going to be able to go out and hide this next week sometime.
2/17
- things seem to be moving the right direction.
- Shape and look improved over time after bandages removed.
- Swelling in sack has been down a bit too. Although seems to increase after standing. Also increased as the day went on.
- Sitting seems more comfortable today, but I have been supporting sack with washcloth.
- Have not been icing today.
- 2 tyl early morning and gabapentin mid day.
- Some discomfort still but no serious pain. It is more of a tingling sensation or pulses.
- Stream is much stronger, even normal when peeing the last couple days.
- There has been some pee leakage, much of which comes from not being able to shake and squeeze as normal but other times a drop appears long after going. Possibly after getting in bed or straining in some way.
2/18
- Pretty much more of the same. It’s really been non eventful thus far.
- The sack and balls are sensitive because they are rubbing my legs, couch, etc., with the swelling and also rubbing the pump and tubing on the inside.
- I am trying to position it in different ways and move it around some. I certainly cannot keep it up all the time. It is actually comfortable hanging down.
- I have been walking around the house since the beginning. Getting up and down has become much easier with less concern with straining area impacted by reservoir placement. Swelling increases when on my feet for any length of time though.
- Regarding reservoir placement it seems to be on the right side and right at the waistline/belt line. I wonder how this will be in the future once healed. Probably won’t want to squeeze into any pants that might have gotten too small.
2/19
- nothing unbearable pain wise. Did take a gabapentin early morning and ketorlac mid morning. Gabapentin seems effective on the prickling and shooting pain/discomfort. Hoping the ketorlac helps with the swelling.
- Feel like swelling is increasing. Considering icing again. Stopped because of questions about icing delaying healing.
- I have been able to feel the pump since bandages came off. It is placed behind the balls and is riding low and to the right. Also been able to distinguish the bulb and the portion where the release is. Also could feel tubing.
- Yesterday evening I noticed a coil of tubing coming up between my balls and kind of pushing on the sack near the incision. I hope this will settle elsewhere in the long run as it would easily be felt and would likely be visible at times. It’s like a rounded loop arching down from above to the pump below.
- Still nothing to difficult to endure. I have continuing tingling discomfort and sensitivity of sack/balls. Even though I have noticed some things that may concern me, I also know it is early in the process and these concerns and observations will likely resolve themselves.
I have been dealing with worsening ED for nearly 10 years and tried all the usual things. With the exception of the ED, I am otherwise healthy, active and try to stay fit. I was implanted by Dr. Clavell on 2/14 with a Titan 22cm, no RTE's and the classic pump. Dr. Clavell and his team were great from the office visit to scheduling to surgery. I first met Dr. Clavell on 2/2 and quickly determined I was ready and comfortable to move forward with scheduling the surgery for 2/14. I had already watched all his videos and seen all the good references here, so I was prepared and it made for an easy decision. I also had a doppler ultrasound during that visit that confirmed venous leak, so I knew things weren't going to get better. I wish I had the doppler many years ago and my timeline to this point may have been accelerated.
I slept well the night before surgery and was not even nervous the next morning, surprisingly. I was ready for the concerns around ED to be behind me. The surgery went well although a little scarring was found. I seemed to wake up relatively easily in recovery, without problems, was able to pee enough to be released and we were home before lunch. The surgery center staff, nurses, etc., were all great and everything went smoothly from pre-op to discharge.
I have been documenting my progress in bullet point format and will share that below. Please pardon any typos and grammatical issues. I hope the information is useful. I welcome any comments or questions.
Since everyone is always keenly interested in size related details I'll include those statistics here:
Pre-surgery measurements: Length just over 7" and girth of 5"
During and post surgery: Doc measured just under 7" length no girth measurement. My observations after through today do not really give me any concern about size, since I know it will take some time to reach max potential. Although beaten up it looks like it did before at ~50% erect. Girth looks about the same, although it looks shorter than it would have with a full erection, but that is to be expected. I guess the big take away is no freak out on size necessary.
2/14 - Day 1 - Surgery
- all went well and very little pain. Main concern was soreness from reservoir placement and concern when getting up/moving. Didn’t want to strain abdominals too much.
- Peeing was slow and i didn’t seem to drain entire bladder. I did go often and the stream was stronger at times and more drained.
- Hospital gave me some pain meds before leaving although I don’t think they were necessary.
- I then took some ibuprofen before sleep about 12 hours later.
- All looked good I.e. appearance of what we could see. Size seemed appropriate but seemed to shrink a very little bit during the day.
- Balls/sack seemed to be swelling under the dressing to me.
- Used ice packs throughout the day.
2/15
- My penis was hard when I woke up. Beyond the ~50% inflation. (natural’ish morning wood)
- Some additional feelings in shaft. Not really pain but pulses or prickly feelings maybe
- stronger stream peeing but still not “normal” emptying of bladder.
- Iced throughout the day but more swelling.
- All still seems to be going easily enough with little pain.
- Could feel pump or tubing below bandages. More swelling down below.
2/16
- bandages off in morning.
- Somewhat misshapen looking penis and swollen sack, but no real concerns.
- Took shower
- Continued to ice, used washcloth or towel to elevate sack.
- Took a little acetaminophen and Advil, but not much. Took one gabapentin. No severe pain yet.
- Penis look/shape improved during the day. Looks ok, but does appear smaller, but that’s partly just visual because of the extreme size of my balls/sack.
- Sack still very swollen. Ice and elevating sack (w/facecloth) and/or pelvis (w/pillow or adjustable bed) seemed to help.
- I cannot really keep it up against my belly, that would be close to torture.
- Not sure how I am going to be able to go out and hide this next week sometime.
2/17
- things seem to be moving the right direction.
- Shape and look improved over time after bandages removed.
- Swelling in sack has been down a bit too. Although seems to increase after standing. Also increased as the day went on.
- Sitting seems more comfortable today, but I have been supporting sack with washcloth.
- Have not been icing today.
- 2 tyl early morning and gabapentin mid day.
- Some discomfort still but no serious pain. It is more of a tingling sensation or pulses.
- Stream is much stronger, even normal when peeing the last couple days.
- There has been some pee leakage, much of which comes from not being able to shake and squeeze as normal but other times a drop appears long after going. Possibly after getting in bed or straining in some way.
2/18
- Pretty much more of the same. It’s really been non eventful thus far.
- The sack and balls are sensitive because they are rubbing my legs, couch, etc., with the swelling and also rubbing the pump and tubing on the inside.
- I am trying to position it in different ways and move it around some. I certainly cannot keep it up all the time. It is actually comfortable hanging down.
- I have been walking around the house since the beginning. Getting up and down has become much easier with less concern with straining area impacted by reservoir placement. Swelling increases when on my feet for any length of time though.
- Regarding reservoir placement it seems to be on the right side and right at the waistline/belt line. I wonder how this will be in the future once healed. Probably won’t want to squeeze into any pants that might have gotten too small.
2/19
- nothing unbearable pain wise. Did take a gabapentin early morning and ketorlac mid morning. Gabapentin seems effective on the prickling and shooting pain/discomfort. Hoping the ketorlac helps with the swelling.
- Feel like swelling is increasing. Considering icing again. Stopped because of questions about icing delaying healing.
- I have been able to feel the pump since bandages came off. It is placed behind the balls and is riding low and to the right. Also been able to distinguish the bulb and the portion where the release is. Also could feel tubing.
- Yesterday evening I noticed a coil of tubing coming up between my balls and kind of pushing on the sack near the incision. I hope this will settle elsewhere in the long run as it would easily be felt and would likely be visible at times. It’s like a rounded loop arching down from above to the pump below.
- Still nothing to difficult to endure. I have continuing tingling discomfort and sensitivity of sack/balls. Even though I have noticed some things that may concern me, I also know it is early in the process and these concerns and observations will likely resolve themselves.
Congrats Bro.