Day 0 - a journal I hope to update…

[joho1984]

Hi All,

First, I lose track but thank you to all the people
here who’ve kindly answered my questions. I can see this site has a lot of medical device sponsorship, but the member-generated content is invaluable. I’ve had ED for my whole adult life and been through inconsistent results on the tablets and injections. But six weeks ago, aged 40, I committed to an implant and had the surgery today. Here’s the story so far (I’ve omitted names for now and will continue to, out of fairness, until I can discuss results conclusively). I’ll endeavour to update as the days go by but this is what I have the energy for today:

Implant Day -2

Arrived in Turkey with the intention of meeting reputed high volume implanting Urologist by appointment, with a view to surgery. Turkey is my choice based on commercial concerns (~1/3 of cost in my native UK and not wanting to wait three plus years on the NHS [about which I could, but won’t, write much more]) and clinical reputation in this field.

Driven straight to hotel which is a perfectly functional Hampton by Hilton. Rested after travels and took a chance on dinner at the hotel which was adequate but not gourmet (not that that matters).

Day -1

Quick trip to the beautiful Blue Mosque. Then I met the patient liaison/BD guy who’s answered more questions than I can count, and done so thoroughly and patiently. He continued to, all the way to the surgeon’s clinic. I wouldn’t describe this guy as a friend, but he’s certainly friendly, very good at the patient care side of things in my view and I find him knowledgeable, reassuring and kind. A good guy.

The surgeon was 60 minutes late for our planned appointment time which could be down to his work I guess. I’m annoyed he’s late, I think mainly because I’m nervous, so I don’t say anything as I don’t know the reason and it’s not as if I’ve got anything better to do!!

Appointment with the surgeon very business like, a little more than I’m comfortable with (my experience is that private doctors in the UK at least pretend money talks). I would say this guy wants you to know he’s good at what he does and it’s reflected in his ego a little; not the first doctor like that. I think his expectation is the BD guy has answered all the questions and he’s there to get information rather than impart it, whereas I want to ask all the questions again. The constant translating dynamic makes it trickier for everyone too. It’s not that I don’t trust the info given to me, rather, I’m highly anxious, planning surgery in a country where I don’t speak the language and I imagine hearing all the info again from the doctor would be reassuring. There’s a bit of confusion over measurement but they are ultimately reassuring I’ll get an implant that retains my 6” visible erection. As everyone is, I’m told the true measurement takes place in theatre, but I’ll get most likely an 18 or 21cm implant (as first predicted here).

Thorough work up including: x-ray, blood and urine and ECG.

Back to the hotel for some doomscrolling and delicious local food at nearby grill.

Day 0 of the rest of my life

Woke early, naturally and drank water just before 0500 which is my cutoff for nil by mouth. Driven by the BD/liaison guy to the hospital. It’s game time now, so I chat little and we soon arrive.

Admitted and settle into my room and they setup IV access. Liaison guy leaves me to it while he does some work. I settle into my room, write letters to each or my daughters and their mum, feel sorry for myself and have a little cry. I’ve always been disproportionately scared of anaesthesia and I think it’s the knowledge that’s impending plus the gravity of the moment I’m taking radical action to move past something that’s dogged me for years. But it’s an emotional moment.

Soon enough they put me on a trolley theatre-bound and within seconds the anaesthetist - who I met in the workup - chucked something in the cannula and I can feel…my mood changing. The last thing I remember is the surgeon shaking my hand.

Next thing I know I’m in recovery and it’s about three hours later (I doubt the procedure was that long). Initially quite painful but they slip something else in the cannula and it fades to awareness rather than pain.

What’s App message from the Liaison confirming 18cm plus 1cm RTE. I suspect I vomited, perhaps on extubation as I have that sort of taste. But maybe it’s just taking the airway thing out that does that anyway.

I am catheterised and have a wound drain in but these should come out tomorrow. I don’t feel too tired and I’ve had some soup. Nothing to take pictures of yet as it’s all bandaged up. A surreal day.

I’ll endeavour to update when there’s more to update on! Interestingly the surgeon is saying cycle from 10 days so more on that as I get it…

[UKHelper2024]

Thanks for sharing your story and updates, I'll keep checking back here to see your progress. I'm also from the UK and next steps for me is likely the implant. Very nervous, especially when a fellow brit doesn't use the NHS , the wait time I understand but are our urologists not good at implants or something? I've heard different things about the urologists and it's making me nervous. Or would someone rather pay to get the better choice of implant and find someone who specialises in that field?

You said 1/3 of the prices, can you let me know what that was so I can get a rough idea?

Admitted and settle into my room and they setup IV access. Liaison guy leaves me to it while he does some work. I settle into my room, write letters to each or my daughters and their mum, feel sorry for myself and have a little cry. I’ve always been disproportionately scared of anaesthesia and I think it’s the knowledge that’s impending plus the gravity of the moment I’m taking radical action to move past something that’s dogged me for years. But it’s an emotional moment.

Definitely an emotional moment, you're about to start a whole new life which you've not experienced properly, cry away

and clinical reputation in this field.

I would appreciate if you could elaborate on this as I'm from the UK too and looking into the whole implant area.

The surgeon was 60 minutes late for our planned appointment time which could be down to his work I guess. I’m annoyed he’s late, I think mainly because I’m nervous, so I don’t say anything as I don’t know the reason and it’s not as if I’ve got anything better to do!!

I would be the exact same in that situation, you've about to have an operation, doesn't matter how small or big the operation, an hour delay is nerve wrecking.

[implantguy1]

Hey good luck for your implant.
Who is your doctor in Turkey?
How much amount are you paying?

[joho1984]

Day + 8

So here I am, back in the UK. Much less sore every day. I think ultimately, I'd describe the experience as a mixed bag .

I'll try and summarise what's happened as bullet points to save me rabbiting on too much:

-Care in the Turkish hospital was excellent: the nurses especially were incredibly caring as was the anesthetist - which is the thing I worried about most
-My pain was never horrendous but I've taken the NSAID prescribed to me every day since surgery, in an effort to reduce the swelling
-Discharged after two nights, I recovered comfortably in my hotel, just bed-rotting
-Last Friday I went to get deflated to fly home. This was very uncomfortable but not terrible and I was shown how to re-activate the pump at the same time which I managed successfully
-Arriving home on the Saturday, I paid a chauffeur to drive me the 200 miles from the airport because there's no way I was doing public transport. Arriving home I felt really quite emotional being reunited with my kids and seeing my ex-wife, who was very caring it had to be said. ED was part of the reason for the end of our marriage so I think it was bittersweet for both of us
-The doc said to leave myself inflated which by and large I've done but have taken short breaks and then put a few pumps back in. The instruction wasn't crystal clear but I think this is okay
-Slight concern that I'm only getting 2-3 pumps in then it gets much harder again, but I'll persevere. I'm meant to start fully cycling from tomorrow will do my best.
-The tips sit just inside the boundary of my glans when un-inflated but much further in when pumped. So I don't think that's anything to worry about yet. I am paranoid about being undersized by nothing conclusive on that front yet.
-I think it's possible (?) to have swelling without bruising that's covering some length
-The rigidity of my implant seems to sort of pull my pubic area down, so hoping that changes in time.

The liasion/BD guy was good at his job. I assume technically the surgeon is, but if I'm honest, I really didn't like his style. Very old school medicine which I'm trying to look last on the basis he's meant to be very good at doing penile implants. But a very far cry from the way people describe e.g. Perito, Clavell etc.

Have booked a follow-up with a UK urologist in a few weeks just to make sure everything's going according to plan. In summary, I can see the tech works and I'll be happier when I can fully inflate and, subsequently see my recovered length. Currently maybe 1" short bone pressed.