1st inflation not until 6 weeks post-op. Thoughts?

[ditchman]

I am now exactly 3 weeks post-op from Dr. Montague (Cleveland Clinic). Healing went so well I can hardly believe it. I am now back to a basic normal routine including cardivascular exercise, stretching, light-to-moderate jogging and lifting. The last of the stitches absorbed and disappeared just yesterday, and I am pretty much pain free for two weeks, now. My scrotum has adjusted to the additional mechanism with no pain or swelling, although when my scrotal reflexes shrink things up, it gets a little crowded down there. My shaft has regained almost complete sensitivity, as much as I can tell, and is still a bit sensitive to touch. Not pain, but some discomfort if pushed or moved or jostled unexpectedly. I deflated for the first time at 2 weeks post op and am pointing southward, although I am a lot stiffer flaccid than I was before the implant. Thing are especially rigid right around the base of the penis even when I deflate as much as possible. So, I guess I won't be diving face down for any hard-hit softballs into the gap between shortstop and third base, if you know what I mean. Time will tell, I guess. Is this normal?

My surgeon follows a pretty strict practice of not inflating for the first time until a minimum of 6 weeks post-op. I have the AMS CX, so I guess I don't need to do much stretching or anything. Is this right? I was kind of smallish before the operation, and unfortunately anticipate being smallish even once inflated (the anxiety on this question is killing me, since I still have three weeks to go). Some of you have mentioned inflation as early as 2-3 weeks post-op for 30 minutes per day. My surgeon is saying inflation at 6 weeks post-op minimum, and inflation for 15-30 minutes per day.

My question: Does 6 weeks to first inflation seem right to most of you on this board? Anyone care to comment or offer their thoughts?

I plan to follow my surgeon's advice to the T, so replies will not influence my decision one way or the other. But, I am curious why there are differences in the time to first inflation for different patients and different surgeons.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Ditch

[jeremc]

Ditch:
I started at week 3. Doctors orders. He told me to max out at a comfortable level for at least one hour and do it twice a day, if not more. He said a little ache is OK because the cylinders are expanding.
I've slept pumped at max all night too. Theory: The more you use it, the better it gets!
Congratulations and welcome to the Bionic Brotherhood.
Jere
PM me if you would like to take on the phone.

Paul is right below. Six weeks is old school. Go for it!

[greggshere]

Hey Ditchman, glad to hear you are doing so well. I had mine on March 7th and I have been going in weekly to my Uro for followup. I went on Monday and was fully expecting to be turned loose with it, since I too have not had any pain in probably two weeks. Mine as well, said that he likes to wait 6 weeks before turning it loose to go. I go back on the 8th of April (he is off next week) and he said we will start pumping it two or three times a day at that time. Sounds like you are right where you need to be. It all depends on the surgeon and his preferences. As much as I would like to go ahead now, I'm not going to jeopardize my new goods. i'm going with Drs. orders.

[greggshere]

Hey Ditchman, glad to hear you are doing well. I thought I left a post on here this morning, but now I do not see it. Anyway, I had my implant on March 7th and have been going in for a followup visit every week. I have really had no pain to speak of since the first week. When I went in to my URO on Monday this week i kind of was hoping he would pump it up and give me the green light to start pumping it up. he said that everything looked great and that I was doing great. I asked him if I could start pumping it and he said not yet. He said he likes to wait six weeks before he starts the pumping process. He said that then he knows it is healed and set and good to go. My next appointment is on teh 8th (he is off next week) and he said we will begin pumping it then, and he will have me doing it several times a day after that appointment. I told him that was fine, as he is the expert. I can wait, because I'm not going to risk anything happening to my new toy. I guess each Dr has their own preferences, so I would listen to your guy.
Gregg

[greggshere]

Dang it, now it is there twice! Argh!

[Frank Talk Admin]

The 6-week rule is old school. The manufacturers and most doctors working on moving the implant process foward, have agreed that earlier activation is better. Just the same way physical therapy is started very soon after surgeries these days. But stick to his orders. He's your doc...well, he is your employee, but at any rate, nothing bad will happen if you wait six weeks. Most guys masturbate MUCH earlier than that.
Paul

[Dave92014]

I saw my doc at 4 weeks post op and he said to come back 3 weeks later and he would teach me to pump. I was axious to get to use the pump but when he pumped me at 4 weeks I still had quite a bit of pain due to sensitivity of the scrotum. So on one hand I was happy to wait 3 weeks more to avoid the pain. That worked for me. So my doc seems to follow the same guidelines as yours. I have the AMS CX also.

[rlm1818]

I was told to wait until I saw the doc at about 6 weeks after surgery. However, another gent who used my same doc at about the same time ended up seeing the doc at about 3 weeks due to a possible problem. When the doc checked him out, he was told he could start inflating at that point, 3 weeks. Since I was recovering very well, I started experimenting with inflation at about the 3-4 week point. When I saw the doc at 6 weeks, he was not surprised I had tried it out sooner. I think he would have been more surprised if I hadn't.

I will say that inflating anywhere close to the max was very painful even at the 6 week point. In fact, it took about 3 months before inflating to the max was comfortable. Inflating to a good solid erection was not painful even at 3-4 weeks. It was only going near the max that was painful. If you decide to experiment, be very very sure you know how to operate the deflate button before you inflate. The first time I tried it out I pumped it quite a bit, not knowing when to stop. I wanted to deflate very quickly due to discomfort. The pain, at least for me, started after a short delay and increased steadily, so it was easy to overpump. Not knowing how to deflate right away would have been excruciating.

As I noted a year ago in my initial report (see "My Implant with Dr Eid" from Feb 2012), I did try masturbating at day 5 post op, but I didn't inflate it at all at that point.

Edit: I think most people who are cleared by the doc to start inflating are almost always checked out by the doc first, even if its at 6 weeks. There's probably wisdom in waiting till you are checked out and cleared first. The rate at which people heal seems to vary a lot. So it stands to reason that the point at which the doc clears you for inflating might vary quite a bit, one person to the next. My impression is that the 6 week point is pretty safe for most people, and having the doc tell you to wait till then is just a way to cut down on the number of potential doctor visits.

[antelope]

I think rlm got it exactly right. People heal at very different rates. Different kinds of tissue also heal at different rates. The penis itself, along with its skin covering, is unique as far as the human tissue goes. If our legs had the incredible expansion properties of the penis, for example, we'd all be pretty good basketball players. In spite of my diabetes, I'm told by my medical team that I'm a "fast healer". Maybe it's all the Vitamin E and A I have taken over the years. Who knows?

The point is that a penile implant is major surgery and involves our favorite body part. A wise man will follow the instructions of his physician. Be assured that the doctor's caution is not designed to spoil our fun but to make sure the end result of his or her work is successful. Never forget, perhaps more than any other specialty, urologists want to see male patients grinning at the conclusion of treatment.

Just my thoughts.

Greg

[Bxguy1]

I'm in agreement with you gentleman as far as individual healing rates that vary...what also varies is the surgery itself...the amount of dissecting and techniques effect the amount of bleeding and an individual's hemostasis ability depends on his blood platelets reacting properly and efficiently. The doctor who performs the most minimally invasive procedure with the.optimum results basically does the best job overall as far as patient satisfaction and healing quickly and with.the least risk of infection...if you have to wait longer to pump may mean one of these factors is different than another patients