Questions For Consideration

[Anthony]

This is the best site, yall are very helpful and very respectful.
I am 47, at 42 I had a heart attack and received 5 inner-heart stents. I am on statins and beta blockers and believe these have ruined my ability to maintain an erection. Im actually in fairly good shape 6’, 205 and exercise daily. A1C of 6.5-7.5, my cholesterol levels stay in check though I do fight High triglycerides but have seems to keep them under 200 for 2 years with some spikes from time to time.
Viagra and Cialis are 50% effective the last 6 months and I have dabbled in pumping but have dealt with soreness from rings.
Im considering talking to my Dr about an implant. I have the normal fears about size loss in length, but Im pretty effective in bed with just a finger or two so Im thinking a loss of an inch is not earth shattering, however, while Im not concerned with gaining length Id rather not lose it! Lol My current length, when I can get an erection is 6”. My more pressing concern is girth. Im actually concerned about gaining girth... My wife and every woman Ive ever been with has mentioned the girth of my penis being uncomfortable at times. My wife often will want to have sex longer than our normal 8-10 minutes but gets sore. (Yes we use lube). My girth at my circumcision scar is 6.5” and at the base 7”. When I read the Boston Sci and Coroplast sites they boast “Gains in girth!” Whats the reality for yall? We talking 1/8-1/2” or are we talking 1”-2”??
Next question. Im confused about how they size! Im a solid grower not a show-er. My wife and joke about it! My flaccid length is about 1.5” its a turtle head! I tried stretching it to a max flaccid length and I can get it to 3.25”. If they use that stretched length, Im screwed. Do they induce an erection and use that size to fit or the stretched flaccid approach? (Hope so or whatever they do works!)
My next question is insurance, it appears my insurance will pay if the dr recommends the surgery, which is better than drugs as they dont cover ED pills and that hasnt been cheap! Im in Houston and my plan has several Drs to choose from but it appears from the reviews of general urology patients (who wants to post on UHC website Dr Smith did great on my penis implant! Lol, Im assuming a few are from this surgery though) two Drs stand out, David Mobley and Larry Lipshultz. Any experience with these Drs? If so, how did they fit you? Close to preop size?
Thanks in advance, you all are valuable to someone who has questions and not alot of people to reach out to!

[Lost Sheep]

Welcome to FrankTalk, Anthony.

When I first joined FrankTalk, I took a couple weekends to read through two and a half years of posts/threads with titles that interested me and appeared informative. I recommend this to you. It will give you a better basis for forming questions and understanding the answers. This will also help get your medical team to accept you as a contributing partner in the decision-making.

I also recommend what you already started doing...doing extensive research on your chosen urologist/sexual health physician and interview him (or her) pointedly and make yourself an integral part of the medical team. (Of course, many men choose not to do that and I cannot fault them - just do what is comfortable for your personality and approach to your medical care.)

Congratulations on keeping up on your medical condition. I am having a terrible time losing another 15-20 lbs (5'11 and 194-198 most mornings for the last year).

Size loss is not particularly common. But V.E.D. Therapy is helpful in maintaining size. I cannot advise you on how to limit girth growth. There may be certain positions that will make it more comfortable for her, though. My girlfriend and I like to end our sexual sessions with her on her back and me cross-wise underneath her with my top-side thigh between her legs. It is comfortable for us both and we can even doze off sometimes, still joined. Depth of penetration is good and tiny, short thrusts are very easy to do in this position; so if too much chafing is your wife's complaint, this might be good. Ease your "log" into her and give those tiny thrusts. Penis can press on the "G" spot and your thigh can put a bit of pressure on her pubis.

As far as measurements of length are concerned, all the pre-op measurements are nonsense at worst and a fair estimate at best. The ONLY measurement that counts is the measurement INSIDE the tunica inside your penis. (My advice about research includes viewing youtube videos of the operations. There are plenty. The measurement of the penis is done with a tool stuck up inside the penis and pushed (rammed, it seems) quite energetically up, stretching the penis, and then turned around and inserted firmly into the pelvic crus. The two measurements are added together and that is the size of the implant.) Every man's depth of crus is unique to that man. Depends on the shape of your pelvic girdle mostly. A good surgeon with an experienced eye can tell pretty closely, but if a surgeon tells you he will use a certain size implant, beware.

On FrankTalk you will find LOTS of guys screaming to say "Dr Smith did great on my penis implant!". I daresay, you might be among them in a few months.

[RayChez]

Get the implant, you will never regret it. You will not lose any length. That type of surgery has been perfected and the surgeon measures the length with a special tool inside the Tunica. Years ago it was not unusual to lose some length, but now days very few. Get a surgeon around your area and talk to him and do not hesitate asking questions and find out how confident he is on that type of surgery. Just by talking to him you can tell if he has experience and then you can make your choice.

Good luck! I am very happy with mine.

[ft8790]

I've been seeing Dr Mobley since January of this year. I saw him 2 weeks ago and he mentioned he has done thousands of implant surgery's. He also does a radio talk show on 700am KSEV Monday and Tuesday @ 1-2. you can call in and ask him anything. You can read more about him at http://www.drmobley.net/.

[Greg1956]

When my surgeon did the pre-implant stretch test to give me an approximation of what I could expect for my implanted length it was 4”. I told him from stimulation I got to 5”, but he said all could assure me of was the 4”. I think he just did not want to set my expectations for more than my body could deliver.

Immediately after surgery when I measured for the first time it was 4”. After I was fully healed and had the pump broken in I was back to my 6.5” length I had most of my life until I experienced dramatic shrinkage from Prostatectomy and years of ED.

Titan tubing provides more girth than AMS tubes do. Since you already have substantial girth you may require a Titan for full support of your penis size. It may be your girth won’t change much since you already have it. That’s a good question for the surgeon.

[wanttokno]

Concerning girth... From pretty extensive reading on this site I've gathered that with the Coloplast a man with average or even slightly above average girth will stand to likely gain some amount of girth, But, I very clearly recall reading in the considerable past and again in the recent past where men with rather extreme girth actually have to accept that they will very likely NEVER be as thick as they were before their implant.
That having been said, just make sure that your surgeon completely fills your reservoir. Mine didn't, only putting 45ml into the 65ml reservoir. Now I have been able to regain almost all of my length, was 7.8 long with a girth that varied from 5.25 behind glanz and 6.75 at the base. Now my length is 7.6 but my girth with spongiosum engorgement is just 5 from root to crown! Talk about pissed! But the procedure was done by the VA and as far as they are concerned it gets hard so it gets the job done. Beggars can't be choosers and I am thankful to be fully functional again but my wife misses the girth even though she denies it. I don't give her a hard time about it but her moaning ain't quite what it used to be, oh well.
Do a bit of reasearch on here and I believe that you'll find what I've said to ring true. Be good and best wishes.

[cincinnatus1951]

Anthony: I sent you a PM>
Cincinnatus

[Lost Sheep]

(edited for brevity and focus)
That having been said, just make sure that your surgeon completely fills your reservoir. Mine didn't, only putting 45ml into the 65ml reservoir. Now I have been able to regain almost all of my length, was 7.8 long with a girth that varied from 5.25 behind glanz and 6.75 at the base. Now my length is 7.6 but my girth with spongiosum engorgement is just 5 from root to crown! Talk about pissed! But the procedure was done by the VA and as far as they are concerned it gets hard so it gets the job done. Beggars can't be choosers and I am thankful to be fully functional again ...
Do a bit of reasearch on here and I believe that you'll find what I've said to ring true. Be good and best wishes.

+1 on the research!

I went through the VA, but they did not have a surgeon I liked, so waited while I tried to get authorization to go to the Maryland VA. It would have worked (I would have had to pay travel, though). Dr Kramer (did implants for the VA at the time, at least) was thus available and I exchanged a few emails with him. But Dr. Shaw fell into my lap (figuratively as well as literally). He is a surgeon dedicated to restoring sexual function in men,, and, being in active duty USAF was available through the VA and the base hospital. Dr. Eid advised me to "find a surgeon in love with his craft:. After interviewing a couple of local surgeons, visiting the Washington VA in Seattle and communicating with Dr Eid and Dr. Kramer, I met with and interviewed Dr. Shaw. I determined that he would apply the appropriate care in my case.

That was partly due to the fact that I was demonstrably well-versed in IPPs and Dr. Shaw observed that I had realistic expectations. No way do I believe he would have shorted the quantity of saline in the reservoir.

The standard protocol for an IPP is to inflate the device FULLY while on the operating table and then seal the system. In that way there is sufficient saline for full inflation to full rigidity, but no excess.

If you are short of volume, a minimal revision might be in order. Opening up the scrotum, cutting the tubing, putting more saline in and then re-sealing the tubing should be no more invasive than any other scrotal surgery (minimally invasive like a vasectomy) as it would not involve replacing any component of the IPP. The trick is to demonstrate that you would benefit by more saline. How does one prove that?

By the way, do you have a Coloplast Titan? Or AMS LGX or CX or either manufacturers' narrow-base models?

[wanttokno]

Hey LS,
I've attempted to petition for a revision to add more saline to no avail. I actually met with the surgeon and the dept head and was basically told that my penis is fully functional and my size is more than adequate for successful coupling. I even brought up the loss of sensation for both of us but was told to give it time and our bodies would compensate, or so they said. As I mentioned in the previous post I'm sure that sensation has been lost for my wife and it definitely has for me also. Actually my wife has always been very tight. In the past, even shortly before my implant, I had to perform extensive foreplay and use lube as she would get little tears at the bottom of her vag if we weren't very careful with penetration and I went too deep too soon. Even now it's difficult for me to work two fingers into her and have her remain comfortable for long and even so her vaginal grip on my shaft isn't what it used to be. On the upside she hasn't been torn since implantation but I kinda think she misses the old days.
Now after all that belly-aching I've got to say that I am Very thankful for the ability to make love to my wife again whenever we'd like and now we're able to go for hours at a time, occasionally even going at it throughout the night falling in and out of sleep while remaining joined the whole time. That's something that I/we could never accomplish before the implant.
I was implanted in March of 2014 with an LGX, 18cm with 2cm rte. Overall I rate my satisfaction very high in spite of the couple of issues that are irreversible with my present situation. Heaven willing if/when I need a revision these couple of issues will be eliminated, maybe next time I'll petition for the Titan. My surgeon had let me decide and I chose the LGX so...
Maybe, be careful what you ask for? Be good people

[DaveKell]

When I speak at seminars for men seeking answers for ED I have a tightrope to walk. I am so radically pleased with every aspect of my implant it's hard for me to not come off as doing a massive sales job on the procedure. The procedure and results has a massive 98% satisfaction rating among men who've had it. I daresay very few new Lamborghini owners are 98% satisfied with the car, as well as private jet owners. Yet, an inflatable implanted device has this high of a rating. I already knew my dick had shrunk from many years of ED and when I did my own stretch test, tugging as hard as I possibly could, I was mortified by the result but still went for the procedure. Within 6 months I thought I was longer than I had ever remembered. The only very noticeable change was my previous girth, which I recalled from what I felt wrapping my hand around my dick, was very reduced and took the shape of a flat, albeit very wide, oval. I just looked at it as being a log splitter now! The ability to control the inflation amount to be able to have a quickie or marathon session became immediately apparent. I had a dial-a-dick so to speak. I can unequivocably say that in my 60's sex is more satisfying than in my 20's when I routinely disappointed a large number of women with my premature ejaculation I didn't even realize I had. I thought all guys were two pump chumps. The absence of the PE was the first thing I noticed after having sex with the implant. My poor wife, who was a virgin when I met her, never knew any different. I'll never forget the first time we had sex after being implanted when she asked me in an exasperated tone "are you ever going to come?", which she quickly followed with "but I'm not complaining!". I've often wondered if any of the beauties I bedded before meeting her would have snagged me into matrimony first if I had lasted as long back then. I definitely know an exponentially high number of them would've returned for more instead of the way they kept shining me on without explanation. I think I'm likely one of the most satisfied implanted men alive. Everything about it is nothing short of amazing.

Since being implanted I believe I've developed the ability to sense other men who "aren't getting any". The empty countenance they carry speaks volumes. I too went through a number of years devoid of motivation and self confidence. To say I'm a brand new man is as feeble as saying Chuck Norris is a capable fighter. I feel so sorry for other guys in my age range with a look on their face like they could care less about anything because sex is not obtainable for them. They're everywhere I look. I've delicately tried a few times to approach the subject with them. Some of them immediately put up a false facade and claimed everything from "it's all tight to me" to "I get it more than I'm able to handle". The mantle of lying is so apparent. One other I recall admitted that "it's been 12 years since I've had a boner. My wife is more like a barely tolerable roommate to me". He was very interested in my story. I can't recommend implants highly enough. Guys who are waiting for the next sure fire miracle cure might have years to go with no sex and the resultant misery that will occupy their existence.