Hello and thanks to all of you!

The final frontier. Deciding when, if and how.
Docmartin
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:44 pm
Location: North Carolina, USA

Hello and thanks to all of you!

Postby Docmartin » Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:13 am

Hello to all the strangers I have been reading for the past month!!!

I am a recent implantee ( Titan, July 25 ). Had the procedure done at U of Maryland by Andrew Kramer. I had a radical prostatectomy in January, 1996. None of the other interventions was very good, but no one really talked to me about surgical options other than to say it was not worth it (my uro and friend of 20 years did me no favors!). But, I discovered the technology while doing continuing education credit courses after I retired. Oh, by the way, I am a 63 year old retired clinical psychologist.

All tests after the prostatectomy have shown that the PSA remains below 0.01. The tumor was a Gleason 7 at post op pathology. So, I feel good about that and the prospects for continued good tests.

My implant was done center-line scrotal and has healed well. I saw Andrew Kramer on the 12th day post op and was declared in the 98th percentile for healing. I was deflated at that visit and, since things looked so good, was taught the inflat/deflate process then as well I was told to begin home inflation/deflation on the 12th and to do it as often as I wanted and found tolerate. I did just that; inflate to 100%, maintain for at least 15 minutes then deflate. It is a new, but not unpleasant sensation. It is mostly a tightness with a bit of ache. I must say that it feels good to inflate and it is a very relaxing feeling after deflation.

I am trying the underwear "merry-go-round" now and have found that boxer briefs with ergonomic, anatomically correct pouches are good now. They hold everything up and a bit out. I have always been a small manly man so the increase in "package" size is new to me and a little humorous, too. Being small had always led me to the "size is over-rated" philosophy! Now, it's sort of cool to "project" a bit of "super-sizing"!! International Jock is a great on-line underwear shopping site (http://internationaljock.com/). There are underwear styles out there that I could never have imagined, nor could I imagine what kind of person thought them up! It is clear that the rest of the world is more "forward" thinking (pun intended) about these things than are we here in the States.

I've gotten a great deal of surreptitious help and support from reading the many postings here on the forum. To all of you who were not aware of you invaluable help; THANK YOU ALL!!

I look forward to becoming engaged in this community and will undoubtedly be seeking advice and, at time, commiseration as things continue to progress. On the other side, I hope to be able to offer advise and commiseration when needed by my new found brothers on this road which we travel in search of the emotional and physical closeness we have had the misfortune to lose at some point in our pasts. :P
Radical Prostetectomy, 1996. ED since then. Wandered aimlessly ignorant about implants until discovery in retirement. My wife is really happy I retired now!

Happy Titan implantee, July 25, 2012. Retired clinical psychologist. 63 years old.

buckster
Posts: 128
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 7:54 pm

Re: Hello and thanks to all of you!

Postby buckster » Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:02 am

Docmartin wrote:Hello to all the strangers I have been reading for the past month!!!

I am a recent implantee ( Titan, July 25 ). Had the procedure done at U of Maryland by Andrew Kramer. I had a radical prostatectomy in January, 1996. None of the other interventions was very good, but no one really talked to me about surgical options other than to say it was not worth it (my uro and friend of 20 years did me no favors!). But, I discovered the technology while doing continuing education credit courses after I retired. Oh, by the way, I am a 63 year old retired clinical psychologist.

:P


Welcome and congrats on your new toy. I am amazed at how many doctors, not just uros, go through their practice stuck in the era of their primary education. I'm sure most are too busy to take the time for updating their education. In the past few months I have discovered so many things reading this forum and others that my uro never talked about in the 3 years since my RP. It will be nice to have a psycologist input here.
Buck
Age 71. Married 52 years. Location Oregon. PCa at age 56. Open RP surgery and radiation treatment. Oral or injection drugs didn't work. Implanted 10/13/20. Titan Narrow Base 18cm with 1cm left and 1.5cm right rear tip extenders.

Docmartin
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:44 pm
Location: North Carolina, USA

Re: Hello and thanks to all of you!

Postby Docmartin » Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:18 pm

Hi, Buck.

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, it amazes me, too, that medical personnel often do not keep up to date. It seems that specialists do that frequently. They will update what they are familiar with, but won't go the extra bit of digging to uncover things that cause them to "stretch" their comfortable skill sets. Oh, we'll. Can't live with 'em; can't live without 'em! In all fairness, there are some truly wonderful physicians out there. It just requires greater diligence from us patients to find them. Don
Radical Prostetectomy, 1996. ED since then. Wandered aimlessly ignorant about implants until discovery in retirement. My wife is really happy I retired now!

Happy Titan implantee, July 25, 2012. Retired clinical psychologist. 63 years old.

omega52
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:55 pm

Re: Hello and thanks to all of you!

Postby omega52 » Sat Oct 27, 2012 9:42 am

Hey Doc,
I just posted my intro to the board. One of my questions is who will do my implant. I have narrowed it down to Dr Andrew Kramer and Dr Drogo Montague at Clevland Clinic. Dr Kramer quoted 18K for the procedure and Dr Montague 12K. 12K seems a bit unbelievable but I confirmed that yesterday with their financial coordinator. What was your experience with Dr Kramer? He seems like a super guy. He is easy to email and really answers your questions. I live in VA and Maryland is a 5 hour drive whereas Clevland is quite a hike. We would have to fly. I am not sure how easy it would be to fly post op after the surgery. Were you able to travel a day or two after your surgery? How did things go with Dr Kramer? It may be worth the additional 6K. I will need to pay out of pocket.
Omega


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