10 Implants per year

[tankerman]

Ok guys my Uro does 10 Implants per year he is the only one my insurance will pay for should I use him???? I dont have $20,000 for a high volume Dr, please tell me what you think guys as I am ready to tell this Dr that I want him to do the surgery. Thanks guys and gals.

[JDavid]

Will he refer you to any of his patients?

[rschweiger]

Hey tank,
Last year dr.eid was a little over 37000 cash price when I checked w/his office before I found the uro insurance would cover,yours does 10 a year,see if he can give you names of patients that would be willing to talk to you?(I told my uro to use me as a reference)I never even asked mine how many he does a year, I knew he was from a reputative group and he specialized in sexual dysfunction.I liked what he had to say at our meetings and his compassion and his positive attitude, but like I've said before I jumped in feet first into my implant after my research,I got implanted before I discovered FT and I'm kinda glad I did(emotionally I felt alone) but I think I would have asked to many questions and I went into my implant focused on one thing only........my dick was broken,I could no longer mentally handle it. I had nothing to loose cause if it didn't work out my dick would still be broken,but atleast I got it the best shot I could.....luckily I had great results and couldn't be happier and owe my life to my dr.hell I still do know wht size cylinders he used? Happily I'm the size I was but more importantly......it works, brother you have fought the battle for a long time?dig deep, you know what you wanna do.
Best wishes,Rich.

[tankerman]

come on guys I need you imput ,, thanks

[Dave92014]

I would be concerned about him only doing 10/year. But if he is your only choice and thus your choice is to use him or not have a sex life, I would go with using him.

My implant was covered by standard Medicare plus a Medigap policy. So they paid for everything. I looked at the bills and they totalled about $13,500 for doctor, hospital and implant device. I have read on FT-Talk that one high volume doc at the Cleveland Clinic will do the implant for a good price, $12,500 if I remember right.

My surgeon had another urologist act as assistant surgeon during the surgery. The assistant was paid by the insurance a small amount, around $140 if I recall correctly. And my doc was only paid something like $650 for the surgery, which included pre-op and post-op visits. One option you might consider is to use an "assistant surgeon" with more experience and pay him out of your own pocket if you have to. That way you would not have to pay the big amount out of your own pocket but could have a second guy with experience in the operating room. I would assume that my doc would do that for $650 or less.

Dave

[rschweiger]

Hey tank,
I think we are giving you input? Srry if its not the input you want.
Maybe tell us how you would be satisfied(tell us what answers you want to hear?)
It is your decision,best of luck w/it.
Rich

[Steven1111]

Hey Tank,

I too went with my own Uro/Surgeon. I based my decision on the fact that he'd done my radiation surgery for the cancer a couple years ago and he did a great job. He's an excellent surgeon. I asked him if he was very experienced with implants and he said it didn't "stretch his envelope" to do this and had done "many" of them with his surgeon partner. I felt safe enough to have him do it because I trust him and he talks to me. It's only been 3 weeks yesterday so I can't give you all the results but so far everything looks good and correct. Sometimes I think it's good if you go with who you know and not worry about the sheer number of implants. Numbers are just that...I had a thyroid surgery with the top surgeon in the area who'd done 2000 of them, and she nicked my vocal chords so I lost my voice for months. So I don't put a huge amount of stock in so called "experts" anymore. And in their skill. Everyone can make mistakes and even less experienced implant surgeons can do a good job if they're a good surgeon. Is yours a good surgeon? That's what counts I think. Good luck to you and I hope this helps some. It's just my story so take it as that please. I know others may disagree with me. It's ultimately up to you.

All the best,
Steve

[Daverx]

I went with my local urologist who had done my RP and could not be happier. Any good surgeon should be able to do a good job.

[tankerman]

Thanks guys I am starting to feel alot better about my Uro now, I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and again thanks to all of you. Nathan

[treifsnyder]

I wouldn't go to a low volume (10 per year!) surgeon. I had a prostatectomy, had some incontinence, couldn't have another procedure done that wasn't perfect. I went to Dr. Andrew Kramer in Baltimore (I've posted before), and I'm convinced he's one of or the best in the world. Took my insurance, I think I did pay 20% which was about $3000, not terrible. Still, I'm sure there's higher volume people out there who take insurance, I'd keep looking. TR