Concerned

[Steve5231]

I was implanted 1/19/23 in Chicago by Dr. Lavine and was scheduled for a return visit to learn how to cycle today. But as luck would have it I need to reschedule due to terrible ice storms here today. I live 90 miles from him. My concern is, is there any danger in not cycling soon enough? I don’t have a new date yet.

[Bwtbbb]

I was implanted 1/19/23 in Chicago by Dr. Lavine and was scheduled for a return visit to learn how to cycle today. But as luck would have it I need to reschedule due to terrible ice storms here today. I live 90 miles from him. My concern is, is there any danger in not cycling soon enough? I don’t have a new date yet.

Early activation has been shown to lead to increased size. Unfortunately a lot of surgeons wait a long time before activation.

If it is completely deflated for a long time before activation, there is a risk that the scar tissue will cause one cylinder to get misplaced and come out of the glans.
If it is inflated for a long time before activation, scar tissue will form around a partially compressed reservoir which can lead to auto-inflation.

Note to all: You should do what your surgeon says if you have had it done, but if you haven't had it done try to find one that allows earlier activation (However I advise against infra-pubic so I don't advise getting that approach due to the earlier activation it provides).

[crazyjoe]

in my view, your concern is valid. Dr. Eid says the scarring begins on your way to the recovery room -- that's why he has his patients start cycling in 3 days and sex in 3 weeks.

Is there any way you can contact Dr. Levine to maybe get a green light to try it yourself? ? It's not rocket science and there is plenty of you tube videos online and also within this forum.

He once gave me a personal call when I was shopping for a surgeon -- very nice guy and I would imagine he might be flexible with you.

But just my view, fwiw.

[cbinspok]

Steve
I was @ about 6 months out before I was able to cycle due to infection and revision, I’ve got 6.5 now and even at almost 2 years have modest gains.
So fear not bro. You will be fine.

[ThailandBound]

in my view, your concern is valid. Dr. Eid says the scarring begins on your way to the recovery room -- that's why he has his patients start cycling in 3 days and sex in 3 weeks.

Is there any way you can contact Dr. Levine to maybe get a green light to try it yourself? ? It's not rocket science and there is plenty of you tube videos online and also within this forum.

He once gave me a personal call when I was shopping for a surgeon -- very nice guy and I would imagine he might be flexible with you.

But just my view, fwiw.

Agree with Joe. If he was going to show you how to do it personally that was a nice professional touch, but probably not necessary. I video consulted with my doctor at 6 weeks (was 60% inflated post surgery). He simply gave me the green light to go for it on my own.

Some tips if you do:

1. As Joe said, watch some how-to videos on you tube, or google it. Knowledge is power.

2. Expect the first few times, especially the first, to be nervous. At this point you have no idea how hard you’ll need to press, still wondering if you have your fingers in the right place. My first 2 or 3 squeezes nothing happened. I shifted my fingers around a bit, found the sweet spot and voila, it worked!

3. If you’re partially inflated, release the pressure first. You want to know you can really release the pressure after you’re fully pressurized. I have a Titan classic with the double-pinch release. It wasn’t to hard to find the release bar, squeeze it, and squeeze my penis to push the fluid out. That is comforting to know you can do it. (you can).

4. Everybody here says basically the same thing, it gets better over time. It took just 2 or 3 days to know where to put my fingers for the pump (i use a two handed approach), and for sure in short order your brand new pump will break in and pumping gets much easier day by day.

[FinallyBionic]

I agree with cbinspok. You are fine.
At my 4 weeks appointment for activation, I wasn't really ready with some swelling still there. I had to get back after two weeks.
Everyone heals differently. The normal range for starting cycling is 2 weeks to 6 weeks. If you could figure out how to cycle on your own with your surgeon's approval, go ahead and do it. You may also be able to get a video call with your surgeon to guide you through cycling.

[Steve5231]

I’m now scheduled for a post surgery visit Friday, 3/3/23. That’s 9 days after the original post surgery date. Not too bad. I guess I’ll wait. I have to back to have a stitch removed as a result of the drain they inserted during surgery anyway. Thanks for all the quick replies.

[2435tjklAS]

I’m now scheduled for a post surgery visit Friday, 3/3/23. That’s 9 days after the original post surgery date. Not too bad. I guess I’ll wait. I have to back to have a stitch removed as a result of the drain they inserted during surgery anyway. Thanks for all the quick replies.

Nice, I'm quite positive you'll be all right. I got my implant November 2nd, 2021, and it was activated November 30th, but I didn't do anything with it until I messaged my urologist on December 5th asking if I should be cycling:



I had no good reason for putting it off. I think it was still just a little sore, but also I don't think I was aware of what my first times cycling would be like. I had some idiotic idea I'd pump right up to my size before implant. NOPE, lol, everyone loses size at first.

So, the day I first pumped and measured my size was December 7th (the 6th was spent with me trying to figure out how the hell to pump it. I kept squeezing the wrong spot). I was a tad over 6.5" then, down from 8.75". That means after implant I didn't touch anything for 35 days. And with your new appointment you'll now be starting after 43 days. So yes, you missing 8 days more than me will definitely not have any impact whatsoever. You'll be trying to exercise it fairly consistently for at least a year now. And improvements will be very incremental. I do remember my first noticeable "gains" were around Christmas. I'd jumped up over an inch pretty quickly, but from that point forward it's all been incredibly incremental. Like, gaining maybe .1" every few weeks. And the measurement sizes you get will be a little sporadic, like you're not always gonna pump the same exact amount of fluid every time before you hit the bypass, and times of day/mood probably matter. So don't expect an obvious increase that's consistent and easily observable, because it's not.

And lastly, I can't find the email anymore (unless someone can tell me how to open those .csv files of old FrankTalk messages I saved before having to delete them to save space in my inbox) but it was around early-January when I sent a DM to someone here on FrankTalk freaking out if my missing that ~week of cycling had destroyed all my chances at regaining my size!!! So, I can totally relate to this post (and I didn't even have any ice storm cancellation that would freak out anyone!) but you could probably miss the first few months after getting an implant and it still wouldn't stop you from regaining your size.

[AmansinCali]

In my opinion, "No."

There are nearly as many opinions on this as there are surgeons doing the implants.

At 4 weeks I was cleared to cycle, it was demonstrated in the doctor's office, but after a few attempts, my scrotum literally felt like it was on fire. I had the PS method. On my own I postponed cycling for another week, which really helped. I didn't attempt to measure until a few weeks after initiating cycling, on first measurement I was shy 1/4", now 5 months after surgery I am at a +1/4". I believe the first measurement was off a bit because I was still somewhat swollen over the pubic bone.

Just before surgery as I was wheeled into the OR, my surgeon said, "Don't worry, we size aggressively here." That was really the only time size was mentioned in any of my conversations with my surgeon. Again, in my opinion, I think final size has more to do with correct sizing than anything else.

My doctor doesn't put a lot of emphasis on cycling, he says 2-3 times a week is adequate, primarily to keep the valve from becoming "sticky", his words.

I now measure 6 1/2" and it works perfectly.

Don't sweat a few days or even a few weeks.

[Mlsyes]

It should be no problem and I had a similar problem. I was implanted with a Titan on Dec 8, then I was seen on Dec 22 for a check up and then again on Jan 13, when I thought I would be cleared for cycling, etc. My surgeon noticed a stitch was still around and told me, "Let's hold off for a couple of weeks as a precaution before clearing you." I was heading to Florida (I"m a snowbird) so she suggested a tele-med visit. Her office postponed my first tele-med call, so I ended up not talking to her almost two months from my surgery. I was like you, very anxious about the delay...our brain is our worst enemy, so I went through all the worst case scenarios in my mind. On Feb 7, I was given the OK to start inflating, told what to do and it was suggested I check the manufacturer's, Coloplast, website. I was instructed to inflate just a few pumps enough to see the penis grow and then deflate a couple of times, just in case the deflate button did not work and I had to go to a local urologist for help. I was able to figure it out, especially after reading FT posts and now I am cycling every day, etc. My first time at "full pump" I was not quite 5" and while not ecstatic, i was OK with the size. The first few times I was a little sore, nothing horrible, but noticeable. However, after a few days I was able to pump more and I have gained almost 3/4 an inch in size already. I am hoping to get back to my old size (6 1/2") in the future. And even if I don't make it, I'm quite pleased as a working 5 3/4" penis in my mind is better than a 6 1/2" non-working penis.