Need some more pro-tips for locating the off switch, etc.

[DeadlineDave]

I'm six weeks out. My doc deflated me, I got in a pump, but then he had to find the button to deflate me. He told me to go home and practice for a few weeks.

At that appointment I learned my pump is down at the bottom, basically laying on its side, sometimes upside down. I got out the little AMS LGX key fob pump they gave me and have studied it more. Is that about actual size?

I'm trying to be patient. Finding the bulb is now easy. Sometimes the T-bar floats up, sometimes down, almost always front to back and not across which is probably good to get a grip on it.

I'm really encouraging myself to be patient as I know I'm rounding the curve in the process. I'm afraid to inflate until I know exactly where the off switch is. I'm still a little swollen. Sometimes I notice the skin of the scrotum sac gets thicker than other times.

Today, I sat in a warm bath and fondled myself and had better luck. Was pretty sure I found it, although since I'm deflated nothing happened.

Any other suggestions besides the warm bath?

Thanks!

[Txagq8]

God knows I have been EXACTLY where you are!

Btw did you go for a follow up this week at the Jollyville Rd clinic? I was in for TRT check up. I saw a guy that looked like a 3 week implant recipient.

Anyhow, a couple of pieces of advice.

Get the fake practice pump on a keychain out. Use your fingers while looking at it to make sure you can find and identify the bumps and ridges on the one in your scrotum. If you get lost you can always refer to it, like using a road map instead of a GPS.

Be aware that swelling in the scrotum is going to make the real one slippery and harder to find key parts ie the deflate button. This is a challenge but not insurmountable.

You may find it hard to pump at first. The bulb feels like you’re squeezing a rock. Two things are going on: it’s a new bulb, and you’ve suffered surgical trauma/ the cylinders are in a confined area and don’t want to enlarge. Even though you don’t feel much squeeze you’re moving fluid each press-and-release. With the LGX after four years I feel the stretch start about the 35th squeeze and putting a total of 80-100 little squeezes isn’t unusual.

I don’t know if they’ll do this, I suspect they will…..call the clinic and leave word for the PA to call you. What you really need is some supervised cycling. If you’re in or near Austin, and can get by the clinic, all they need to do is put you in an exam room and let you practice. If you run into trouble, they’re there. But just a little guidance and their presence as a security blanket fixed me right up. They’d go about their business & stick their head in the room in between patients. They didn’t bill me for this-but I am convinced it led to my rapid uneventful recovery.

[Witheringhog]

It took me a few days once i got the all clear to cycle, i even posted something similar because i was having a heck of a time with deflation. About three days of trying i figured it out, after that it was easy. I think my tabs were still, but who knows.

[DeadlineDave]

God knows I have been EXACTLY where you are!

Btw did you go for a follow up this week at the Jollyville Rd clinic? I was in for TRT check up. I saw a guy that looked like a 3 week implant recipient.

First of all, thanks for the excellent counsel! I'm being very patient with myself and am comitted to two warm baths daily to explore. You're correct in the there is swelling and parts are obscure.....at least not the bulb.....an my whole apparatus is almost inverted. Anyway, trying to not worry or rush, but just consider each warm bath with 10 minutes of exploration another step along the way.

But the idea of going by there is awesome. If I haven't found the off switch in a week, I'll ask them about a visit. Dr. Kansas told me to come back in 4, I asked for 3, and he said of course. He really has grown on me.

Yes! I was there on Thursday! I was sitting with my back to the parking lot. In black sweats. Finally in blue jeans.

[DeadlineDave]

P.S. Txagq8.....do you know if the PA is male or female? It probably shouldn't matter. I've been to my lymphatic drainage lady guru who is amazing, and she was all over it. I thought to myself I could be embarassed, or I could just suspend all of that and let her have way with me. She's been great. Says she's dealt with lots of men after different prostate, vasectomy type surgeries.

[Rider1400]

My Dr sent me home at two weeks and stitches removal and said put a few pumps in and then hit the release. Gradually build until I’m comfortable with knowing for sure I have the deflate down pat. This way you are never at a too uncomfortable position if you all of a sudden can’t find it and may even have to wait til the next day to get totally deflated. I didn’t have any problem with deflating or inflating so by the second time I tried it I was maxing it out! A whole 4-5 pumps and it that was all I could get! But, that changed soon enough and the count went way up as the months went by. Maxed out at about 26-28 75% pumps and half a dozen or more small pumps til the pump goes flat and no more fluid to be had!

[Txagq8]

The PA I see in conjunction with Dr Kansas is a male named Omsberg. I recommend him wholeheartedly. After my surgery, they were all about making sure I was well taken care of. I’d say “how soon do I need to come back?” And they’d ask “how soon do you want to come back?”

They knew I was a little over an hour drive from the clinic but they acted as if their primary mission in life was to help me master and make me comfortable using the implant. The first 3 weeks I made 8 or 9 trips but once I got the hang of it about the only thing that gets said is “everything still working good?” When I go in for TRT labs and a PSA.

I’ll be honest. I have a great deal of loyalty to medical folks who treat me appropriately and engage me as an active participant in whatever I’ve got going on. I have less than none when doctors treat me as a number or a list of symptoms in their computer screen. Absolutely no qualms about telling them “copy my records and send them to another clinic.” But Kansas & Omsberg have earned my loyalty.