Horrific Pain 1 Week Post Surgery

[RickRed40]

My surgeon told me the pain from this surgery is so mild there's usually no need for prescription drugs. I read through many post surgery threads and that seemed to be the majority consensus.

This is my 6th day at home. Each and every day my pain level is rising. There's no evidence of infection. The two sources of pain are first under my scrotum, and the second on my side where I believe the reservoir was placed. My pain level started out at home between a 4-5. With narcotic pain meds. Now it's risen to a 7-8. I can't walk without heavily leaning on a walking stick and there isn't a moment where I'm not aware of constant and severe pain. This has been a hellish 6 days.

Thankfully I see my surgeon today, but that involves a 90 minute car ride which is so painful, I regret having my procedure performed in San Francisco. I hope he can get to the sources of the pain and do something to fix it. If not I want pain medication that will actually bring my pain level down.

I was totally caught off guard by my expectation of mild pain. From my perspective this surgery isn't for the faint of heart. I'm glad I did it, but the pain control has been awful ever since I left the hospital.

[woodturner]

Rick

I got my implant 3 weeks ago yesterday. The first week was down right miserable. My scrotum was literally the size of a grapefruit. However, I am doing considerably better now. I still get some pain, however it is very manageable with no pain meds other than some occasional Ibuprofen. I did go home with pain meds. I made a point of it to ask for them. My doctor is a 3 hour drive.

I know what you are going through. I had to go see the doctor today. It was my own fault. I was doing some fooling around (feeling the pump and trying to learn it). I ended up inflating myself quite a bit, but not 100%. It was getting very uncomfortable to have the tip of my penis show up 5 minutes before the rest of me. He deflated me down to some partial level. I will stay there until activation.

I strongly recommend you get several bags of frozen peas and put them right on your scrotum and penis. It isn't perfect but it helps. My doctor specifically recommended it and if you read through this forum you will find out a lot of the guys used frozen peas.

The good news about the little inflation accident I caused is that , I was rock hard like when I was 18 years old. I was also with in 1/4" of my Pre_ED length and girth.
I know exactly what you are going through. Hang in there, I think you will find that it is worth it.

[RickRed40]

You know EXACTLY what I'm going through. My Surgeon said I had an unexpected amount of internal bleeding which all accumulated in my scrotum. Increased my pain meds and said he'd increase again if pain continues. I'm so sensitive there's no danger of me trying it out. Sadly my activation date has been pushed back at least 4-6 weeks. I'm left wondering if he'd put in a drain during surgery this could have been avoided. He told my wife he didn't see a lot of bleeding so he thought the drain was unnecessary. Turns out I bled more than he thought.
The good news was nothing wrong with the implant and no infections. That's a relief. Maybe a drain is something every implant patient should ask for. I don't know.

[alibaba]

Rick and too others who may have this surgery: Dr Eid ( pronounced Eed) uses a gel that seals off the leaks so a drain in not needed. Other doctors keep you pumped to a certain extent to keep the carvernosa full thus sealing it off so you do not get leakage from your body trying to keep blood in the cavernosa as it normally would. other doctors put in a drain to syphon off the leakage. I have had many surgeries and I can say I think the very best bet would be to use the gel. I don't think Dr. Eid uses drains any more because they are not needed when you use the gel. Having been the recipient of surgical glues and such as a research subject during surgery, I highly recommend every doctor use them. It's simple, It's smart. Damn it makes living through the healing easier! I know every damn doctor wants to think they are the smartest man alive, their method is the best or they will only do what was taught to them when they were in med school in 1974, but there are many great minded innovators of great solutions that not only benefit the patient, but benefit the doctor with fewer issues and higher satisfaction. I suggest everyone before or after you have surgery bring this up to your doctor. He might like the idea. surprisingly, many doctors do not keep up with new. Other patients may do better. I do lots of medical research and share new things with some of my doctors. It is surprising how many do not have time to read about new advances and ideas and how many times a year I am asked to send links to the research or story on a subject I've told them about. This is one thing we owe to future patients is to make the outcome better. Many many went before us to get us to the point we are today. Some things worked, some things sucked. Here's your chance to share. I looked up Dr. Eid's link here: https://www.urologicalcare.com/pdf/EIDS ... .15.13.pdf whenever I can manage to get this surgery done, the gel is on my request list. I intend to see it is on the bill.

[woodturner]

The day of surgery, I was left almost fully inflated. I also had a drain that they had to empty several times that night. The next morning the drain was removed and the inflation was reduced down to about 40%.

[RickRed40]

Two important takeaways from my experience I wish I knew PRIOR to surgery.
1. Ask for a drain.
2. If your scrotum swells way past its normal size, get a powerful narcotic pain med right out of the gate. It's taken 3 different pain meds and a week before relentless pain was relieved. That's way too long to suffer out of control pain. With the right pain meds this wouldn't be a difficult time of recovery.

[KMeister]

Two important takeaways from my experience I wish I knew PRIOR to surgery.
1. Ask for a drain.
2. If your scrotum swells way past its normal size, get a powerful narcotic pain med right out of the gate. It's taken 3 different pain meds and a week before relentless pain was relieved. That's way too long to suffer out of control pain. With the right pain meds this wouldn't be a difficult time of recovery.

I've garnered another important takeaway from your experience, Brother RickRed: Don't go to SF for an implant.

KMeister

[RickRed40]

Not going to SF might be a good takeaway.

After I got home from my post-op follow up appointment other areas on my back turned up black and blue, meaning there is still blood post surgery that is settling in various places. Sadly that means my scrotum has continued to increase in size. I asked my Surgeon about a needle aspiration which I thought we be a great solution providing me with immediate relief. He said performing that procedure increases the risk of infection, which would mean I surgery to pull the implant and another surgery to put a new one it. Not exactly a chance I was willing to take.

My wife who is an RN, also mentioned the fact that they could do the aspiration, get my scrotum back to normal size only to have it swell up again the very next day. It looks like I'm going to have to live the next few weeks stuck on narcotic pains medications and a huge scrotum. Not exactly what I was worried about when I went into surgery. SURPRISE

[KMeister]

Not going to SF might be a good takeaway.

After I got home from my post-op follow up appointment other areas on my back turned up black and blue, meaning there is still blood post surgery that is settling in various places. Sadly that means my scrotum has continued to increase in size. I asked my Surgeon about a needle aspiration which I thought we be a great solution providing me with immediate relief. He said performing that procedure increases the risk of infection, which would mean I surgery to pull the implant and another surgery to put a new one it. Not exactly a chance I was willing to take.

My wife who is an RN, also mentioned the fact that they could do the aspiration, get my scrotum back to normal size only to have it swell up again the very next day. It looks like I'm going to have to live the next few weeks stuck on narcotic pains medications and a huge scrotum. Not exactly what I was worried about when I went into surgery. SURPRISE

Man, you're having a tough go of it. Do you think it might be time to seek a second opinion from a highly experienced urologist?

KMeister

[RickRed40]

The only thing another Urologist could offer is exactly what my own Urologist said not to do which is a needle aspiration of the fluid in my scrotum. This procedure could increase the likelihood of infection which could then result in another surgery to remove the current implant and a second surgery to put a new implant in.

I could take that chance or wait 8-10 weeks for my body to reabsorb the fluid in my scrotum. After my 3rd pain med adjusted in a week my pain level is tolerable. I'm choosing to wait. Once the swelling is down I can activate the pump.
Not exactly the post surgery recovery I expected, but it is what it is. There's no skilled Urologist who can do anything other than tell me that waiting 8-10 weeks is the safest option. That's why I decided against a consult.