Becoming Bionic

[C_lab34]

Also, this might be interesting to some people. I just had an email exchange with Dr. Kramer on the use of RTE's. If you've watched my video, you may have wondered, as I have, why he installed a 21 cm device with 3 and a 1/2 cm RTE's, instead of going with a 24 cm device with just a 1/2 inch RTE. Well, given how difficult it was to dilate and measure my fibrotic corpora, the 21 centimeter device with 2 RTE's initially seemed to be the right fit. But it turned out that more space was available. By the time it was clear to Dr. Kramer that at least 24 cm's of space was available, considerable trauma had already occurred, and the procedure had already dragged on for longer than is typical. At that point he could have decided to entirely replace the 21 cm device for a 24, but that would have been even more traumatic, and extended the procedure time at least another 15 minutes. It would have meant a lot more bleeding and exposure time, he would have had to completely refire the furrow which channels the device through the corpora, and splice the pump. On the note of erection stability with RTE's, I was told that they are a full 7 cm's below the skin level, and that I will never feel them. Dr. Kramer says that up to 6 cm's of RTE's are not palpable, and that there is no hinge effect with up to 5 cm's of RTE's. So I should still have good erection stability at the base. It was a judgement call he made to not go with the larger device, and I feel just fine about it.

Honestly, given how traumatic the procedure already was, it is difficult for me to imagine another 15 to 20 minutes of bleeding, refiring, resplicing, etc. The pain I felt on that first day was very intense, although I probably do have a low threshold. I would not want to be dealing with it still, or a higher gradient of it. So I think the right choice was made given the circumstance. And whatever erection stability I have with RTE's will no doubt still be a dramatic improvement over anything I had naturally, which is to say virtually none.

[merrix]

Great to hear are recovering fast!

I think I am the proof that Kramer was right when he said that taking the entire device out and replacing it with a new one after an already rough procedure to get the first one in place - does cause very bad bleeding, swelling, pain and long recovery time.

I think both these guys (i.e. Eid and Kramer) know very well what they are doing. But even two experts can of course have different opinions and take different decisions during surgery.

In the end though, I think that one just has to trust them.
That's why one chooses one of them in the first place.

Keep doing well!

[C_lab34]

One concern I have at the moment is pump placement. I am now at the point where I can start feeling around and getting an idea of where everything is located. My scrotum is large and roomy, and I also have large testicles. It seems that my testicles are hanging lower than my pump right now. I wouldn't say that the pump is up that high; it's not right underneath the penis or anything, but it's definitely not sitting at the bottom. It is also in front of the testicles. My right testicle is a little uncomfortable in the position. I don't know how much of this still because of swelling or what, but it has me a little worried. I think ideally the pump would be resting at the bottom of the scrotum, but it might depend on anatomy. Dr. Kramer said things would be moving around down there for awhile, and that I could begin pulling down on the pump, but I don't really see how that's going to work. The pump feels pretty solidly locked into its position. I can grip it and kind of tug down on it, but then it just moves right back up. Could this be a problem?

[chedog]

Do follow the advice of pulling down on the pump. I did that at my doctor's advice and I have a great placement, both for inflating/deflating and aesthetics of the scrotum. I'm not sure how much it really matters, and I don't know how I'd feel about this advice if it had been painful to me, but, for me, whatever made it happen (including the pulldown for three weeks) has been copacetic.

[merrix]

C-lab, I have a similar issue.
Already from the beginning I thought my pump was pointing too much to the right side. It is perfectly placed in terms of height, i.e. in the bottom, it's just that it is angled and points to 4:30-5:00 instead of 6:00.
This causes my right testicle to sit above the pump while the left one sits nicely in the bottom.
It has improved as swelling has gone down, but in a perfect world I'd still have my pump pointing straight down to allow my testicles symmetrical placement.
I don't think this will happen since the pump is where it is. I can move it but it snaps back as soon as I let it go.
I think I will have to live with this unless I go under the knife again which doesn't appeal to me. No big issue I think and I'm getting used to it.

For your information, Eid said this high-in-front-of-the-balls pump placement is a known disadvantage of AMS due to shorter tubing than Titan. On the other hand, AMS has other advantages. Win some, lose some...
He even said he just did a revision of a Kramer AMS case. He showed me the picture of the guy and it looked loke shit. Pump was right under the penis.
This is not to say Kramer is not good. I'm sure he has done revisions of failed Eid jobs as well. It's just to say that nobody, not even the best, gets everything right every time.

You say it's not that high, so you're surely fine.
But unfortunately I just think we've got to accept that most likely everything is not going to be 100% perfect.
Every implant and every surgeon have their pros and cons. And then there is the random variation on top of that.
Having all variables (erection angle, stifness, wobbling, length, girth, sensation, easy access to pump, pump concealed, pump not felt during sex, flaccid size, flaccid angle, tubing visibility, tubing palpable or not, etc, etc) 100% perfect, is something I believe requires a large portion of luck.
I think we just have to accept that we're likely not going to get all variables 100%.
As long as nothing is a complete show-stopper or not too many issues are not right, I think we'll have to live with it...

That's my opinion.

And already after 3.5 weeks, I am well in to learning to accept this. Issues I had from the beginning (pump angle and flaccid in my case) just fades and you learn to live with it eventually.

You seem to recover fantastically well.
Great to hear, I'm happy for you!

[C_lab34]

Merrix, I fully agree with you. Things are not likely to be perfect, even with the best. I have to mentally prepare myself for certain imperfections, as well as give certain issues time to resolve themselves. What I am most pleased with currently is the total absence of pain, and I'm not taking any medication either. This is my fifth day out, and yesterday I went to the park with my girlfriend and walked around slowly. It was another eerily beautiful and warm day in D.C. Swelling gets just a tiny bit better every day, but I think this will take a while longer to fully go down. I think that has at least something to do with pump placement at the moment. It doesn't seem as bad as what some guys have reported, but I am still concerned that it is riding a little high. The issue with that would be that, during sex, it would be difficult to fully penetrate because the pump would be rubbing against the base, and my partner might feel it too. But I am a long way off from that, and maybe I'll be able to pull it down, and maybe it will move down on its own once the swelling is over. Worst case scenario, I will have another surgery to place it so that it is more comfortable and doesn't obstruct sex. Apparently this surgery takes 5 minutes. I would like to avoid this, but I will do it if necessary. Time will tell I suppose.

I could probably go back to work today, but I will take today and tomorrow off and return wednesday. That should be enough time to be more comfortable being on my feet for longer stretches of time. I have nothing else to report at this time.

[merrix]

Fantastic!
I had my first day at work today, close to four weeks after surgery...
Keep doing well!

[strongagain]

With me, everything looks perfect. I hope I can say the same in ten years time but for now I'm very happy.

[C_lab34]

Day 6, and the pain has completely vanished. Now there is a sense of discomfort if I take a step too heavily, or get up from a seated position too quickly. I drove into Capitol Hill and walked around for probably 20 to 30 minutes at a slower, but not totally plodding, pace, and got some food. It was mildly uncomfortable but not painful. I am should probably stop worrying about it, but the pump placement just doesn't seem quite right to me. I have a hard time seeing how it won't get in the way during sex, as it isn't that far down from the base of my penis. If I were to attempt to go all the way in, and really get as much as possible into a partner, it just seems as though the pump would be felt rubbing against things, or even obstruct full penetration. Has anyone else had this issue of a higher pump, not far from the underside base of the penis? Mostly I'm wondering if it will affect sex. If it doesn't, and I can still fully penetrate, then I guess it doesn't matter so much. Dr. Kramer did not seem concerned. I sent him a picture of it where I'm holding my penis up so it's easy to see. He said that raising the penis up also raises the pump 3 or 4 cm's, and that when I'm at 90 degrees, it will be lower enough to not be a problem. But the pump doesn't really change positions at all. I keep reading about and hearing about how the pump can move, but so far I haven't been able to move it. It seems stuck. Also I can feel tubing from the pump jutting out the right side at the base of my penis. Dr. Kramer has told me that the tubing will be encased in a pseudo capsule and will not be felt, and it's the same for the pump, that it won't be noticeable during sex. We'll see.

I keep underestimating the swelling. It's still pretty bad. The shaft and scrotum are still swollen and blue in parts. I'm wondering when this will go down, and how much it has to do with the awkward pump placement. The angle of my penis, when I let it fall, is now about 3:30, maybe 4, and I'm also at 5 inches, which is a little more than 2 down from what I had on my best days before. I'm not worried about that though. My girth is very distorted because of the swelling, I assume. I'm actually only about a quarter of an inch less girth than my old erections. It looks kind of silly at this length, actually. What's the slang term for a short but fat penis? A chode. That's what I'm looking down at right now.

[merrix]

Are you any inflated at all, or are you totally deflated?