Time between prostatectomy and implant

[OttoHS]

For those who had a radical prostatectomy and then an implant, how much time elapsed between the two events? Johns Hopkins urology department says that one should wait at least two years before considering an implant and the health insurance plan I had at the time of my prostatectomy would not pay for an implant until two years had elapsed. I had to change policies and my new policy did have any hard and fast time period that had to elapse before it would approve an implant. I knew (or believed) early on that I was not regaining any erectile function. I was taking daily Cialis and large doses on Viagra, pumping, etc. My penis was dead. The best "erection" I ever had other than with a VED was softer than my penis currently is when my implant is totally deflated. I was ready for an implant one year after my prostate surgery and would have had it then but for insurance issues and I wanted to be able to ride my bike during the coming Summer (my surgery anniversary is in March). As soon as Fall came, I made an appointment with Dr. Kramer and had implant surgery 18 months after my prostate surgery. I am curious as to how soon people had implant surgery after prostate surgery and what they were told as to how long they should wait for before they took the "final option."

BTW: I really have come to question statements on various medical providers' websites and advice that an implant is the "final option" and one should go through every other possible solution and wait and wait for one's penis to spring back to life. When women have breast cancer, I have the impression that medical providers are much more proactive in helping them with rehabilitation, including implants. The reality is that unless the PDE-5 inhibitors work, an implant is the best and most satisfactory option for a man who has had a radical prostatectomy. I see no reason to torture us with arbitrary waiting periods. I wonder if the prostate surgeons were realistic about some of our prospects if they could even predict six months out whether an implant was a good option.

[williamb]

Mine was one year. Talked to 3 surgeons and all 3 recommended that it was time. Maybe my emotional health had something to do with that but I was having big issues with the ED.

[palace01]

With my IPP this weekend it was 95 weeks between them
Both surgeries were under Medicare and nothing was ever said by Drs OR Insurance on this topic.
In fact my (Open)Prostate Surgeon suggested IPP within 6 months when he realized that neither pills nor Injections had any impact. Glad I chose an 'expert' for the IPP

[alibaba]

When I first started looking for a doc to do my implant, I found 3 docs that did the prostatectomy and implant at the same time. One was in TX and one in Chicago. Other was in Ohio or some mid eastern state. I do not remember exactly. Docs told me it would take 2 years to find out if I would ever have an erection in '09. The docs who did both at the same time said that 80% don't have erections, even with nerve sparing and it made no sense to wait. In answer, It was 6 years and 5 months before I got one. No I did not want to wait that long.