My Journal

[moetheman]

Very informative discussion indeed. I agree with Merrix that one shouldn't need to hide when the partner already knows about the implant. I guess it still takes some getting used to, especially when starting out. I also agree with the comment about being embarrassed to take pills in front of partner. I was that way. I used to take cialis regularly in secret, even though my wife knew that I was dependent on the pills. At least the implant only takes a minute or so, therefore much better than pills.

[merrix]

Yes, visually it is hidden. As in invisible.
Not if touching the deflated penis or touching the scrotum though.

But the discussion here was about the inflation. That has to be done to get an inflatable penile prosthesis hard.
This will be noticed by the parter if one chooses to inflate in front of her, unless she is blind, the room is pitch dark, or you put a blindfold on her.
And it was the possible awkwardness of inflating in front of the partner we were discussing here. Or at least I was.

[alibaba]

That is another advantage of a good surgeon who fits the parts well to your body. I've never managed a good picture but I can see the pump sticking out clearly from across the room in any mirror. At the right angle it looks like a third ball sitting at an odd angle pointing out between two others. I've no doubt the soreness in that area is due to constant pressure and rubbing because that area sticks out 3/4" beyond the balls. Clothing and everything else hits it first.

[merrix]

I still keep getting more and more satisfied with the implant. From a technical point of view I have known for some time that I was lucky getting very, very good results from Dr. Eid.

Size
I have gained 0.5 cm length since pre-op.
I have maintained girth.

Pump
The pump is very well hidden behind the balls and is invisible when I am standing up, even if I hold my dick up and reveal the scrotum. It cannot be felt by my wife when we have sex in any position. Well, unless she grabs the scrotum with her hand of course. The pump basically never bothers me. Maybe once per day I can feel it is there if bending over in tight jeans to tie shoes or something similar. But that's no issue.

Flaccid
My flaccid is no issue. The angle varies, depending on the dick's current state. I think that was the same before implant. Sometimes it was fuller and larger, and sometimes it was smaller and softer. Same today. But it is never any issue. I think it sometimes is seen when I wear tight clothes, but it never looks like an erection, just exactly what it is - a big flaccid dick. But I would say most of the time it is not seen with clothes on.

Pumping
Being an excel-guy, I have actually recorded a couple of times per week how many pumps I can get in. This shows very clearly that it is increasing week by week, it still does. Six weeks ago (3 months post op, 2.5 months after starting cycling), I got in 25 full wall-to-wall pumps and a few partials. This has increased week by week since then, and this morning I got in 30 full wall-to-wall pumps and a couple partials.

Effect of increased pumping
The increased #of pumps has been followed by some size increase. Measuring volume based on length and girth (which of course is not 100% right since girth is not equal all over the dick, but what the heck, this is just for reference), I have gone during this time from 240 to 264 cm3, which is an increase of 10% volume. #of pumps has increased 20%, but I guess some of that extra fluid goes in the perineal area cylinder parts as well. Besides, it is only the cylinders expanding, not all the flesh (e.g. glans), so I think the 10% volume increase of dick corresponds pretty well with 20% increase of fluid in the cylinders from ass to tip.
But mostly, the implant has just gotten a lot harder. If I pump full (30+ pumps), I would say it is too hard to use for good sex. Main problem with that hardness is not really the shaft itself, but rather the lack of flex at the base. It does not give many degrees neither up, down, left or right. Which limits positions and causes some discomfort. Plus it really feels like an artificial dick. I can feel something is inside me.
So I never pump full when having sex.
I always start with 20 pumps, which is a great blow-job hardness. Just before penetration I give it a couple more (i.e. 22) and that's perfect for sex.

Feel
At this level (20-22) it feels completely natural. I cannot even feel there is something inside me, it feels exactly like a natural erection. Wife agrees, and says there is no way she would feel anything weird with the dick if she didn't know. As long as she doesn't grab my scrotum of course.
I am also sure that I get better blood flow at this level of pumping than when I pump full or close to full. Which further adds to the superior feeling of 22 pumps vs 30 pumps. Wife again agrees, and feels that my glans gets full and very hard at the 22 pumps, but not so on the 30 pumps. And even though there is more fluid in the dick at 30 pumps, she thinks it feels thinner than at 22. Reason surely is that the natural blood flow is reduced more than the increase in saline...

Mental
I am, as I said in the intro above, still feeling better and better about the implant as time goes on. On a scale where 0 would be 'OK, I have an implant which means I can always get hard, but really, I am just an impotent loser with a plastic prosthesis dick and that is just pathetic' and 10 would be 'Life is great, I can fuck anyone anytime for as long and as many times as I want', I started somewhere on a 3 and have moved up to 7. We will see how far I can go...

Pictures
Someone asked for pictures before. I have attached a few to show what it looks like now, just over 4 months after surgery.
In the first picture taken from below, I point a finger to the scrotum, the pump bulb is right under my finger tip.
You can also see the kink on the cylinders when deflated causing a slight curve on my flaccid.
Second picture shows the dick inflated at good sex level (20-22 pumps) when lying on my back. At that level, the base still has some flex and the dick falls back a bit when lying on back. When standing up, my angle at 22 pumps would be around 2:30. At full inflation (30 pumps) it'd be 2:00. In this picture, the pump is way down in the bottom of the scrotum. Pre-op I had a pretty bad curve, about 45 degrees to the left, which Eid managed to fix completely. Well, maybe there is a couple of degrees left, but barely noticeable.
Last picture shows the flaccid. No idea why the pic is turned 90 degrees, and nothing I can fix...

Bulb is under finger tip

IMG_9171.jpg (216.34 KiB) Viewed 3043 times

20-22 pumps, about 70% inflated. Perfect hardness for sex!

IMG_9194.JPG (85.86 KiB) Viewed 3043 times

Flaccid.

IMG_9195.JPG (230.25 KiB) Viewed 3050 times

[David_R]

Congratulations on your implant success! Great pictures!

[alibaba]

Very good commentary as always sir.Cheers.

[PFracture]

Merrix: thank you for providing us yet again, with such a detailed account of your experience. And yes, i was one the guys asking for pictures. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Impressive results you had, and considering you always suffered with ED i think you will be eventually singing hallelujas as things settle in the long run.

[merrix]

Thanks for the positive feedback all of you.
Good to hear someone is still reading...

[alibaba]

Thank you for well thought out and presented posts. Sometimes they touch on pushing Dr. Francois E but it is understanding that you have a qualified level of gratitude for doing an outstanding job for you. The after care was superb also. Your experience identifies the flaws in going with the first doc who agrees to implant in the closest geographical location ( out of the top 5 recommended on FT) like I did. Opposite standards of care on many levels. I very much appreciate your weighed ( and sometimes understandably weighted) perspectives. Cheers bud. Who would have thought silicone would be such a pleasure?

[merrix]

Well, regarding Eid, what I try to do is just to tell my story as honestly as I can, and Eid is for sure a pretty integral part of that story...

He sure did a good job on me. If I had a friend going through this I would absolutely recommend Eid to him. Simply because he did as well as ever possible on me (as far as I know to date), and I don't have experience from anyone else, so recommending someone else in specific would be strange.
But actually, I don't even recommend Eid to anybody here. What I think an implant prospect should do is to contact a few surgeons with good reputation (and Eid should be one of them) and meet them and get a feel for who they prefer. It is about chemistry as well, and in my case, my chemistry rhymed well with Eid's. And that is important too,

That doesn't mean I say that I know he is the best. I have no idea about that. Others have been very happy with other doctors of course.
Maybe there are others out there being equally good, or better. I don't know. And nobody else knows either.

All I do is share my experience and part of that is to describe what Eid did to me.