JB's implant journal

[jonbaldbg]

First days after surgery it all sucks, especially not knowing what the final outcome will be. Bodies are not finite in the way they react and clearly the surgery technique is not perfect either. Some swell up like a refrigerator between their legs and some not. I did not but 11 1/2 months after surgery and my penis is still purple like a giant bruise. Some have great outcomes, some not. AMS told me they send everyone to Knoll to do revisions. He is the only name the rep would give me. Either he knows what he is doing or is a part of the racket. Who knows till you try it. Either way I hope the best for you. A good sign is you do not feel the tubing though burying it probably was a bit traumatic as far as your body is concerned. It sounds like Knoll did the work you hired him to do. Heal well!

Alibaba,
Thanks for your perspective! You make a lot of valid points. I'm guessing Knoll had to do quite a bit of work to get everything situated well. I guess it's no use trying to second guess him and I should just wait to see the final outcome. Dr. Kramer saw the pics and was very positive that I'm going to come out "perfect."

I tried to find an Email link on the AMS website to ask them about revision (just to satisfy my curiosity) but I couldn't find one.

[alibaba]

I got my info calling the AMS help line which to be honest is near no help at all. They do not do anything but say if you have issues they refer everyone to Knoll. Hang in there. The first days suck. You've been there. Maybe no swelling but the hurting and wishing it were over part. It will in time, the sun will come up and you will suddenly realize, wow no problem now. Hang in there buddy. I'm just impressed you were able to get it fixed in such short order. I still want mine fixed but be damned if I am going to a quack, another infrapubic doc or pay the most of it myself when I am paying $20,000 a year for full coverage insurance. Last week the tubing was hurting so much I just wanted the damn thing out but common sense and forgetfulness prevailed. Actually planned to asked the urologist to take it out I was so pissed at it but I was so tired I forgot to ask till he had left the room. You'll be in a different place in 3 weeks. On a good note, your wife likely will not kick you for a while after the knee surgery. Cheers bud.

[jonbaldbg]

Thanks Ali,

I sure wish you could get fixed. Sounds like your insurance company sort of sux. Mine is Anthem provided by the state of KY because my wife is a school teacher. They have been really good to work with. Happy new year to you!!

[rdnkbiker]

I feel for you my implant is scheduled for Jan 18th and the insurance sent me a letter last week that they are denied the claim after the gave us the go ahead and a conformation letter just out of the blue docs fighting it but reality might be I'll have to find some.money quik
Good luck
J

[alibaba]

My policy is a United Healthcare policy that pays 100% after the annual deductible of $2600 is met but deductible is $5800 out of network PLUS 20% of the billed amount ( the inflated figure hospitals use not the negotiated price insurance usually pays) so I am stuck with doctors/hospitals that have a U.C. contract. I have a second policy tha tpays my deductible but it will not cover penile implants. I talked to Kramer personally ( very nice) and he said United Healthcare was going to be a problem and he had me talk to his gal. She said the university was cancelled but U.C. due to a disagreement and likely they will never be a provider again. Used to be. Similar issue with Eid. I spent 3 days searching plans with 3 healthcare brokers and everyone said it is not possible to find a plan that pays for what mine does anymore because no-one offers one, but it seems the doctors I prefer do not take it. I have found plenty of doctors that I will not go to that will accept it. As of tomorrow, 8 more years then I can get medicare. Heal well.

[alibaba]

I feel for you my implant is scheduled for Jan 18th and the insurance sent me a letter last week that they are denied the claim after the gave us the go ahead and a conformation letter just out of the blue docs fighting it but reality might be I'll have to find some.money quik
Good luck
J

I hope you get to the bottom of it. I fought my insurance for years for the first implant. They kept siting they do not cover "any procedure that promotes conception". I argued that is not possible after a prostatectomy because a vasectemy is part of a prostatectomy. Finally called AMS help line and the gal there went to bat for me and we got it approved. Vanderbilt wanted it in writing, a non revocable letter guarantee of payment whatever the cost, but U.C. refused to do that so I had to give a non revocable letter of credit from by bank in the amount of $65,000 guaranteeing to pay whatever the insurance did not pay. Bank charged me a $250 fee for putting that on hold till we found out. Still have an $80 remaining balance at Vanderbilt that they turned over to collection. I refuse to pay it being their service sucked so bad. $71,000 for a crappy implant job, given meds that are on my no med list and a prescription for antibiotics that was invalid at the pharmacy was compensation enough. I told them sue me if you wish and then I will counter considering the service I received.

[jonbaldbg]

Post revision, day four.

The right side of the scrotum seems looser and more relaxed and I can feel my right nut normally. Not so much on the left side, it is still swollen and it is harder to feel the various items inside through the swelling. Hard to determine where everything is. Of course, One the swelling is gone, the position of things will be different anyway.

It's common for pain and swelling to increase day 3-5, so I guess I'm right in there. I did contact Dr. Kramer about warm baths and he gave me clearance to do that such as in Dr. Eid's post op instructions. He doesn't put that in his post op instructions because it's a non-issue.

Here are day four pics. I think they look a little better:

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[jonbaldbg]

Hey guys,

I had my revision surgery a week ago today with Dr. Knoll in Nashville. I didn't have a lot to report because I hadn't talked to him personally and the email system for their clinic has been broken about ten days. He spoke with my wife, but she didn't really understand much.

I met with him yesterday in person. He was very nice and thorough. He told me what he did, how he did it and why he did it. What I had expected to be a simple procedure turned out to be fairly involved. Perhaps he could have cut a couple tubes and spliced in some more, but that is not what happened and I must say I was pleased and felt really good about what he told me. I didn't particularly want splices or extra tubing floating around. The final result remains to be seen, but based on what I heard, I'm expecting good things. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

First of all, he determined I do not have an LGX as I thought. I have a 3.0 RTE on each cylinder. My AMS card says I have a 700 CX with 3.0 RTE so it appears the card is correct. I had thought I may have gotten the wrong card. This means I won't have as much improvement with length but the CX is better at dealing with Peyronies which I had. So, I'm straight.

Now, I won't be able to use the medical terms but here is a nutshell summary of the procedure:

He cut a new incision lower in the scrotum because of the location where the pump was to end up. The tubes from the cylinders and reservoir were partially nested in the corpora along with the implant. This was keeping the tubing higher up the penis and they were in the way of intercourse and hurt. They also pulled the pump right up against the penis when inflated and that too hurt.

He made a small opening in the corpora and was able to remove the concealed part of the tubes. This got the tubes off the side of my penis and allowed him to lower the pump to the very back bottom of the scrotum. He stitched back the corpora and stitched the pump in place so there's no chance of migration.

There was some sort of sac or casing that grows around the pump as it heals. He had to remove that and also had to deal with scar tissue to get everything relocated, plus making small incisions in the corpora. THIS is why I have so much swelling. I don't have a hematoma. I have something else but I can't remember the medical term. If any of you want to know what it's called, let me know. I'll look it up.

He helped me feel the various parts of the implant in its new location and it looks like it will be placed away from any interference with intercourse, low and in the back.

He told me I should now stop icing and start doing two 15 minute warm baths a day. I go back in a month.

He worked me into a very busy schedule, the only day he would be in the office this week. I was very grateful because I really wanted to know what he'd done and why I was so swollen. I left the office with another script for pain medication.

I'm including last night's pics which show how much the scrotum is swollen front to back. I will, of course, keep you all posted with pics as things heal. Below this post, I'll put a jpg of the surgery report. I hope it will be legible.

Like Dr. Kramer told me, after this procedure things should be perfect. Let's hope so!!!

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Scroll down for surgery report.

[jonbaldbg]

Here is the official surgery report:

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[PCHelp76180]

Here is the official surgery report:

Revision-page-001.jpg

Revision-page-002.jpg

This is the same thing I need to have done,the pump is way too high in the scrotum and the tubing needs to be re-routed. I also need to have the right RTE remeasured and replaced. When inflated it point about 15 degrees to the right, the cylinder is too short.