In Surgery and Posting Live - My Journal

[Hawkman]

You should not be sleeping with it inflated. If you roll over on it you, could damage the implant.
Larry

Maybe I was not clear. When I say cycle, I cycle up then down so I deflated. I did auto inflate (partially) one night but I have slept exclusively on my back since surgery.

[Hawkman]

Day 12 Sunday
Now that I am finally totally deflating the extra pumps to inflate are taking a toll on my scrotum. I woke up last night at some point and had to take a Percocet for scrotum pain. First I have had to do that for about a week.

Am I a wimp or is 25 + pumps 11 days out tough on the scrotum?

Drove about 20 miles today. I have a tendency to bear my weight by pushing on the floorboard with my quads and push my back into the back of the car seat rather than bearing the weight on my butt.

[Larry10625]

You should not be sleeping with it inflated. If you roll over on it you, could damage the implant.
Larry

Maybe I was not clear. When I say cycle, I cycle up then down so I deflated. I did auto inflate (partially) one night but I have slept exclusively on my back since surgery.

Awwwwwww, gotcha… I don't know how you manage that. The best I was able to achieve in hospital was on my side

Larry

[Hawkman]

Day 13 Monday
I took a pain pill and pumped up in the tub on Sun night. I am only cycling once a day since I think that will do the job for now and my scrotum can’t take more.

I slept well and did not have any pain through the night

Tonight I pumped up with no pain meds of any kind. Have not even had a Tylenol in over 24 hours. Tomorrow I get the sutures removed. On step closer to normal.

[Hawkman]

Day 14 Tuesday

Just had an attractive nurse remove my 3 sutures. Feeling better every day but sitting, cycling the unit, and some other activities, like bending to pick something off the floor are still rather uncomfortable although doable.

I am dying to start some light exercise. My mind is also drifting in the direction of putting this to use but that is at least a week away. I guess when you are annoyed by minor things like stubble growing back it is a sign you are making progress.

My observations are that when pumping up, my penis lays flat on my stomach if I am laying in the tub. This is much like my natural erection before the protetectomy. When I stand it is at 2 o’clock with very little give to bend it down. When I pump, the pumping process goes from hard, to harder, to very hard, but I am not sure I have hit the max. The pump ball seems to get incrementally harder but I have not felt it become as rock hard as a marble.

Since I am at such early stages I have really not measured. For one thing, the stiff 2 o’clock angle makes it difficult. I am assuming as I heal I will be able to push that down to more like 3 o’clock without pain. My girth measures unchanged with one notable difference. I had a scoop, dent, or partial hourglass deformation on the left underside of the base. That seems to be totally gone.

The steri strips the nurse glued on when she removed th stitches fell off on my first soak. I wanted to make sure my incision was completely closed so I had my wife look with a magnifying glass. She could not find the incision. I looked and zoomed in with an iPad and could not find the incision either even though I know exactly were it was. Incredible considering all the components I have installed.

[Hawkman]

Day 15 Wednesday

I feel every day is getting slightly easier and since I am at a basic level of activity, driving, walking, etc I feel I have turned a corner and can be patient with any amount of daily improvement from here on out.

Cycling is not pleasant or fun but it is less painful every day and I can do more consecutive pumps before I pause. I am now pumping to about 30 pumps in 5 pump increments. I leave it pumped rock solid about 20 minutes then add an additional long slow hard pump every 5 minutes for about a total of 33 pumps and pumped up about 30 minutes. All of this is in the tub. I never feel I max out the pump even though my penis gets rock hard. I can always squeeze the pump a little more although the ball does get hard to push. I am considering starting to cycle twice a day since the discomfort from pumping is getting better. My inflated penis cannot be bent down beyond 2:00 o’clock without pain. Even deflated it is difficult to bend it down beyond 3:30 and the cylinders are totally deflated. I possibly could grit my teeth and push it down but I see no point. I am assuming it will happen in time.

When the nurse took my stitches out on Day 14 she mentioned the trouble she had sitting after childbirth and how much a horseshoe nursing pillow helped. It got me thinking since I have tried soft pillows (worse than no pillow), a donut pillow, and a few other things like perching my tailbone on the edge of the seat. Today I focused on the issue and found two small pillows. I think folded or rolled up bath towels would do. I laid them on the seat of my desk chair in a "V" shape with the intersecting point of the "V" where my tailbone would be. It supports the back of my butt, supports the back of each leg, and totally takes the pressure off of the perineum and scrotum which is the problem area. This simple rig gave me total relief sitting where it was not bearable for more than a few minutes before.

The next milestones I look forward to being able to stand up, point it down and pee, and of course sex.

[navy6587]

Hawkman...a pleasure to read your journal. I've never had (or made) the time for one...maybe my implant on 11/1 will change that.
Great to hear that you have had successful cycling experiences. Can't wait to get my schedule from my surgeon. I have another 10 item list to ask him before the procedure and cycling is one of them. I especially like your pain level reports. With so much 'news' on TV/ in the paper about opioid addiction, I try my best to NOT take any pain meds for anything (filled the script for some in 2010 after my laparoscopic hernia procedure but never took any).
Keep up the journal! Thanks for sharing.
Edd

[Hawkman]

Hawkman...a pleasure to read your journal....Keep up the journal! Thanks for sharing. Edd

I am glad you get something out of it Navy. I feel some obligation to give back but at times I have wondered if it just gets lost. I hope others gain a point or two and the some will see issues they can offer comment or advice about.

[Hawkman]

Day 16 Thursday

Still cycling once a day. My discomfort of cycling is more about pumping than the discomfort of an inflated penis. so I pump once and stay inflated for 30 minutes. Dr. Eid said he is fine with that as opposed to inflating twice for 15 minutes. I will go to twice a day but not right now. My big push now (no pun intended) is to gradually push this thing into a downward angle when deflated. I am at 3 o'clock deflated if standing naked and have been pointing it upward at an angle toward the crease of my leg when dressed. It is doable but not ideal so this morning I deflated some minimal fluid that accumulated in the cylinders overnight and bent it down. It wanted to bend part way out the shaft so I just placed a finger at the base and made the new, stiff, Titan cylinders bent there. I went to Walmart to get some baby socks since other FT members mention the irritation to the glans when the penis is putting force outward in the leg of your pants. I, of course, had to pick through pink socks and ones with bells or that said "Strong Like Momy". I settled for a pack of white Gerber socks guaranteed to stay up. Nice and snug 70% organic cotton with enough stretch to make them snug. As a side note, I wonder if since I am circumcised if the sock covering will generate any noticeable increased sensitivity in the glans.

The new position seemed to annoy my penis where it was bent near the base so today had its expected discomforts but I stood and took a leak in the toilet. It was not real natural since I did have to press down but it worked so I will call that a minor milestone.

I do seem to get some auto-refill going on. I could easily deflate a few times a day although the amount of fluid is not enough to equal more than about 3 or 4 pumps. I am not sure if there is a way to prevent this.

[Hawkman]

Day 17 Friday

On my last hot soak and inflation cycle last night, I was taken by the fact I had a rock hard penis without a slight visual hint of surgery. The scar just cannot be found at this point. It looked youthful., round, rock hard and rearing up off of my stomach about 2". My wife walked in and did a double-take and said, "that looks like you just turned the clock back 30 years. She bent over and gave me a well-placed kiss.

I inflate for 30 minutes and can now comfortably pump about 15 pumps straight before taking a few minutes break and giving it another 15. The last 5 min I try to force a few more pumps in. Laying there looking at a clock is tough at this stage so I try to make it from one iPad song to another or disrupt the nerve transmission of pressure by dragging a washcloth lightly across my penis or trickling water on it. it seems to interfere with the nerve transmission of discomfort so I can extend my time inflated.

I am getting some auto inflation but only what I would call 20% - 25% filling that makes it a little more difficult to point down past 4:00 o'clock without a little pressure on it. Some say this is normal and as long as I can get to 5:00 o'clock when deflated I will be satisfied. I did mow my very level front yard today with a self-propelled walk behind mower. I will save the side yard and the backyard for the grandsons.