Waiting on Tech Rep for Scheduling

[bob1138]

Hi Rim,

First, Congratulations on your new Titan Implant and I'm glad to hear that your Procedure went smoothly.
I developed ED Post-Prostatectomy in 2004 and underwent the Coloplast Titan Penile Implant Procedure in
December 2007. I carefully selected a highly skilled and experienced Implant Surgeon and, like you, had an excellent result.
After my Procedure, Coloplast asked me to become a "Patient Educator" and share my Pre-Implant and Post-Implant experiences with men still suffering with ED.
As you probably know, men suffering with ED are very hesitant to talk about it.
However, since I have walked in their shoes, they tend to open up and talk candidly to me about their problem.
The role of the Coloplast Surgical Sales Rep is to deliver the Titan and to make sure that all the pre-treatment steps are done prior to surgery. This is not at all a negative comment on the skill of the Implant Surgeon.
A Coloplast Rep was present at my Procedure.
If, indeed, there were no Rep present at your Procedure, this would be the exception and not the rule.
Again, I wish you a lifetime of enjoyment with your Titan Implant.

Best Regards,

Bob

[Hawkman]

Correct me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that a technical rep. is never present when your surgeon is a leading expert in his field of surgery, penile implant or otherwise. In fact I have been warned that a technical rep being present is a warning indicator of inexperience and not a positive thing. I have been told that leading surgeons stock every thing they need to be ready on demand for any and every development. They have all the specialized instruments and most have a far better understanding of the process than any sales or technical rep. for the prosthesis company. This of course requires a surgeon to have hundreds of procedures if not thousands of procedures under his belt.

For instance, I am willing to bet that Dr. Eid who does 300 implants a year never has a technical rep present to list one example.
Hawk

[buckster]

For instance, I am willing to bet that Dr. Eid who does 300 implants a year never has a technical rep present to list one example.
Hawk

That make sense or he would need a full time tech rep at his side.

[radiodec]

I have given the Tech Rep situation some thought and realize the Dr. Morris doesn't do 300 a year like some of the doctors, but he does do 3 to 5 a month as implants are not the only surgery that he does. He also does prostate surgery which might give him a better understanding of root cause (couldn't resist the pun) of my E.D.

I am in a position where Dr. Milam is not out of reach, however, I believe that I will better served with a doctor with whom I can talk more regularly. The notes I have seen on this board seem to indicate that most interaction with Dr. Milam is through his P.A.s

Dr. Morris of Urology Associates, P.C. operates through more than one hospital; two of which are much easir to access from the backwoods of Tennessee. Hendersonville is much more convenient than Vanderbuilt. It is a top rated hospital though not nearly as large as Vanderbuilt which is a city in itself. For followups I have the ability to meet with Dr. Morris in his satellite office in Gallatin, I wouldn't use Sumner Regional for surgeries though until the dust from the major management changes settles.

Now on to a possible reason for the Tech Rep, operating from multiple hospitals (Hendersonville, Baptist, and others) it might be more reasonable to allow AMS to supply the hardware. Also the group he is in has only recently switched from majority of Coloplast implants to a majority of AMS, and still do both depending upon patient need and anatomy. This may mean that there numbers are not yet enough for AMS though the total number of implants is good but not overwhelming.

It currently looks like an AMS 700 LGX is in my future, but I learned that there is at least one more in depth office visit before surgery whenever they get it scheduled. Will know more and post more when the data comes in.

Till then willanxiously await developments.

Feelings: Anticipation, anxiety, joy for a solution, curiosity! Things are not unlike waiting on a big licensing exam, know things will go well, but not thrilled with process, and above all ready to get that part behind me. Know I will have a result to point the way forward.

David

[radiodec]

Hooray! No more waiting on scheduling. The scheduling is done, the "for real" waiting begins now! 16 days tile pre-op tests (9/27) and 20 days till surgery(1:00 PM on 10/01/2012). Wish they could have made it a mourning, but at least it's scheduled.

With this news I won't post to this thread any longer. Instead I will start a count down thread, that way I can inflict any case of nerves that I get between now and then on the rest of you.

David
Radiodec