Questions to ask during virtual consult.

[alans4570]

Tomorrow I have a virtual consult with Dr.Clavell. I live in Wisconsin and plan on driving to Houston. I have a couple of questions like, Where will the procedure be done? And will you verify insurance coverage beforehand? I will also ask if he recommends one implant over the other? I know that a lot of you have done this before, so please help me think of some questions I should be asking Dr. Clavell during the consult. Thanks much!

[Old Guy]

That is one long drive. Coming home isn't going to be fun after surgery if you're driving. And most places won't release you to drive after surgery, they require you have a driver.
More than likely the surgery will be at an out-patient facility. If they plan to keep you overnight, it will probably happen in a hospital. Definitely have their billing office get insurance approval before. And find out what co-pay you'll need. Usually the surgeon will suggest the implant he/she thinks best for you. Both AMS & Coloplast can have issues, but bottom line is you'll be able to have an erection any time you want.
Other than that, ask any and all questions you have. There isn't one question the doc hasn't heard before. Don't be shy.
Good Luck

[Jage64]

Here were a few (that I remember) from when I consulted with Dr. Clavell, most of these were generated by FT posts and independent research I had done:

Will you use a catheter? (MANY men have said that the catheter and it's subsequent removal was one of the most painful parts of their recuperation.) In my case, and I think in most Clavell patients, he does not use a catheter, which is a big thing to not have to deal with.

Is there anything I should be doing now to maximize my size when the time comes that I'm measured on the operating table? (this is your one chance, make it count!)

How long will I be in surgery?

Will I be under a general or local anesthesia?

Will you have access to all sizes of implants in the OR?

Who else will be in the OR with us?

What is the biggest risk in having the surgery and how do you and your staff mitigate that risk?

How soon will I be able to fly home?

How do we communicate once I'm back home 2000 miles away and what if there are concerns? (He gave me his personal cell number and we communicated as often as necessary with pictures of my healing, not an issue at all)

What is your pain management routine, how long should I expect to be in pain needing prescription pain meds? (I never took an Rx pain med, just the antibiotics and alternated Advil/Tylenol when necessary)

Can you give me the pros and cons of each implant and if you see failures in each product what is it that mostly fails? Was there something the patient did or didn't do to exacerbate the failure?

I had an idea of which product I was leaning towards prior to our consultation, but after we chatted for awhile I asked him which one he thought would be best for me. I had to press him a little to get him to share his opinion, and in the end our choices matched.

I'm sure you have questions like these swirling around in your head. WRITE THEM DOWN. I kept a list on my phone because during the day I'd think of something and didn't want to forget it. Before my consultation I transferred them all to paper with room for me to write down the answers so I could refer back to them when needed.

[CigareVolant]

I had lots of pre-op questions. Would the angle change? Length? Thickness? Could I still "pulse" it with kegels? I can't find my list. There were probably others.

In the end, I didn't even ask them because I realized: It didn't matter. I wanted a penis that worked. I had preferences about all of my questions, but I realized that the answers just didn't matter. I was going to do it anyway. Also, I read enough here to know that the answer mostly is, "Hard to say for sure."

So I took a deep breath and stepped into the unknown. The main answer is: Now my penis works! Always! Other answers are: my penis angle is straight out (like 3 o'clock) rather than curving upwards like before (maybe 2:00 to 1:00). I am a tad shorter and a good bit thicker. Doing kegels to "pulse" my cock still works. (It works better when not fully pumped up. When fully pumped, it's already so hard that my muscles don't squeeze it much more. But it still moves a little.)

But bottom line, I think I would have done it anyway even if I'd known that every answer was against my preference. That's why I just decided to skip the questions. But do find a high volume doctor! Another reason to ask questions is to figure out if your doctor knows what he's doing. But if you are trying to figure that out yourself, rather than going by volume and references, then you are already in trouble.