Very good outcome from Dr. Eid...

[sinestra]

Hello everyone, my name is David and I am a registered nurse in the emergency room at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. Before I go any further I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this board - I have probably read every post twice in the last 8 months! You have provided me and many other men going through this process with invaluable information gathered in one place, creating a resource I have not seen available anywhere else.

In an effort to give back, I wanted to briefly relate my experience and thoughts. Just over 2 years ago at the age of 54, I had a robotic assisted radical prostatectomy which successfully treated my prostate cancer, but ultimately left me unable to achieve erections without Trimix. I injected for roughly 18 months, 3x a week, constantly increasing the dosage with poorer results. Although this process wasn't fun, without it I don't know how I would have coped. It allowed me to continue to have sex with my wife, and I looked at it as part of my penile rehab protocol, always thinking (hoping) that my erectile function would come back. It didn't.

I based my penile rehab on my surgeon's suggestions (daily low dose Cialis & vacuum pump therapy), and Dr. John Mulhall's unbelievably excellent book "Saving Your Sex Life: A Guide for Men with Prostate Cancer" (http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Your-Guide-Prostate-Cancer-ebook/dp/B005AO8UIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400361922&sr=8-1&keywords=john+mulhall). I highly recommend reading this book for anyone experiencing erectile dysfunction, it helped me immeasurably. Dr. Mulhall is the Director of the Male Sexual and Reproductive Medicine Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. Here is a link to his website (http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/doctor/john-mulhall), there are some good videos of talks from him at the bottom of the page.

Somewhere around 18 months post-op, I realized no matter how I obsessive I was about my rehab (and trust me, it turned out I was pretty obsessive), it wasn't coming back. I always knew an implant was my last resort, so I began researching and found this board. Posts here in turn led me to many other resources as well. I ultimately decided Dr. Eid (http://www.urologicalcare.com/) was my surgeon of choice, and I was not disappointed. But more on that later...

If you are trying to pick a surgeon, rest assured there are many good ones beyond the high volume names that you see on this board. Having said that, I would have flown to the moon if I felt the best penile implant surgeon practiced there. Don't go for convenience here, you are going to have to live with the results for a long time (hopefully), so you want it done right. As I see it, the 4 most important things are: How many have they done? What is their infection rate? How is their patient satisfaction? (you definitely want to speak to more than one former patient), and after meeting (or talking to them on the phone), have they treated you with respect and answered all of your questions? There are guys on this board who have used surgeons with relatively small practices or who are very young and they are thrilled with the results. Just be thorough and methodical in your research...

I am now 5 weeks post-op, I didn't want to post here until saw what my outcome would be. It turned out to be better than I imagined. My experience with Eid just couldn't have been better. He is very warm, personable, funny, and pioneered surgical techniques that cut infection rates to essentially zero. On my first visit, he gave me a booklet with several hundred names and phone numbers of former patients who had agreed to make themselves available to new patients (I called quite a few). His staff was extremely helpful and thorough. I work for a very big hospital, this kind of personalized care is definitely not the norm.

After surgery, I got a copy of the operating room notes, which also had the serial numbers and size of the device he implanted. His OR notes indicated that "scar tissue had obliterated the left corpora" of my penis with surgery taking 90 minutes, in part because he had to do some reconstruction. Having said all that...

I left the hospital about 10 hours after surgery and my experience there was great (they were really responsive to controlling my pain). The first 3 days post-op were more painful than I expected, but easily controlled with the pain meds he sent me home with. I was partially inflated and my penis wrapped in a dressing and held in place with a tight fitting jock strap. I was instructed to remain on my back for 72 hours, and on the 3rd day I removed the bandages and pulled out the Foley catheter (uncomfortable but not painful). I had diminishing but still significant pain for the remainder of the first week, the warm baths I began on day 4 and pain meds helped greatly.

Somewhere around day 7, things began to get better quickly. While I was in the tub, I would always try to feel the pump, attempting to locate the deflate mechanism, but not actually doing anything. I had minimal swelling and no bruising but lots of tenderness. Then on the 9th day I decided I would try to deflate. No go, way too painful - but I am a very determined guy. Day 10 I text-ed Eid (he gives you his cell number) and asked if I could try to deflate and then inflate. He said yes, but when I tried, the thing just felt like a rock in my scrotum, I couldn't do it. I vowed to try again the next day... Then, on day 11, I got it! It was painful as hell, but goddamn it, I had an erection! I text-ed a photo to Eid, I was so happy and proud.

So on day 11, I began cycling, and at 1 month I would say I was fully functional, although make no mistake about it, when I pump it up as high as I can, it aches. But it's slowly getting better, and I'm able to orgasm. And here's a big thing - I lost no size at all. When I orgasm, my glans enlarges and I am exactly the same size I was before when injections still worked.

One last thing - before the implant procedure I had pretty significant climacturia (pee is the new cum!) My wife is great and would say "It's no big deal" but it really sucked... When I first went to Eid, I asked about a sling - now mind you, I am totally continent in my day to day life. He said absolutely not, for pt.s like me it wouldn't help. But, he said that during surgery, he could manipulate the placement of the tubing/device to help form scar tissue that would support the urethra, possibly improving this condition. I am very happy to report that it did improve things noticeably. Urine output during sex has diminished considerably, and I have actually had a few orgasms that were completely dry! I'm hoping this will continue to improve, but it's already better than before the implant, so I'm quite happy...

I want to end with a link (http://www.urologyandgynecologyvideo.com/videos/evolution-in-penile-implantation-technique-and-patient-outcomes-introduction) to a really great video that's a panel discussion of penile implants featuring Dr.s Eid, Kramer & Perito. It's fairly recent and was sponsored by Coloplast, but it's really quite good, very informative, and lets you see 3 high volume surgeons speaking about their approaches. I learned a few things from this. It's long but definitely worth your time.

Making the decision to get an implant can be overwhelming - but that's where this board can really help. It allows men who have gone through this to give their first hand experience to those trying to make this decision. In my case, somewhere along the way my penile rehab went from being very disciplined to being obsessive. I just wasn't ready to give up the functioning of that part of my body. I had a lot of anxiety about undergoing this procedure, so of course I obsessively researched and learned as much about this procedure as I could. I'm really happy and grateful I picked the right surgeon for me - Dr. Eid simply could not have given me a better outcome, and he and his wonderful staff made going through it as painless as possible. My 2 year nightmare of daily rituals to restore my erectile function are now over. I really feel as if I'm getting my life back, like I got back the last thing that prostate cancer took from me. I just feel good...

I hope this information is helpful, best wishes to you all - David

[billylee]

David,
Thanks for sharing. I, too, have found so much good advice and information through this board.
billylee

[TomFord]

Thanks for sharing. My big day is on he 9th of July so reading about your residing success helps with the nerves.

[avlis26]

So glad to read all this. Thanks for sharing!! This is very encouraging

[Charlie999]

I hope you have an excellent and speedy recovery. GOD BLESS THE BOYS WHO MAKE THE NOISE on Franktalk.

All the Best,

Charlie