Infection Worries

[PurpleHaze]

I was implanted by Dr. Hakky on 3/12 with the Coloplast One Touch, so I just passed the eight week mark this past Tuesday. I had very little pain or discomfort. The worst part was some significant scrotal swelling, but even that had largely subsided.

Then last Wednesday afternoon I had a sudden bout of chills, general aches and pains, but no fever yet. By that evening I also had occasional nausea and a temperature that spiked at 101.5. The next morning--about 16 hours later--I started sweating profusely for a few minutes, then felt much better. Pretty standard fever breaking behavior.

I would have written this all off to catching a bug, or getting food poisoning, except I then noticed that my scrotal swelling was back. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was infection. This swelling is somewhat different than what I had before in that before I could still feel the pump in there, and now it's a struggle. I can still feel it if I move whatever that mush is around enough. And it doesn't seem to be adhering to anything, so that's a positive sign.

The other difference between this and my previous swelling is soreness in the scrotum and shaft. It feels like mild chafing. I'm trying to be optimistic and hope that's because that skin had to expand so much so quickly, but I know that could be another infection symptom.

I called Hakky's office on Thursday and spoke to a nurse. She wanted me to come in for an ultrasound, but I live 8 hours away. She consulted with Hakky and sent me a prescription for doxycycline. I have a virtual appointment this Tuesday.

In the meantime, I'm extremely worried. So I've made up a list of factors that are for and against infection.

On the "Yep, it's an infection" side:

- The episode with the flu like symptoms
- The swelling
- The scrotum and shaft pain

On the "Naaah, stop worrying" side:

- The flu like symptoms came and went quickly. I've checked my temperature repeatedly since then, and it's always normal. Seems like symptoms from an infection would linger until it was cleared up.
- Dr. Hakky has an excellent infection rate. (I guess. I never actually asked, but I assume so since he's one of the top guys in the field.) So I would have to be really unlucky.
- The pain down there is mild, feels more like mild chafing, and is not increasing.
- The incision is dry and shows no signs of separating.
- There is no redness of the scrotum or penis.
- The pump is not adhering to the scrotal wall.

I'm wondering if a bout of flu could trigger enough inflammation that the just recently subsided swelling could come back just because of that. (That's me trying to be optimistic.)

I guess I'll just have to wait for my virtual appointment on Tuesday.

Thoughts and opinions would be welcome.

[formsetter]

implanted on jan 3 I got a infection at 6 weeks
I was perfectly fine for 6 weeks then almost overnight I had lots of swelling
doc put me on lots of antibiotics and tried for almost 5 weeks to kick the infection
had a revision done April 10 everything seems to be going good so far
I just don't understand why I got a infection at 6 weeks

[easymoney]

I was implanted with a Rigicon MMP 6-2023 .. 30 days later they thought I had a infection cut me from asshole to elbow looking for a infection ... they never found one but my dr. told me and he does over 300 implants a year you can get a infection for up to 3 yrs after the implant is installed ..

[Stayingstrong]

First three months after install is the infection window relative to the procedure itself. After that an infection at the prosthesis would be a secondary result of infection from other origin

[Stayingstrong]

implanted on jan 3 I got a infection at 6 weeks
I was perfectly fine for 6 weeks then almost overnight I had lots of swelling
doc put me on lots of antibiotics and tried for almost 5 weeks to kick the infection
had a revision done April 10 everything seems to be going good so far
I just don't understand why I got a infection at 6 weeks

Do you know what Dr. Clavell's infection rate is?

[Txagq8]

I’m 68 years old.

It took me quite a while, until my late 20s, to learn a valuable lesson that has paid great dividends the last 40 yrs.

Many people are so afraid of death that they never experience life.

Yeah, keep in mind that there’s an implant in there and there are isolated cases of an infection up to 3 years after surgery. But for God’s sake don’t dwell on it. You’ll go crazy.

Almost everyone who gets infected with an implant does so as a result of the surgery. It’s not like a colony of germs are plotting to invade that area when you least expect it.

I was barely 2 weeks after surgery and was still in the “WTF did he do to my junk?” Mode when my surgeon told me I was cleared to have sex with it. I was of the mind that had he thought there was a likelihood of infection, he wouldn’t have given me a green light.

The simplest solution is usually the correct answer. People still get sick. You get flu, covid, strep, UTIs, you name it. That’s true even though by your 60s you’ve been exposed to everything and still have acquired immunity.

It’s been a few months but after a sex marathon wife came down with yeast infection and I followed suit with UTI a day or two later. Instead of freaking out about infected implant I called family doctor, who sent a Rx for doxycycline, which had me cleared up in a few days.

Worst case scenario: you’ve got an infected implant. It’ll be a pain but they can deal with it. In the meantime don’t imagine the worst. Listen to your body and contact doctors and let it play out.

Not every mole is destined to become melanoma.

This does remind me of a joke between me and the doctor (we were in Army at same time.) the deal was a soldier went to a troop medical center. After a urine specimen the doc asked “before I diagnose you, what’s your rank?” The patient said “I’m a second Lieutenant, but how does that affect the diagnosis?”

The doc informed him that if he was enlisted, he might have gonorrhea, but if he was an officer it would be called non-specific urethritis.

Guys with implants who are sexually active can still get non specific urethritis, so listen to the doc, take your meds, and try to avoid borrowing trouble by imagining worst case scenarios.

[PurpleHaze]

All your replies are much appreciated. I'll let you know how it turns out.