Are all of these things true?

[Bigred]

And now, I must say something with a very stern voice, and of utmost importance.

Penile implant surgery is difficult; it is harder to perform with great success than most other surgery.

TO AVOID ENDING UP LIKE SOME OF THE HORROR STORIES THAT YOU HAVE READ....YOU MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST CHOOSE A HIGH VOLUME SURGEON WHO KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING. MOREOVER, HE SHOULD BE WILLING TO ALLOW YOU TO CALL SOME OF HIS SATISFIED PATIENTS

You must understand the importance of choosing a great surgeon. I repeat, you must understand the importance of choosing a great surgeon. Some people say that "you make your own luck", this is true to a minor extent, but do realize that if you go with a low volume surgeon (i.e., less than 50 cases per year) you are playing "dick roulette"

Those horror stories are the reason that my signature states that you must "strive hard to find the best implant surgeon"

from,
TANGERINE

100% Agree

[TANGERINE]

Larry brings up two good points:

1) "Patient Privacy and telephone calls": ANSWER--agreed that your surgeon will never just give out your phone number for one of his patients to call you, without FIRST ASKING your permission. Implant patients often agree to talk to future implantees as a service to their fellow man, and as a testimonial to their surgeon's fine work. If your proposed surgeon is not able to come up with reference patients, then that is a red flag for you to consider a different surgeon.

2) "High Volume Surgeon -- is that good ?" ANSWER--Yes, a surgeon who does more than fifty cases a year will have better results. Realize that fifty means one implant per week.
On the flip side, I agree that surgeons who do five implants in a day are likely running a "surgery mill" and that they might be doing your operation in 15 or twenty minutes. Although the implant operation can be done that quickly, I doubt that the pump placement can be made "just right" during a 20 minute operation. So yes, you want your surgeon to take lots of time in the operating room to get all the components of the 3 piece implant positioned exactly right. Yes, you do want a meticulous perfectionist who spends time.

[radiodec]

It is not always true that implantation causes loss of length. My first implant failed at 4.5 years (that is early) but resulted in no loss of length though it took some time to get to that point. I have just had a revision (re-implant) and am not sure of the new length. It will probably be a little longer as my new implant is 2 cm longer than the old.

My surgeon is not high volume on implants but does do a fair number per year; he is also back by a large team of urologists for consultation and planning. For the revision I had no less than three urologists consulting on what was the best approach prior to my surgery, and it wasn't that unusual. My urologist (also my urologist for prostate cancer) is just a perfectionist and wants to have covered everything.

Did a great job, I am now 16 days out of surgery with only minor discomfort and swelling and this was a total replacement; no pain pills at all after surgery.

This is a great story to counter at least one of the horror stories on the other site.

David

[Anonymous3]

Did anybody notice everyone of them was over a year old. Was it 2002 or 2012 when procedures and products changed to decrease infection rates, failure rates, and longivity of the devices. Wgphen reading stuff you have to check the date for relevance.

If you eat at a restaurant a year ago or two years and post a review how does that help someone deciding 8f tgey wantbbto eat their now.

Amulance chassing Attorneys do not help either

[ThePlumber1964]

After three botched implants surgeries, I think that just two paramount characteristics, in my opinion, must be the most important criteria for deciding whom to use:

1. Experience - demonstrated via successful results, and successful follow through until fully healed.

2. Honesty - demonstrated via true, impeccable transparency, and successful follow through until the patients are fully healed or corrective actions taken to fix issues identified during the healing process.

[RelievedofED1]

As a physician myself and a guy who had struggled with ED for years I read many reports and sites on the internet about ED and how to fix it. I typically discounted the anecdotal personal experience stories that were horrible or too good to be true as extremes that the internet tends to have a lot of. I tried to read studies that were done over the last 5 years to be sure they were the most up to date and reflected current meds and options not old versions and results. Then I went to a couple of urologists (OK so more like 4) until I found one who would do more than prescribe more pills or increasing doses that for me at least didnt work without side effects. I wish the pills had worked as they are not permanent and low risk. Always go with reversible and low risk first. Getting to a urologist who would listen and prescribe or at least discuss alternatives was very difficult even though I was a fellow physician. I can only imagine how tough it would be for someone not in the medical field. I spoke the language and frankly was used to dealing with peoples genitals and sexual issues for years so I wasn't embarrassed to ask for help and push if the docs threw their hands up. I was even told I was just old at 55 so to live with it despite a beautiful and willing wife of over 25 years at the time. I finally got a urologist to prescribe Bimix injections which were very effective but because my ED cause was related to nerve damage I was very sensitive to small doses and went from no effect to erections lasting 4 hours! I also started to notice some curvature so decided time to discuss an implant. The local urologist only did a few a year and his results were not great per his own stories of infections (not a great sales person). Since that meant leaving town I started to research who seemed to be talked about positively on the web and look at some of their videos and websites. I fairly quickly felt that Dr Eid in NYC and Dr Kramer were high volume docs with a loyal following which impressed me as it is always motivating to complain online when upset and most of us are busy enough to not post if satisfied. Being up for posting about real not too good to be true results about your doc was impressive to me. I decided to go with Dr Kramer after viewing his videos and his calm demeanor and smooth surgical moves. Not rushed, not jerky or rough. Having assisted on many surgeries and working on trauma cases I have seen many rough surgeons and the havoc they wreak on sensitive tissues and then those others that even in the middle of a crisis have smooth flowing hands. Dr Kramer had those hands. Baltimore was a flight or 8 hour road trip so I emailed Dr Kramer first assuming his secretary would call or he would email but at 7 AM one morning he called me and spent a few minutes answering questions. His bedside manner was as reassuring as his hand movements on you tube. I suspect he may be too busy to answer all calls now but I have had questions I emailed related to my implant and hernia surgery and an abnormal PSA and biopsies and he always emails me back.

Please calmly research all your options and do the healthy lifestyle changes first like exercise, lose weight, stop smoking, dont drink more than 1-2 drinks a day as that can help and certainly will get you in better shape for other therapies. If that doesnt work and lab tests arent helpful which should be done at some point to ensure not a hormonal or chemical issue then see your PCP about meds or non invasive methods like vacuum pumps (I hated). Then if meds dont work or too many side effects consider injections. Really no big deal even for a needle phobic guy like me. I am very good at needles pointing away from me but hate being a patient receiving but minimal discomfort. If those dont work talk with implant surgeons and find one who has good results re infections and penile length and satisfaction scores. Dont be afraid to ask how many they do and what their complication rates are as infection rates should be 1% or less. And no matter how great they are every doc has a bad outcome occasionally and you need a doc who will talk with you before AND after surgery with compassion and patience. You dont need an insecure pompous doc blaming you for a bad outcome or discounting your problems if you are the unlucky one. The top surgeons have very few bad outcomes with no routine issues re length or infections. My feeling is that the odds of success go up with the number of procedures per year and while some great results can come from docs who do 25 a year more than that will train not only the doc but their operating room staff how to do the right thing routinely. Its like shooting baskets the more you do it the better you and the team become.

I worry that I may be considered a paid lackey for Dr Kramer if I speak too positively about him or his staff but I have had my implant for over two years and cant say enough good things about the results but also Dr Kramer as a physician colleague and as a person. Don't give too much weight too the angry hysterical voices and listen to the heart felt guys here that share their ups and downs. Assume there are many more who have great results and can move on and forget the struggle to get a cure and dont want to relive it here as they can almost take a consistent on demand erection for granted. I continue to jump on this site because I am a doc and hope that will lend some credence to my story. I am not selling anything or anyone but was asked to weigh in with my experience. You can also check some of my updates including my two year update in April.

PS Some of my patients over the years have had stress or psychiatric based ED or relationships that were broken and they hoped to fix them with a stiff erection. Please be sure you are honest with yourself and your doc and your partner and include them in your journey. An implant or a pill wont fix a relationship issue in fact may make it worse if you do it for them and they dont want it fixed. Stress can be fixed by ED pills or an implant if it is only from impotence but often depression and severe stress should be fixed first and then the ED issues re-evaluated. OK now I will shut up!

[Tybeeman]

Doc, you had some tough Urologist. Pill and injection were just a cell phone call away for me. Didnt have to beg. Also I was surprised that 3 months after my prostatectomy the surgeon and my local urologist put me on testosterone injects. I had a good team trying to throw everything at me to get my erections back. Didnt work.

Interesting you say a surgern needs to do at less 25 implants a year. That is low for Franktalk standard's.

[treetop]

I read through the entire first page.... wow... Thank God for Franktalk to balance.
It looks like 7 or 8 pages, all of it is only horror stories. Nothing good or successful.

I will think a little, but still have trust with Dr. EID.
I want to be free of any pills or injections!!!
TT

[alibaba]

In went to the web address sited and read it. Those horror stories do have some factual basis to them but I would call all of them the shrieks of a 6 year old child in a house of horrors, likely a pill salesman trying to stay busy, rather than the normal outcome. A solid doctor, participation in your own care, and good common sense avoids many of those issues. Some of the issues stated may only relate to a a very few possible persons as all our bodies react differently. True, many here have listed one to many negatives about their implant, myself included, but they are either avoidable, containable, or repairable when things are placed in the proper parameters. Do your research and do you part in the after care. I wish I had done as the doctor advised above; throw out the "everything is rosey" stories for both my prostatectomy in 2009 and my implant. For the bad outcomes, I would still read them all but weigh and ask yourself why this person was so much worse than the rest? There were some of those I read that it was quite clear in study. One in particular here on Frank talk that pops to mind was a person who basically did no after care after surgery plus went to the beach swimming which was a no no at the time and then was upset that he had an infection. Common sense. It's good for everyone. Cheers.

[David_R]

A solid doctor, participation in your own care, and good common sense avoids many of those issues

I totally agree.