Clavellians. Did you wait the full 6 weeks?

[LargoJoe]

It's been 3 and half weeks, and things seem to be on track, but...
According to the surgical report Dr Clavell left me 40% pumped up, which is a full on boner. It's already harder than any sort of erection I could manage immediately prior to my surgery. The wife remarked "it hasn't stood up like that in a long time". If this is 40%, then 100% is going to be a railroad spike!
Most of the swelling is gone and there really has never been any severe pain (my ACL surgery was 100 times worse), but having a hard on for weeks on end is, shall we say, bothersome.

I'd like to hear from fellow Clavell patients about your experience, and how long until you started cycling, and what it felt like when you did.

[SammyVegas]

Wait. Absolutely wait. Your body is still healing and tissue is forming a capsule around your implant. Plus- it’s likely that the sutures aren’t fully healed. Be glad you aren’t in pain- I was for quite a while and even got a bit of an infection. But I did NOT use it or cycle until Dr. Clavell gave me the go ahead. The wait is worth it- if you don’t wait you highly risk fucking it up.

As for how it felt- it was awkward and strange but I got used to it really quick. Having my penis back and almost at exactly what I was before was and is amazing. I’m actually a hair bigger now than I was. All my anxiety is gone- I can go and go and go and my wife is happy.

Welcome to your new life, you will be very very happy!

[Jage64]

It's been 3 years, but I think Dr. Clavell released me to cycle and to use it for....whatever... at about 5 weeks.

TBH, I hadn't really looked at the surgical notes and didn't realize that he had to cut into my corpora just under the glans to clear a blockage he couldn't dilate his way through when installing one cylinder. When I contacted him around 4 weeks and sent a picture of my healing and politely begged to start playing with my new toy, that's when he described to me what he had to do on the fly and wanted me to wait another week before abusing it. Knowing that, I happily did and everything has been perfect since. I got the sense that because I was healing so quickly and felt so good, that if not for the added incision actually on the shaft (not merely on my scrotum), he would have let me go at 4 weeks.

TBH, I think that the 6 weeks is a little bit of expectation management. If everything goes well I think he'll release you to cycle and deploy sooner, but he's a great doc for a reason, defer to him.

One more thing, once I was released to cycle I could squeeze my pump seemingly forever and never get the "marble" everybody talked about. I remember counting 70 pumps once before I gave up. I had a nice boner, but the pump never stopped. I searched the internet looking for a design of the pump to see if there was some sort of bypass valve I didn't know about, and couldn't find anything. I contacted Dr. Clavell and he said there was no bypass valve, and said I should just keep cycling. I was a little worried about it, as I could NEVER get the marble..

Then one night a week or so later, sitting in our 104 degree hot tub, I pumped again and finally hit the end at 20 pumps. Ever since then, 20 is the max I can pump before the marble. My theory is that the very hot water softened something in the pump and it finally seated. 3 years later, still 20, still going strong.

[indeed]

I started cycling after like 6 days.

Other surgeons, like Eid, say it's important to leave it deflated most of the time early on so the surgical capsule around the reservoir doesn't grow to small and compresses it --> autoinflation. Calvell thinks it doesn't matter. Who knows.

But as some surgeons have you cycle very early on, i didn't see a problem with doing so. I was annoyed with the constant boner and wanted to deflate it. I just made sure i'm not pulling on the incision in any way when inflating / deflating.

If i remember correctly, Clavell told me that his 6 week wait for cycling is just for patient comfort.

But def talk to him and ask his opinion

[edjohn]

I actually had to wait longer because the turkey neck part of the incision wouldn’t close, but I didn’t shrink or anything. The capsule takes a ling time and it’s definitely more stretchable than the tunica or even the implant. We know from the Titan studies at least that gains keep occurring even in the second year of cycling. Letting the incisions and internal suturing solidify reduces risks and lets us cycle confidently when we do get going.

[sambalamba]

It's been 3 years, but I think Dr. Clavell released me to cycle and to use it for....whatever... at about 5 weeks.

TBH, I hadn't really looked at the surgical notes and didn't realize that he had to cut into my corpora just under the glans to clear a blockage he couldn't dilate his way through when installing one cylinder. When I contacted him around 4 weeks and sent a picture of my healing and politely begged to start playing with my new toy, that's when he described to me what he had to do on the fly and wanted me to wait another week before abusing it. Knowing that, I happily did and everything has been perfect since. I got the sense that because I was healing so quickly and felt so good, that if not for the added incision actually on the shaft (not merely on my scrotum), he would have let me go at 4 weeks.

TBH, I think that the 6 weeks is a little bit of expectation management. If everything goes well I think he'll release you to cycle and deploy sooner, but he's a great doc for a reason, defer to him.

One more thing, once I was released to cycle I could squeeze my pump seemingly forever and never get the "marble" everybody talked about. I remember counting 70 pumps once before I gave up. I had a nice boner, but the pump never stopped. I searched the internet looking for a design of the pump to see if there was some sort of bypass valve I didn't know about, and couldn't find anything. I contacted Dr. Clavell and he said there was no bypass valve, and said I should just keep cycling. I was a little worried about it, as I could NEVER get the marble..

Then one night a week or so later, sitting in our 104 degree hot tub, I pumped again and finally hit the end at 20 pumps. Ever since then, 20 is the max I can pump before the marble. My theory is that the very hot water softened something in the pump and it finally seated. 3 years later, still 20, still going strong.

Agreed on expectation management. Dr. Clavell actually discussed this on an episode of the BackTable Urology podcast. He sets the six-week mark so patients are mentally prepared for the wait. He specifically mentioned a few downsides to trying to cycle too early: 1) There is usually significant pain and discomfort (capsule doesn't form that early on and he doesn't see a need for cycling that early), and 2) The mental anguish caused if a patient expects to cycle but physically can't yet. However, he did tell me that if healing is coming along well, you can set up an appointment earlier and he will assess if you are ready to start.

I also find your comment about the 70 pumps quite interesting. I believe I have seen other patients mention this regarding the AMS pump. When you were pumping that many times, were you able to achieve and maintain max rigidity without getting the "marble"? Or could you only achieve max rigidity after the pump finally "seated" in the hot tub? I wonder how frequently this happens with the AMS units.

This is definitely something that worries me about the AMS device. For my build and slim fit fashion it seems to me that CX will be the better option even though I think just from a purely technical standpoint Titan is a superior device (except of course the tubing breakage).

[Kodixx]

sambalamba, FWIW, I have a CX with AMS's new Tenacio pump. The pump works great and is easy to pump up quickly.

- Chuck

I also find your comment about the 70 pumps quite interesting. I believe I have seen other patients mention this regarding the AMS pump. When you were pumping that many times, were you able to achieve and maintain max rigidity without getting the "marble"? Or could you only achieve max rigidity after the pump finally "seated" in the hot tub? I wonder how frequently this happens with the AMS units.
This is definitely something that worries me about the AMS device. For my build and slim fit fashion it seems to me that CX will be the better option even though I think just from a purely technical standpoint Titan is a superior device (except of course the tubing breakage).

[sambalamba]

sambalamba, FWIW, I have a CX with AMS's new Tenacio pump. The pump works great and is easy to pump up quickly.

- Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I'm glad you were not part of the recall of the Tenacio.

[Kodixx]

sambalamba, actually, mine was on the recall list. But only a small number of pumps on that very small list were affected. Fortunately mine wasn't affected. It was a one-time issue during early production that was quickly addressed.

- Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I'm glad you were not part of the recall of the Tenacio.

[Hrc714]

I a Kramerite/Mendezian but still same instructions. When Dr Kramer gave me strict instructions not to inflate or deflate until after my 6 week checkup. At the appointment he asked if I tried it yet. I told him no as those were your instructions. He laughed and said I might be the first one to listen.