Finally--hopefully

[bcant43]

Hello All! Longtime lurker--I have been reading the board for over a year now and find it informative, supportive, and hopeful!
Spent 2024 getting Xiaflex treatments for Peyronies, which did not work and curvature was actually worse. Have lost length and girth as well.
Went to see Dr Taj this time last year. He was confident he could correct the Peyronies and install an implant successfully. Unfortunately I couldn't get insurance approval.
Finally got new insurance (CareFirst) this January thru wife's job and got approved last month! I am scheduled to go back to see Dr Taj in April for another consult and then hopefully schedule surgery.

A couple of questions for the Board:
Dr Taj recommended a VED last year but I didn't get one after the insurance denial. Should I get one now and use it before my appointment with him? What is the recommended timeframe for use before surgery and recommended daily usage? Any recommendations on VED devices?

I know everyone recovers differently but is it generally 2-3 weeks before returning to work? I work as waiter in a high end restaurant, so lots of walking. Recovery time would factor into when I schedule time off.

Do most people tell family / work that you are having hernia surgery?

After an implant, do you still get a bit of an erection (shaft or glans) when you get turned on? I can still get a bit of an erection, albeit smaller and more crooked than two years ago. This is one of the things I'm having trouble mentally preparing for!

Now I need to get the wife more on board. Not that I need her approval. But we haven't had sex in 18 months and its not healthy!

The last two years have been a deep depression, particularly with the denial. I can't tell you how much better I feel once they told me of the approval. And thanks to all the reports I read on here, I look forward to feeling even better once I become Bionic!

I will keep you all updated as things progress and become more active on the board as I will, hopefully, be able to contribute.

[Kiwias]

First of all good luck.
I think the amount of time of work varies from person to person, your form of surgery and type of device installed
In general terms you will recover quicker from Infrapubic than penoscrotal surgery.
Being able to deflate is probably the most important factor as it's very difficult to walk around comfortably with a semi rigid penis.
Also some devices have softer flaccid than others. AMS lgx softest - Coloplast Titan stiffest.
In my case I had a Titan installed infrapubically.
I was given permission to cycle at 3 weeks and returned to work 2 days later. Very uncomfortable but doable, however I do a lot of sitting.
From what I can see on Franktalk some men are back to work quicker than that and some take longer. It's in the lap of the Gods.

[1sfman]

I used a VED prior to my surgery. I don't know if it really helped or not. My surgeon doubted it would help much, but he said he was fine if I wanted to try it, as long as I stopped using it a week prior to surgery. That was to avoid any possible bruising.

I can't address the back to work time as I'm retired. I had the same procedure as Kiwias, infrapubic, which seems to reduce swelling. But, I would say that by the end of the second week, I probably would have been able to go back to work.

I was not allowed to have "sex" for 6 weeks post-op. That said, I interpreted "sex" as PIV, not other types of playing around. So, my wife and I played around a bit just past 2 weeks post-op. The implant was partially inflated to 30% or so by the surgeon at the time of the surgery, and I was not allowed to inflate or deflate until my 6 weeks post-op. My dick was still too sore to masturbate, but that didn't stop the wife from doing oral. My balls and underside of the shaft were super sensitive and I got super turned on. She kept at and enjoyed the hell out of it, and oh, so did I. Anyway, there was still too much soreness to actually have an organism. My wife noticed I was producing a lot of pre-cum and then said, you've got an erection. I looked down, and sure enough, I had an erection. It wasn't like 20 years ago, but clearly there had been blood flow around the implants. So yeah, at least for me, getting turned on can produce a little bit of an erection, abet, not a full on one.

Best of luck to you in your Bionic journey.

[Mtricher]

Good luck! I had surgery with Dr. Taj 5 weeks ago and you can see my thread posted somewhere on the first or second page of this site.

I was able to walk around just fine after about 5 days. However... it was uncomfortable having my dick flipped upward since it can pinch when bending. I found myself constantly wanting to adjust my junk, which is certainly not good for a waiter. Mobility is not a problem, it's more the discomfort.

I also had Peyronies but I had mostly straightened out. My issue was just some mild hourglassing, which seems to have been fixed with the implant. I used VED and traction every day for 2 months prior to surgery. I don't know for sure if it helped but I like to think that it did. That stretching is really good. You can buy basic VEDs on Amazon for about $50. They won't have a pressure meter but just use your judgment. It shouldn't hurt - maybe uncomfortable, but not painful.

I didn't tell anyone except my partner about my surgery, but a hernia is the go-to excuse. Nobody wants to ask questions about that!

I find that my penis still engorges when I'm excited, even when I'm not pumped up. I could get erections before surgery but just couldn't keep them. I've read that over time, this engorgement can diminish as the tissues settle and cylinders take over. If you were able to engorge your glans before surgery, it should still work after. The thing is, when I'm sexually excited it feels like I'm getting a natural erection. If I'm only 50% inflated, I do get blood filling out my penis. Being fully pumped, however, makes it harder for the blood to rush in though.

I jerked off the day after surgery - no joke. I was gentle but it worked. Have had no problems with that and did it a lot. Dr Taj usually clears you for PIV sex after three weeks. You can do it but it might hurt some.