5 weeks out, I have questions.

[hillwilly]

I was implanted on March 11, using peno-scrotal incision. I had my first post-op follow-up with my surgeon at 2 weeks. He seemed very pleased with how things were looking, which was reassuring to me, because at 2 weeks, I was still very uncomfortable with that huge scrotum! Just to make sure everything was working right, he did a quick inflation (just a small one) and he tapped with his finger on the two sides of the glans (Ouch!), which demonstrated to him that all was well. Then he deflated. Oh my God, that hurt really bad! He then told me to just focus on my recovery and only think about cycling after most of the swelling had gone down. As of now, I have no other appointments until I see his NP July 27. That kind of surprised me, that it would be that far out.

Anyway, here I am at 5 weeks. I am pain free, and I think that most of the swelling has gone, although it's still difficult for me to positively identify the deflation button. My penis is flaccid, so I actually tried to inflate a bit. I think I have fairly strong hands, but I can't seem to get that inflation bulb to collapse at all. It seems almost like the valve is stuck in the wrong position or something. Can any of you guys advise me on this? Do I need to wait another week or two?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Redsf4040]

I am 14 months post implant. You should ask your doctor about cycling but mine said to start after 6 weeks. I neve experienced any pain. Also, no real swelling. Maybe your situation is different. It was hard the first few times I cycled because I was afraid to push too hard on the bulb. Once I got over the fear of breaking it I was fine. It became easy. If you are really pushing the bulb hard and it is not working you should talk to your doctor. I would be concerned about the device being defective. Cycling should be an easy process.

[Time2Change]

Even though I don't have the same implant as you, I believe they're similar.

The pump is very hard and difficult to squeeze at first.

Try holding it steady with one hand while you squeeze with the other.

[1sfman]

I'm 12 weeks out and I cycle twice daily as my surgeon recommended starting at 6 weeks. You didn't specify which pump you have, the MS or Tenacio? I have the MS pump and it was really tough to squeeze it at first. But just this past two or three weeks it has become much easier to squeeze.

Both my surgeon and the Boston Scientific tech at my 6 week follow-up told me to hold the pump by the tubes at the top while squeezing the pump bulb and I've had no problems doing that. They said to always try and get a full squeeze on the first pump.

It took a couple of weeks for the bulb to soften up enough for me to get that first full squeeze, but it's a piece of cake now. The following squeezes are easy until I get to number 8. At that point, the bulb gets pretty hard and I can only get partial squeezes up to about 10. I have the CX cylinders, so there's not much expansion like there would be if I had the LGX cylinders.

[Old Guy]

I still use both hands to inflate my Titan. The first two times I inflated I could not find the deflate button, had to go back to doc to get deflated. The bulb does get easier to squeeze, but it is still tough. At 6 weeks is when things seemed to turn around for me, swelling went down and pain subsided.