FrankTalk.org

Hi,

I’m new here. About three years post-RP. No erections since then. Well, I get about 25-40% there, I guess, but not hard enough to do much with. No luck with pills, muse, or injections. I can get it large with a pump, but only sort of hard, and it loses that hardness pretty quickly as soon as I try to do anything with it, even with a tight construction ring on it. With no ring, it loses it immediately.

Just started digging through the forum in my quest to gain info about implants as a step towards deciding if I want to go that route. It’s a daunting process, as there is more here than one could read in a lifetime, it seems. At first blush, it looks like this is anything but a straightforward decision, as there seem to be plenty of stories of long recovery times, complications, and dissatisfaction with results. I’m sure there are plenty of positive stories as well, but I imagine people are more likely to want to talk about the problems. Also, it seems there are important and irreversible choices to make regarding doctors and implant types.

I’m tempted to post a list of my questions/concerns. I know that all of them must have been asked and answered in here somewhere, probably several times, but I’m not sure how to efficiently find what I’m looking for. Thoughts?

I kept seeing Dr. Eid’s name come up, and I thought “Hmm...maybe it makes sense to go to a recognized leader in the field for this, even if I have to travel; ask him all my questions, make a decision, and let him carry out the procedure”. Then I realized that while I could handle the cost of travel, my insurance won’t cover me outside my home state, which is Colorado (though I haven’t checked to see if insurance will cover this at all anyway). Might still be worth doing the phone consult with Dr. Eid in any case.
Thoughts on this?

Does anyone have a recommendation of an excellent doctor for this in Colorado?

My first implant was paid by Humana and the concept was "making me whole again after RP", similar to breast reconstruction surgery for women. This is a wonderful board but you will tend to see more people with problems here. As our problems are resolved, we tend to spend less time here. While I have had "my share" of problems, implant(s) have solved my biggest problem: couldn't fuck / now I can fuck!

DOCTOR SHOP VERY CAREFULLY!!!! My first surgeon (a month before I discovered this forum) botched the job. My subsequent implants by a "top, high volume" surgeon went very well with minimal pain and quick recoveries.

If you really want it....go get it! and good luck!!!

Youngan,

Welcome to FT. You’ve found an incredible resource.

Yes, just about any question you could ask has been asked. You could search through and read for months and learn a lot. I think a more efficient route is to just ask away. Who cares if someone else has already asked. From my experience, the guys here are more than happy to help by sharing information, experiences and opinions no matter how many people may have asked things before.

Post your questions. You’ll get invaluable input. Input that the surgeons can’t provide.

Feel free to private message me if you’d ever like to chat by phone, and we can set something up.

Three years is a long time to wait. If nothing else is working, then what do you have to lose? I know it’s a scary proposition, but the discomfort goes away and fucking returns to stay.

Wish you the best.

Bob

Youngman,
I'm sure most of your questions a similar to ours. I assume that if it's been three years since a firm erection that you have scarring in your penis and have shrunk in size by inches. Your insurance should cover most of an ultrasound for venous leakage and penile scarring. If you have lost length and want at least some of it back keep using your VED DAILY!
So far I have seen 7 different UROS and called the offices of both Eid and Kramer. Eid charges 285.00 for a phone consult not covered by insurance. He will then help you get the tests you need before flying to NY. He requires you to stay in NY for 6 days before leaving. I could not afford all of that. Kramer of Baltimore was my choice but an AMS rep talked me into going local. Just seemed logical. Big mistake. Kramers office will send you listings for hotel and transportation to and from hospital. You will need certain tests done and your PCP's approval for surgery. I assume like Eid all of that will be handled locally before you fly out.
My biggest piece of advice, didn't work for me very well but
Tell your doc that preserving size is very important to you and get an honest estimate of what to expect. If your doc is a horses ass and tells you be happy with a hard inch, say goodby and try again. Use ercure.org to find implanters near you. Right now I am driving 300 miles for my appts but this is your only penis, don't be cheap and screw it up. Good luck!

Youngan wrote:Hi,

I’m new here. About three years post-RP. No erections since then. Well, I get about 25-40% there, I guess, but not hard enough to do much with. No luck with pills, muse, or injections. I can get it large with a pump, but only sort of hard, and it loses that hardness pretty quickly as soon as I try to do anything with it, even with a tight construction ring on it. With no ring, it loses it immediately.

Just started digging through the forum in my quest to gain info about implants as a step towards deciding if I want to go that route. It’s a daunting process, as there is more here than one could read in a lifetime, it seems. At first blush, it looks like this is anything but a straightforward decision, as there seem to be plenty of stories of long recovery times, complications, and dissatisfaction with results. I’m sure there are plenty of positive stories as well, but I imagine people are more likely to want to talk about the problems. Also, it seems there are important and irreversible choices to make regarding doctors and implant types.

I’m tempted to post a list of my questions/concerns. I know that all of them must have been asked and answered in here somewhere, probably several times, but I’m not sure how to efficiently find what I’m looking for. Thoughts?

I kept seeing Dr. Eid’s name come up, and I thought “Hmm...maybe it makes sense to go to a recognized leader in the field for this, even if I have to travel; ask him all my questions, make a decision, and let him carry out the procedure”. Then I realized that while I could handle the cost of travel, my insurance won’t cover me outside my home state, which is Colorado (though I haven’t checked to see if insurance will cover this at all anyway). Might still be worth doing the phone consult with Dr. Eid in any case.
Thoughts on this?

Does anyone have a recommendation of an excellent doctor for this in Colorado?

Welcome to FrankTalk,

My surgeon listened to me and my reasoning about flying to Baltimore (Dr Kramer) or New York (Dr. Eit) because the surgeons in my area (Alaska) do not have the depth of experience that gave me confidence. His reply was simple and true. "You will be overflying a lot of good surgeons." The trick is finding one. I talked to and listened to a lot of people in the medical field and finally a travel clerk told me about a urology surgeon recently stationed at Elmendorf AFB (I am a disabled veteran, so had access to him through the V.A.). I met Dr. Shaw and immediately had confidence in him. Dr. Eid wrote to me once, "Find a surgeon in love with his craft." Dr. Shaw confided in me that if he were in private practice he would specialize in this surgery. The travel clerk had already told me that he has TAUGHT the procedure. So, I became his patient.

I had already seen two local surgeons, asked about their level of experience, contacted AMS and Coloplast customer service contacts and conversed by email to both Dr. Eid and Dr. Kramer and viewed countless videos of these surgeries on the internet as well as Youtube interviews with patients and youtube archives of televised interviews with Urologists and Urological surgeons. I did my homework...extensively. My primary care physician said I knew more about E.D. and implants than he did (and I think this went a long way to convincing him to get the V.A. to authorize the operation) and my Surgeon said I was the most well-informed patient he ever had. (That he seemed appreciative of my depth of knowledge weighed in on my decision to let him operate on me...a lot of surgeons would prefer their patients not ask probing questions.)

As far as the daunting task of reviewing all the past posts on FrankTalk, I spent a couple of days of just scrolling through a couple years of the posting history. It did not take that long, really, just a bit of devotion. A couple hours at a time (how long do you spend going to a movie theater?) and the knowledge was WELL worth it. It saved a lot of time of me asking questions and waiting for answers. As the Nike commercial says, "Just do it!" (This is in contrast to Radioradio's advice, I know, but each of us has their own style of learning.)

Good luck

Lost sheep,
It is really uplifting to know that someone did it right and got lucky. I spent 4 years on and off researching implants and finally found the right team that had all the right answers,,,,,then found out after surgery it was all smoke and mirrors. I have to guess that you probably had the right body and I probably did not or at least not the right one for my team's expertise or lack of it.
Now I know that 300 miles away there was a surgeon who would have given me an excellent outcome, well maybe. During the exam I was standing there in my altogether being examined and right behind the doctor was a 20 something year old female intern. We have been warned and also the paperwork I filled out says that you might not have the doctor you chose do your surgery. So I may have gotten an egg anyway. And if I have this guy do anything I might end up with a worse disaster from an intern. Right now I'm using his experience to help sort things out but I may well go to uro #6 with the information to do the actual surgeries. At least my pump move. We'll see.