Penis Version 2.0 - Ongoing Journal

[stephen54]

Thanks for the additional information, stephen54. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to help out a newbie. I'm more of an average length and girth kind of guy but was blessed with a oversized, battering ram (haha) glans head! (Mother nature can be so fickle!) So, I'm guessing that an AMS device is more likely in my future. However, I've read some comments recently from guys that reported a shrinking and softness in their glans post-op. That concerns me since it's my most appealing asset. Also, I've had numerous penile enhancement surgeries and infections so that's also a major concern. Any idea what Dr. Levine's infection rate is? Thanks again stephen54 and I hope to hear from other Dr. Levine patients as well.

No problem at all.

Infection rate for him is reported as less than 1%. I believe it. He's got a specific pre-op regimen he requires you to do repeatedly for the several days leading up to surgery and they definitely remind you and follow up to make sure you're doing it. He requires you to arrive to the surgery center sufficiently early in order to run IV antibiotics into your system as a prophylaxis (my surgery was 8a, they required me to arrive no later than 530a). Oral antibiotics for the week subsequent to discharge. Post-op protocol is very conservative with showering / bathing / sexual activity.

On the glans considerations...mine was quite large before. It's definitely smaller now. Quite a bit smaller. But I went into this with eyes wide open as to that being my likely new reality. As many others here have reported, overall size (shaft length, girth) tends to be regained, at least somewhat, over time and with assertive cycling. I'm hearing less optimism about the glans sizing returning. I know there are guys with strategies to enhance the glans post-implant, either through oral PDE5's or other creative angles of better living through chemistry. Not sure what I think about this yet. My glans is kind of a foreigner to me these days...looks and feels different...but for me at least the rest of the math remains the same no-brainer as before surgery (I wanted reliable nearly real-time rock hard efficacy and I wanted the psychological dumping ground of ED anxiety gone). Big affirmatives on both those for me here at week 9. She's having a hell of a fun time with this thing, kid in a candy store, she is...so it's all a massive thumbs up at this juncture...

[Skier123]

Barrylandon,

I had an IPP placed by Dr. Levine and his current fellow on Dec 23rd last year. So I am about 4 weeks out from surgery, and so far I have nothing but good things to say. Some bullet points:

• I had some strong pain after surgery that lasted a day or two. This was easily controlled with norco and by day 3 I was down to strictly ibuprofen.
• I had minimal to no bruising (seriously). I hint of yellow bruise on my scrotem that disappeared after a couple days.
• I had minimal swelling ... so little I never bothered to ice things down. By the end of week 1 things looked pretty normal down there - except for the pump which was easy to find.
• I attribute all of the above to Dr. Levine's surgical skill.
• Although he is high volume, he is not an assembly line surgeon. He does not try to ram 6 implants through one OR in a single day. I think I was his only surgery on my day.
• He is a well-rounded urologist who specializes in men's sexual health issues. This means he will make sure you have everything else in order down there before he puts in an implant.
• He is a professor of urology at Rush university and therefore he keeps current in his field as he must in order to teach effectively. You don’t get to that kind of position very easily, and he seems extremely knowledgable to me.
• He uses both manufacturers’ devices, choosing (actually recommending) the product he thinks will work best for you.
• He definitely takes his time determining the best plan for you individually - for example he initially thought he might use an AMS CX due to my peyronies, but prior to my actual surgery he did another detailed exam and recommended a titan as the best fit for my anatomy and situation.
• I would describe his style as academic, professorial, and focused on problem solving. He does seem very busy when I have seen him, and doesn’t stick around the exam room just to make small talk – but he has always taken the necessary time with me and answered all of my questions – especially before surgery.
• I am a challenging patient due to some underlying medical issues. I was literally turned down by another urologist and sent to see him. Although we have had a couple of issues come up during my treatment … he literally just rolls up his sleeves and starts working harder to overcome the problems. My kind of guy.
• So if you are looking for a new Facebook friend he may not be your best choice … but my experience with him as a doctor and implant surgeon has been excellent. He should definitely be on your short list.

I'd also like to say that medicine is not an exact science, I am not a doctor, and your results may vary. He is a doctor not a god, but as long as your expectations are realistic I believe he can be a great help to you.

[stephen54]

Barrylandon,

I had an IPP placed by Dr. Levine and his current fellow on Dec 23rd last year. So I am about 4 weeks out from surgery, and so far I have nothing but good things to say. Some bullet points:

• I had some strong pain after surgery that lasted a day or two. This was easily controlled with norco and by day 3 I was down to strictly ibuprofen.
• I had minimal to no bruising (seriously). I hint of yellow bruise on my scrotem that disappeared after a couple days.
• I had minimal swelling ... so little I never bothered to ice things down. By the end of week 1 things looked pretty normal down there - except for the pump which was easy to find.
• I attribute all of the above to Dr. Levine's surgical skill.
• Although he is high volume, he is not an assembly line surgeon. He does not try to ram 6 implants through one OR in a single day. I think I was his only surgery on my day.
• He is a well-rounded urologist who specializes in men's sexual health issues. This means he will make sure you have everything else in order down there before he puts in an implant.
• He is a professor of urology at Rush university and therefore he keeps current in his field as he must in order to teach effectively. You don’t get to that kind of position very easily, and he seems extremely knowledgable to me.
• He uses both manufacturers’ devices, choosing (actually recommending) the product he thinks will work best for you.
• He definitely takes his time determining the best plan for you individually - for example he initially thought he might use an AMS CX due to my peyronies, but prior to my actual surgery he did another detailed exam and recommended a titan as the best fit for my anatomy and situation.
• I would describe his style as academic, professorial, and focused on problem solving. He does seem very busy when I have seen him, and doesn’t stick around the exam room just to make small talk – but he has always taken the necessary time with me and answered all of my questions – especially before surgery.
• I am a challenging patient due to some underlying medical issues. I was literally turned down by another urologist and sent to see him. Although we have had a couple of issues come up during my treatment … he literally just rolls up his sleeves and starts working harder to overcome the problems. My kind of guy.
• So if you are looking for a new Facebook friend he may not be your best choice … but my experience with him as a doctor and implant surgeon has been excellent. He should definitely be on your short list.

I'd also like to say that medicine is not an exact science, I am not a doctor, and your results may vary. He is a doctor not a god, but as long as your expectations are realistic I believe he can be a great help to you.

Very well said, Skier123...all you shared there resonates with my experiences with him and his practice. And you're right, it's all about the expectations one has going in.

[barrylandon]

First of all, I want to thank all of you guys on this forum for sharing your ED and implant experiences. After trolling for a few weeks on this forum, I've come away with the strong impression that the MOST important consideration for this particular surgery is selecting the "top" surgeon and letting him guide me as to which product is best for me, etc.
I live near Los Angeles (a mecca for cosmetic surgery) so I'm surprised that I haven't found any high volume implanters in my area. The only one around LA on my short list is Dr. Jesse Mills at UCLA but he only does about 50 implants per year and strictly with AMS. If I have to travel, it'll be Dr. Eid in New York (mostly Coloplast implants) or Dr. Levine in Chicago (my hometown). I'm pleased to know that Dr. Levine only considers which brand is best for the patient and he's not beholden to any manufacturer. I'm aware of Dr. Prieto in Florida but not inclined to go there. Any further sharing of information to help me select the best surgeon for myself will be very appreciated.

[stephen54]

Just checking in...am at 9.5 weeks post-implant (11/18).

Got behind on cycling (was to begin at 4 week post-op mark - due to my problems with the deflate function, but am getting on schedule now). When first began cycling about 3.5 weeks ago it was fairly uncomfortable at the 10-15 minute mark when inflated 100%. No specific focal area of discomfort, just generally through the shaft and a tiny bit at the glans. But I just kept forcing myself to add time to the cycle every few days. I was at 15 minutes, then after a few days pressed to 25, then a few more days I got to 45. Stuck there for a bit. But as soon as I cycled for one full hour, it seems like there was kind of a breakthrough there. Some mild discomfort at the 40/45 minute mark but it passes fairly quickly. I was previously setting a timer on my phone to go off at intervals. Now, after an hour, I snooze the alarm and can get easily distracted and all of a sudden I'm at 75 or 80 minutes. Seems positive.

Deflation works but, as noted in my other snarky and pissed-off post directed at Coloplast, this Titan Touch just absolutely does NOT deflate the way Coloplast promises. It just doesn't. Still working on getting a live human being at Coloplast to talk to me. Entering week 3 of that mind-numbing, pride-swallowing siege.

Not obsessing over size at all. Way the hell too early and as stated earlier I do want my former size back if at all possible but, in the big picture, this insta-hardon reliability thing is a mind boggling great tradeoff if I never get back a millimeter of length/girth.

So...yeah - sex is pretty damn fun these days.

Have made love about 12 or 13 times I guess over the last 3 weeks. Not counting anymore so that's good, and a step in the right direction. Scratch that - have made love 9 or 10 times and have fucked like rabid wolverines 3 times. I draw that distinction for good reason and I trust everyone understands what I'm suggesting. The former leaves me with very little discomfort. The latter...more discomfort, but nothing I cannot handle. The mild tenderness through the shaft and around the glans tends to clear out pretty quickly.

Honestly, in terms of discomfort, far and away the more focal discomfort appears above my penis and to my left, above where I can discern a tube below the surface just outboard of my shaft. I'm talking about the upper pubic bone region. The culprit is the very deep, hard, methodical grinding against her clit. That discomfort hangs on for a day. But a day of recovery well-earned and very worthwhile. Have had a few sessions that are 15-20 minutes, some that are probably 30-40, and so far one rather delightful evening which went closer to 90 mins. Paid for that one with a recovery day, but, again, I'll pay that price forever. And happily.

We're able to get into positions that we've avoided during the time Trimix was failing over the last 1-2 years. It's sort of crazy. We couldn't do these things...now? Wham. Easy. It really does mess with my mind at times that I can just effectively go infinitely. Every sex act prior was a guessing game which lay so heavily on my mind. How hard? How long will I last? What position will we get into that will kill my hardon? The rush to have sex before hardness was lost. Now we just do whatever. Wherever. Spontaneity and alternative locations are back in the repertoire. We like pushing things well outside the bedroom, so with a few pumps that's all returned to us now. It's so ridiculously fun to have spontaneity back. The whole world of risky public/near-public/at-risk-of-getting-caught-sex...took that for a test drive, too. That was a natural thing for us and important and fun and was really lost to us for a long ass time. Boom. Right back. Oops, sorry Macy's

My mind is honestly having a bit of a slow time catching up with my robo-dick. It's very emotional. Some deep shit here. Honestly just awesome.

Feeling very blessed.

Dr. Levine's prediction to me was dead ass accurate - he said, I think you're going to wish you did this sooner. Was he ever correct...

[erik821]

That's awesome. I can't wait.

[stephen54]

Just over 10 weeks post-op now. My main observation is that my Titan definitely causes some discomfort with its increased use. Shouldn't be particularly surprised, right? We are having sex 3-4 times per week now, so almost every other day on average, and some of those sessions are genuine quickies, some are much longer, spread across an evening (start, stop, start, stop, etc). I do have some soreness...I'd call it fairly mild, but it's certainly there...during cycling, after cycling, and the same during penetrative sex. Maybe on a scale of 0-10 this tenderness or soreness is a 2-3. After longer sex, it's a 4-5 but as I noted prior, it mellows down to a 1-2 later that day and it's minimal to non-existent on days in between sex. During sex? I'm mostly entirely unaware of any tenderness. For obvious reasons.

The "clinical" nature of things has mostly passed; getting turned on, starting foreplay...couple of quick pumps and things are good. Much more natural flow to things than even a month ago.

I'm aware of the cylinders sometimes more than others. Every once in a while I'll feel a cylinder (particularly in the deeper, proximal areas...like deep up in my perineal area) kind of crinkle and sort of feels like a fluid bubbled or bulged for a second. No discomfort. Just the occasional reminder that I have a prosthesis in my body I guess. Otherwise I mostly go through my day not particularly aware and not thinking that this thing is inside me.

Overall this thing is a damn miracle. The flow to our lovemaking and the easy predictability of things is entirely indescribable. Obviously we're pretty big ass fans at the moment.

[oldbeek]

First of all, I want to thank all of you guys on this forum for sharing your ED and implant experiences. After trolling for a few weeks on this forum, I've come away with the strong impression that the MOST important consideration for this particular surgery is selecting the "top" surgeon and letting him guide me as to which product is best for me, etc.
I live near Los Angeles (a mecca for cosmetic surgery) so I'm surprised that I haven't found any high volume implanters in my area. The only one around LA on my short list is Dr. Jesse Mills at UCLA but he only does about 50 implants per year and strictly with AMS. If I have to travel, it'll be Dr. Eid in New York (mostly Coloplast implants) or Dr. Levine in Chicago (my hometown). I'm pleased to know that Dr. Levine only considers which brand is best for the patient and he's not beholden to any manufacturer. I'm aware of Dr. Prieto in Florida but not inclined to go there. Any further sharing of information to help me select the best surgeon for myself will be very appreciated.

Dr Loh-Doyle at USC Keck is high volume. He worked with Dr Boyd that retired last year. Dr Boyd was the master in LA. Started doing them 30 years ago. Dr Boyd is still on faculty and does still come in and do some to keep his hand in. Loh-Doyle is said to do over 150 a year.

[dennis888]

Not a patient of Dr. Levine, but Dr Clavell, but I have had many revisions and both AMS and COLOPLAST now.
If you are hoping you get your size more matching your GLANS, You may want to consider COLOPLAST,
and maybe DR CLAVELL. My AMS failed in an amazingly short time, with an aneurysm, that made of mess of things that Dr Clavell had to spend significant cleanup doing. The COLOPLAST is also much more girth, 21 mm each.
BTW, I was average size like you, about average, 6 inches, but after surgery I am now 7.25 inches. I had four other Doctors do revisions, and I never gained more than a mm or two. So I give all the credit to Dr. Clavell, but I know he would modestly deny doing anything special. I was in Minnesota and he is in Houston, and he took time to contact me and respond to questions many times well before I agreed to go to him. He wanted to make sure he could deliver on my expectations. Up to you who you go with, but for my money I would go with Dr Clavell

[stephen54]

So I'm 12 weeks post-implant. Went in to see Dr Levine today for no particular reason other than the 90 days post-surgery are essentially free visits because they're considered post-op follow ups. So I went in with a handful of questions:

- Titan Touch deflate valve, as previously discussed here and in another thread...whats up that it doesn't operate as Coloplast stipulates it will
- Small area just adjacent to left base of my shaft...a bit tender here and there. Looking for reality check on what do I feel there and is that ok.
- Reality check on some gurgling sensations I occasionally feel deep in my perineum when I pump and when I am thrusting, particularly vigorously, during sex
- And really, just a check up for the hell of it...interested in what Levine is seeing and his thoughts on how I'm tracking

So the deflate valve operation...he really believe this valve tends to break in after some indeterminate period of time, and he says he sees in patients who observe the same I am observing (that the buttons need to be continually pressed while squeezing shaft to deflate) that this can, over time, frequently loosen up and work as Coloplast says it is supposed to. I don't know. We'll see. I've figured out my way to do things. Not the end of the world if the way it works today never changes. The things this dick does now entirely massively outweigh the quirk of this deflate valve. We'll see.

Little area at left edge of base of shaft...it's a tube buried in there. The issue is seemingly related to how my wife and I are using my new dick. Basically, she's a penetration girl but loves very, very, very hard grinding pubic bone/clitoral contact. Like...the kind of grinding that would leave me (prior to implantation) with a sore ass pubic bone for 2-3 days anyway. So when we are close and grinding away for an extended period of time, this little area where the tube has a little prominence nearer the surface...it's a bit sore there. We talked about just being mindful that, in Levine's experiences, the tubes are the most vulnerable part of an implant to fail, due to their torsion, pressure put on them over time, etc. So I need to think about this a little bit. That pubic bone to clit grind is her groove. But I'm not super interested in blowing out a tube. Stay tuned, I guess, time will tell.

Gurgling sensation common and normal. I have the longest Titan, 28cm, and approximately 11 cm (4.3 in) are buried, proximally, back to my pubic bone. The other 17 cm (6.7 in) are distal, out doing their good work in my shaft. Levine says the cylinders tunneled proximally just crinkle and with the fluid transfer, that's what I'm feeling. It happens when they're being filled, during inflation, and it happens when I am thrusting. Not constantly, just here and there. No discomfort. Just a little lurch of a bubbling gurgle feel. Then it's gone. Apparently very normal even when 90-100% inflated, due to the constantly shifting load and changes in direction with thrusting.

Overall, perfect bill of health today, so I'm happy. We talked about my loss of length (almost an inch of length and almost full inch of girth). Was told to cycle as I see fit. No set protocol from this point forward. Levine is not a massive believer that aggressive cycling after the 3-4 month pays particularly huge dividends. I discussed with him some of the experiences I read here on FT where a good # of guys describe how they continue to recover some sizing over the first year to year and a half. He doesn't doubt it's possible, he just doesn't find it to be dramatic in most guys over time. We'll see. I trust the man implicity. He did talk to me about the starting point I was coming from, and he said basically, listen, only 9% of the population has an erect penis exceeding 7 inches. You were starting at a really good size. Any loss of length is noticeable. Etc.

Again...I don't really care at the moment. The things this Titan does...spontaneity...anxiety completely gone...total sex swagger now...she can do whatever positions she wants...the whole experience makes us both happy as hell. It's mostly miraculous. I'd love the extra inch back but if it never materializes, so what...we have an on-demand robo dick that does everything we want so far. All good. Hope something here helps the other guys.