Needing assistance: How to find an implant surgeon

[Livingstonguy]

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on my situation. When it was confirmed that I had PC, the Dr at Vanderbilt that was head of the robotics dept did my surgery. I have no complaints about my surgery. At my 6 month follow-up checkup I discover that he has went on sabbatical to do research and my care was handed over to a nurse practitioner. I have no problem with her either. Here's my issue........before my M.D. left we had discussed the possibility of an implant and he would refer me if/when I was ready to proceed. Now that I'm ready, I have no idea who he was going to refer me to. His office is clueless and the Nurse Practitioner is too. So now, how do I find an M.D to discuss proceeding with an implant?

Also, I called my insurance company to see if it would be covered. I wanted a simple yes or no answer. The Insurance company called me back 4 times with more questions and she never did give me an answer. Many of the questions were for the M.D. to answer, but again, he's gone with no real return date. How do I proceed??

Thank in advance! (BTW......I'm 1 year post RP)

[Gt1956]

I normally suggest to look in the general area nearest to where you live. If a suitable one isn't found then expand your radius.
Another way is to use FT's search function & search with the name of the largest city near you. Or even try your states name. Same process as my first suggestion. Progressively use farther away cities. You'll turn up a few that you can then research.
Try creating a signature line with your locality. Then make a new post asking for references in your general area.
Once you get the hang of searching, it gets easier. Good luck.

[Lost Sheep]

First step I would do is to press his office to forward the question to him. Even if he does not recall your specific case, he probably will recall any surgeon to whom he would refer a PC survivor with your particular conditions. m Soe of these surgeons are friends, might even play golf (or whatever) together and a surgeon to whom he would refer a PC survivor is likely to be in the top of his memory, or at least, in his rolodex (showing my age there).

What I did was educate myself as fully as I possibly could by reading medical journals and (when I finally stumbled across FrankTalk) a few years of past posts. Then interviewed several surgeons until I found one who would take me in as a member of my medical care team (I am a particularly participatory patient). I found Dr Shaw to be just the guy and he appreciated that I had knowledge of what the issues were.

Good luck in your search.

[Lost Sheep]

As to Gt1956's suggestion to create a signature with your particulars is concerned, please do. But it is not necessary to start a new post (as this one is still pretty fresh). A new or updated signature will will update on all your posts, past and future.

[Livingstonguy]

Thanks for the replies. We live in Very rural TN half way between Knoxville and Nashville. I did the search function on here and it said there was no one within 60 miles of me. I'll keep searching.

The only way to message Vanderbilt is thru the patient portal. They will not forward any messages to the Dr. Very frustrating!

[Lost Sheep]

Thanks for the replies. We live in Very rural TN half way between Knoxville and Nashville. I did the search function on here and it said there was no one within 60 miles of me. I'll keep searching.

The only way to message Vanderbilt is thru the patient portal. They will not forward any messages to the Dr. Very frustrating!

Keep pushing (gently). As to talk to a supervisor and work up the chain of command until you find someone who can override the bureacracy's blind policy. They have a legitimate reason for not letting prior patients contact the Doctor while he is on sabbatical, but there are always exceptions. You just have to reach the ear of the person who has the authority to override and convince them your need is legitimate (and minimally invasive).

This worked for me:

When you talk with anyone, take notes, remember their names (people love to be remembered) and thank everyone (even if they were not helpful - they did give you their time and they may remember you with more kindness the next time you speak). This worked for me when a travel nurse who was not helpful earlier in my quest remembered me and called me up when she heard of a surgeon recently assigned who had actually taught the procedure. Do not burn bridges.

Write out your case and supporting arguments to you can speak extemporanesly. The main point that seems pertinent to me is that your surgeon told you he would recommend someone. He had someone in mind and all you want is that contact. For a low-level bureacrat or clerk to override the Doctor's judgement with their own could be seen as obstructive. And if they know that you will remember them to their superior or the Doctor might tip the scales of theiir decision (implied diplomatically, of course).

[Gt1956]

Please don't take this as being rude. In my opinion, 60 miles isn't very far to search for a top doctor. You're looking for a unicorn. The skills & desires to return your functions while not necessarily difficult. Just don't seem to be present in every doctor. One way to think about it is. Lots of prostates get removed. But not as many penile implants are installed. Many men just accept the loss of erections as a fact of life. It doesn't have to be so. As a whole, the medical profession doesn't treat penis function very well. Most doctors just throw pills at you. I'm fairly certain that you are beyond the usefulness of pills.
As for distance & finding that unicorn. We have several members from Europe that have flown to the USA for implants.

[Old Guy]

Try searching on Google maps for urologists. Being in the middle of nowhere is going to make for a long drive.
As far as insurance coverage, they normally want you to try options first, such as pills or injections. However, since you had RP surgery that may be enough reason to approve an implant.
Good Luck

[Livingstonguy]

Please don't take this as being rude. In my opinion, 60 miles isn't very far to search for a top doctor.

So far I've used to search feature on this board. I'm willing to go much further. I hear there's a good one in Atlanta. that's just 4 hours from here.

I've tried the pills and injections with little success.

Thank for all the good suggestions!

[newbie443]

Please don't take this as being rude. In my opinion, 60 miles isn't very far to search for a top doctor.

So far I've used to search feature on this board. I'm willing to go much further. I hear there's a good one in Atlanta. that's just 4 hours from here.

I've tried the pills and injections with little success.

Thank for all the good suggestions!

First of all welcome to the site. And there is a lot of good reading in the General section of this forum in the documents worth reading thread pinned to the top. The most important for you now is the one about penis exercise directed for men like you but really for any man with the loss of or diminished nocturnal erections. It is under VED use. You should read that article and start VED therapy (exercise) to prevent or reduce size loss. This is the first thing to do a start while you are doing your surgeon search.

In the upper right is a search function for this forum. Put in Tennessee and look for any thread with doctor information. You may find some posts from the show and tell thread at the top of this page of men who are willing to talk to others in your state. You can send a private message and you can also reply with a quote. Those should generate a e-mail notification to the man who mad the post. But sometimes that goes to spam as it is auto generated. Hopefully you can find someone to recommend a doctor or 2. Health Grades used to be a good place to look and check but is not anymore. Just do a regular search on your computer for Penile Implants in Tennessee. As there is a cosmetic part of this you may find doctors or groups that have some type of name to indicate this.

You can go online in most cases and log in to your insurance and get a copy of your insurance policy. You are looking for coverage for penile implants and checking to see if there is an exclusion for it. Many policies have coverage only for a network area. So this means the insurance company gets to choose who you can go to. Medicare is national and you can go anywhere for this if you have part G supplemental policy. The advantage part C has networks that limit where you can go.

Things to find out when looking for a doctor is if the doctor does repairs and replacements. If not find out where men are sent for those and then try to get in to see that doctor. Wait time for activation is also a good indicator of how good the doctor is for penile implants. In the documents worth reading thread is a paper on the Coffin Effect that explains this. 3 weeks or less is a good target. Also ask to speak to a man who the doctor implanted in the past. Ask about size loss and wait time for activation.

Lots more than just what I and others have posted. Do some reading and ask questions you have. Good luck with this.