Another Downunder gets done downunder

[Wodjathat]

Background: Twisted testicule at age 14, only left with one ball.
Total loss of manhood confidence. Avoided so many potential experiences. Then suffered from PE. 30 second man (1 minute on a good day- they were rare) Two failed relationships. TURP procedure mid 50’s.

ED started not long after. Became severe very quickly. Tablets became less effective. Last year I actually had a relationship for about 3 weeks. I actually took 20mg Cialis plus per day and still could not get very hard at all. Impossible to do PIV. Absolute disaster.
Had some very dark thoughts afterwards.

Listened to EDR radio podcast and bought the EIQ workshop manual. (Credible American production) Challenging but helpful to get an understanding of where I was at and the challenges that lay ahead. No doubt for me was that I had both physical and psychological issues.

Game changer was an Erection Dysfunction radio podcast that discussed IPP’s. I knew straight away that this option was for me. Did not want to do injections.

Went onto to Reddit to get further information. A mixture of comments of really sad stories and some shocking trolling. Only upside was someone mentioned FrankTalk. Bye bye Reddit.

Words can’t express how helpful this was. Thank you to you all. In my anominity I felt a bond with many. Bionic Dan stands out for obvious reasons. What a positive inspiration. LGXDownunder also. He is an Aussie like me and he articulated his journey so well. There were many others. Borrowing from Barbara Streisand, ‘there are just so many little people that I want to thank’. I hope all you guys that contributed to the forum get my drift. Thank you.

To be honest this most likely will be my one and only major contribution. I hate writing and am absolute shit at articulating. I am even worse at responding.

I flipped on and off as to whether I would do it, but here I am. Had the procedure on 21 July.

This may be considered wrong but I was only going to do it if I felt I was having a positive experience (being one of the 90% plus club). If things didn’t turn out I had decided not to give feedback.

Why you ask? Let me start by saying that I actually really valued the comments from people that had unfortunate experiences. I feel so much for you guys, I really do. Your stories have to be told. I just know that I wouldn’t have been up to it and it would have accelerated my downward spiral. Very dangerous for me. I repeat, I really feel for you guys. We are all brothers,

My sole motivation for this feedback is directed to people considering getting a IPP. I want to tell you a positive story (thus far) so as to give you some hope and food for thought. Not going to say you should or should not go down this path. Everyone is different. An informed decision that goes either way is a good decision.

FrankTalk was the game changer for me. It got me over the line. Other options at the time were extremely dark. But that’s just me. My advice is don’t go too low too often. It gets easier and more dangerous. Not good.

Back to the positives. Saw a urologist on 16 June who dealt with Coloplast and Rigicon implants. The way I see it these things are a bit like cars, they are all a little different but do the same job. That is they get you from point A to B. In Australia some people like Holdens more than Fords. Gets down to personal choice (and marketing).

I am sure that many would have different preferences for the various IPP’s out there.

I chose Rigicon for two main reasons over the other options. The first was
the way it was put to me was that Rigicon was rated 9 / 10 for hardness or rigidity and Coloplaet 11/ 10. Both pretty good. When you are a ‘1’ how can you complain if you can now become a ‘9’.

More importantly for me was that Rigicon was considered better than Coloplast when the penis was in a flaccid change. That was important to me. There were other differences of course, but they are the two reasons why I went for Rigicon. Remember, there is not one definitive answer- Holden v. Ford. IPP’s all do the same job. Just gets down to model preferences. (Of course your surgeon may guide you to a particular make and model if they are trying to address a specific condition you may have…..listen to them)

For the newbies out there, no matter where you live in the world, in my opinion unquestionably the most important decision you have to make is get the best possible urologist that you can find. I can’t emphasise strongly enough just how important this is.

I chose Christopher Love from Melbourne Australia.

Using car terminology again, there are plenty of car mechanics in this world, really good ones are rare and priceless. Choose wisely.

The journey

Fri 18 July Took 2 antibiotics morning and night and washed twice a day (for three days) with a surgical hand wash product

Sat 19 July Did the obligatory length / girth measurements by taking a big dose of Cialis. 5.5 inches length and 5.75 girth. Woke up 1am for a pee and noted I had a slight boner. Updated measurements 6.0 and 5.75. Took the opportunity to have the obligatory last wank, just in case things went horribly wrong.

Sun 20 July
In the morning I took an antibiotic tablet and same again in the afternoon. Then went to the hospital at 5pm - Given several antibiotics intravenously over the evening.

Mon 21 July
Had Rigicon implanted around 10am. Back in my room by 1pm.
Footnote: I found out after my first visit with Dr Love when I chose Rigicon that they had two models. I wondered why I wasn’t told this. But on reflection it would have been information overload and I may have chosen the wrong model if I was forced to choose.
Spoke with Chris Love the day of the surgery - Asked which Rigicon he would use - he said he would decide best fit on operating table. I felt very comfortable that he was going to choose. Remember my earlier comments about the importance of choosing the best possible urologist you can. I had complete faith in him.

Ended up been given Rigicon Infla10. His rationale was that this Rigicon would give me a more rigid erection than the other model. Size wise I was considered okay. I think the other Rigicon was a better option if you had length considerations.

I think he said the length was 24cm and extenders on top of that as well. Haven’t seen the paperwork yet to validate.

With all the drugs prior to, during and immediately after the procedure I felt surprisingly good.

And to be honest, the dick size (even though it was banged up and quite a sorry sight) was better than expected.

When I start cycling in just over four weeks I guess it can only get a little better. Time will tell.

Tue 22 July
I’m going to sign off for a little while. I don’t intend to give a blow by blow of what happens next. There are many people that have described their experiences far better than I could.

To finish off now, my plan is to reduce the pain management. Rather than mask it I want to feel it if that makes sense. For example this morning I could feel pain for the first time at the bottom of my nuts. It then slowly went away. But then it comes back!

(Footnote: Just saw Dr Love and he said in not so many words that I was a dickhead. Important to try and stay on top of the pain than to experience it and then chase it)

He took the bandage of my dick but left the one on my ball. The old dick is not a pretty sight. It is all black and blue.

The ball is HUGE! I kid you not, a bull would be proud to have nuts as big as mine at the moment.

One other digression. A nurse during the night asked if she could touch my penis head to see if I could feel anything. Fortunately I could. Later on she did the same routine but this time I said I couldn’t feel anything. Took her a few goes before she worked out what was going on. We both had a good laugh. Warning: pick the right person to do this with.

Hope this helps people that are considering their options. Your decision will be the best decision. Just make sure that it is an informed decision. If you decide to go ahead, I repeat the most important thing you should is pick the best surgeon you can. The type of implant you choose is a very distant second decision…. in my opinion.

To all the FrankTalk contributors be it those with positive or negative experiences, thank you once again. I wish you all the very best in your journey of life

[LGXDownunder]

Congratulations Wodjathat, and welcome to the Bionic Brotherhood mate!
I was looking for a thumbs up emoji but there isn't one, so this instead .
For someone who says they can't write, that is a very articulate post .
Thanks for sharing your story. The post op stuff you mention all sounds pretty normal.
Love the nurse interaction, you must have read her well .
Yes my balls were also the size of grapefruit, very impressive but everything was mostly black and blue, dick left erect and very sore.
Just a matter of being patient, cycling diligently when you have the green light and looking after yourself.
Dr Love is highly regarded and I'm aware that a number of FT members have implants by him. I'm sure you're in good hands.
I'm now very happy a number of months in. In the past few weeks sex has become a real pleasure again and I'm now constantly horny.
That might give you something to look forward to while recovering. I hope your journey gives you everything you want.

p.s. In reference to the car analogies, my first was a (GM) Holden and the second was a Ford .
And I've mainly driven Japanese stuff ever since, except when I owned a Jeep for 9 years.

[Tokyo_123]

For someone claiming to not be very articulate, you explained yourself very well. Have fun on your journey --- I know that you will.

[LetoMan]

Congrats again, mate! Glad you got your down under done down under.

Haha, I used to lurk in the ED forums on Reddit and point dudes towards Frank Talk. That place is full of the worst advice. Every other guy on there is pushing either supplements or “no fap” as a solution.

[Kodixx]

{repost - I posted this before I found your journal}

Wodjathat, welcome to the bionic brotherhood ! Looking forward to hearing more about the success of your journey !

- Chuck

I just had a Rigicon implant Infla10 24cm with 1cm Extenders on Monday 21 July by Dr Chris Love.I also have a 110 ml Adaptive Reservoir.

[Ephi82]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your story. Great times are coming your way!

[AussieGuy81]

Hi mate,

For a guy that says he doesn't articulate things well, you did a great job. That was a great read and a really good insight to your journey.
I hope all of your recovery goes well

Reddit can be really bad for mis information, i'm forever trying to send people here so that they can actually get some decent info.

I also decided to contact Dr Love and just had my first consult via telehealth a couple of weeks ago. He wants me first to get a doppler ultrasound done here in Adelaide which isn't the easiest thing to get done in Australia. I contacted Bensons in the city and long story short, i have to wait until the medication comes back in stock that they use for the injection.
Dr Love did seem really nice, from private messaging a couple of other Aussies on here, he is more expensive but it's something I'm willing to pay to hopefully get the best result.

You said that you have a lot of swelling around your nuts, did he do the penoscrotal approach with your surgery?, i thought he mainly does his implants with the infrapubic approach

Are you also doing the Rigicon clinical trial?

Hope you're feeling better today

[AussiePete]

Wodjathat
Great read and wishing you a speedy recovery. I too loved hearing of your interaction with the nurse
Pete

[dan_bionic]

Wodjathat
Congrats and welcome to the Bionic brothers gang!
You are like exactly 2 years behind me, so wish you a speedy recovery and great progress towards your new life with an outstanding dick!
Dan

[Wodjathat]

You said that you have a lot of swelling around your nuts, did he do the penoscrotal approach with your surgery?, i thought he mainly does his implants with the infrapubic approach

Are you also doing the Rigicon clinical trial?

The good news is that the perceived swelling around my ball was more bandage than swell. The bandage was removed this morning.(Wed 23 July) What I thought was a huge ball sack has only minimal swelling. And my implant was with the infrapubic approach.

My understanding now of why there was so much bandage was to somehow keep the pump lower in the sack. My immediate focus will be to make sure I can grab the pump and pull it down.

Right now I can feel the pump part very easily. The deflate button on top is more awkward to get at. The big question I am asking myself at this stage is how much do I have to grab and pull. Two concerns, I either pull too hard and damage something or not enough and it stays too high.

And yes, I’m part of that trial.
Good luck with your journey.