first inflation in the office - sort of

[Leek65]

I had my planned appointment to inflate my prosthesis six weeks out this morning. I have the AMS 700-LGX. It did not go well. When the PA tried to inflate he got about five squeezes before the pain in my scrotum was so bad he had to stop. Then there was worse pain when he looked for and activated the deflate button. They are sending me for a scrotal ultrasound this afternoon and will look at the results Friday. As I have mentioned in a previous post throughout this process I have had pain in my left testicle which I attributed to irritation from coming in contact with the bulb. Now I am thinking there may be an issue with the testicle that has nothing to do with the implant procedure. All I know is this first attempt at full inflation has my testicle extremely sensitive to any movement. The good news is the inflation, as far as it got, was painless to the penis and five squeezes was enough to have it standing pretty firmly.

[KMeister]

I had my planned appointment to inflate my prosthesis six weeks out this morning. I have the AMS 700-LGX. It did not go well. When the PA tried to inflate he got about five squeezes before the pain in my scrotum was so bad he had to stop. Then there was worse pain when he looked for and activated the deflate button. They are sending me for a scrotal ultrasound this afternoon and will look at the results Friday. As I have mentioned in a previous post throughout this process I have had pain in my left testicle which I attributed to irritation from coming in contact with the bulb. Now I am thinking there may be an issue with the testicle that has nothing to do with the implant procedure. All I know is this first attempt at full inflation has my testicle extremely sensitive to any movement. The good news is the inflation, as far as it got, was painless to the penis and five squeezes was enough to have it standing pretty firmly.

Is this your first implant? Please tell us a bit about your history. (I apologize if you've done this already in another thread.)

KMeister

[hard drive]

Leek,

I wouldn't worry too much. I had a similar experience on 2 of my implants. My scrotum / testicle were vary irritated and took a very long time to cool down. Have your doc check it out and if he sees no problem (like infection) give it some more time to adapt, and try not to panic. I know that's easier said than done, but you probably have nothing to worry about.

[Anonymous 3]

Ditto what hard drive said. I didn't have my first inflation until about 8 weeks because trying it earlier just hurt too much. Everyone is different. If you stop and think about what happened to your testicles and scrotum during surgery, it would be odd if it DIDN'T hurt like a bugger! It gets better, really. I am coming up to 6 months post surgery and it is a lot more comfortable (and fun!)

[Leek65]

I had my planned appointment to inflate my prosthesis six weeks out this morning. I have the AMS 700-LGX. It did not go well. When the PA tried to inflate he got about five squeezes before the pain in my scrotum was so bad he had to stop. Then there was worse pain when he looked for and activated the deflate button. They are sending me for a scrotal ultrasound this afternoon and will look at the results Friday. As I have mentioned in a previous post throughout this process I have had pain in my left testicle which I attributed to irritation from coming in contact with the bulb. Now I am thinking there may be an issue with the testicle that has nothing to do with the implant procedure. All I know is this first attempt at full inflation has my testicle extremely sensitive to any movement. The good news is the inflation, as far as it got, was painless to the penis and five squeezes was enough to have it standing pretty firmly.

Is this your first implant? Please tell us a bit about your history. (I apologize if you've done this already in another thread.)

KMeister

Thanks for the response. if you do a search I have put several posts on about my progress since I was scheduled for the procedure. This is my first implant. As a couple others have said I just need to be patient - overall I have been fortunate other than the scrotal tenderness.

[Leek65]

I went in for the review of the ultrasound of my scrotum and the results were not good. I have a painful varicocele involving the left testicle that apparently has been an issue since well before my implant - just not this painful. The doctor says wait a while and don't even try to inflate for now and see if the pain settles down. Today when he just looked for the valve to fully deflate my penis - ouch that hurt! If waiting does not significantly reduce the pain he offered two options. First is surgery to relocate the implant bulb further from the left testicle. This would result in less interaction between the bulb and valve with the painful testicle and attached cord and blood vessels. I don't fully understand how that would work and he was not promising this will bring relief. The second option he offered is removal of the left testicle. That is a non-starter with me because many years ago I had an epididymectomy on the right testicle side so removing the left testicle would leave me on testosterone shots for replacement. We are not there yet - I just need to wait and see.

[RelievedofED1]

I went in for the review of the ultrasound of my scrotum and the results were not good. I have a painful varicocele involving the left testicle that apparently has been an issue since well before my implant - just not this painful. The doctor says wait a while and don't even try to inflate for now and see if the pain settles down. Today when he just looked for the valve to fully deflate my penis - ouch that hurt! If waiting does not significantly reduce the pain he offered two options. First is surgery to relocate the implant bulb further from the left testicle. This would result in less interaction between the bulb and valve with the painful testicle and attached cord and blood vessels. I don't fully understand how that would work and he was not promising this will bring relief. The second option he offered is removal of the left testicle. That is a non-starter with me because many years ago I had an epididymectomy on the right testicle side so removing the left testicle would leave me on testosterone shots for replacement. We are not there yet - I just need to wait and see.

Not sure why removal of testicle versus remove the veins causing the varicocele. And if right testicle still in place why would you need testosterone? Testosterone is released by testicles through blood flow not epididymis otherwise everyone with vasectomies would need testosterone which they don't. First choice as others have said is give it time if doc says ok to wait as many times things get better. But if not working I think you may need to speak with your urologist again as you may have missed part of what they said. If testicle removal really is suggested versus varicocoele repair get a second opinion before saying yes. I don't know all the details but I feel like I am missing something. Good luck.

[hard drive]

Oddly enough I have the same condition and it's the left testicle too. I've had the varicocele for more than 30 years. I knew all those years ago about this and could never get it addressed because there was only occasional pain. As stated above, it caused some issues for me with two of my implant procedures, however, for me the issue resolved itself with extended recovery time.

The last implant procedure was done by Dr. Milam. He located the pump so that it's on the right side this time. My left testicle hangs obnoxiously lower than the right, and you can see/feel the offending varicocele. I can't understand why the twsticle would need to be removed to treat this.

If I were you I would:

Give it more time

Consider moving the pump

Get a second opinion on repairing the varicocele

[mmartinez]

I am in the same boat, I had gone to the urologist 3 times since my operation September 15. The first 2 times he said I was still sore. To complicate things, i got an infection, I told him at the post op room that I had prostatitis and I needed a stronger antibiotic for at least 28 days, microbid, cipro and sulfas do not work on me, I gave him the name of the last antibiotic that worked on me but he ignored my request and gave me the usual for 5 days.
Yesterday was the appointment with the nurse and pumping was excruciating pain, he said I would have to come back in the afternoon to see the doctor, he thought the pain was due to the prostatitis. I was able to deflate one time by myself and he was ok with that.
He advised to wait 3 days before I try by myself again. If I am not able to do it, I will have to go back.
I never expected the recovery to take this long but reading the posts regarding the pump, it appears to me it is very hard to master and it takes time.
Good luck and let us know the outcome.
Mario

[username_taken29]

Hi guys,

I have a varicocele on my left testicle as well and so wondering if this will interfere with an implant procedure. It is not painful for me but it is there and it is certainly visible. I'll ask the doc as well if this will cause an issue but it is something I have been thinking of recently too.

Thanks.