had my second post-op follow-up with dr kansas today. i showed him photos from days 6 and 7 and he accepted them without surprise or concern as typical consequences of the procedure. he agreed that the discoloration and swelling was due to internal bleeding and defended withdrawing the drain tube while i was still losing 10cc/hr as necessary to avoid increasing the risk of infection. he didn't address the risk of infection from leaving the hole where the tube came out open and bleeding for 3 days.
he also explained that what appears to be a c-shaped laceration is just a little blood trapped by the glue used to seal the puncture where the filament was used to draw the cylinder to the end of the shaft. i was happy to hear that

and finally, he reassured me that all the lumps, thickening, and asymmetry in my scrotum will resolve which will make it much easier to manipulate the pump, and cleared me to begin normal cycling. the best news i've had since the beginning of this odyssey is that 23hrs/day i can now deflate that f@#$%^ as far as i need to to stow it comfortably!
i'm not having much trouble deflating since i can locate the button fairly easily, but pumping is a big problem. the right side of my scrotum is so full of crap i can't get a firm grip on anything and have to break the process down into several stages with breaks in between. but in spite of that and the pain i'm getting it done.
the bottom line is that everything is getting better! i still have a lot of healing to do but i feel like i'm over the hump
