Continuing with Dennis' inflatable penile implant story, here’s the next four days. The theme during these four days is swelling, support, and sensitive. Dennis had lots of swelling in his scrotal area and it was quite sensitive. Ice packs and support helped. So did the anti-inflammatory medication. But I’ll let him explain.
Saturday Nov 20th (day 4): showered again. Having continued bowel and urinary difficulties in the AM but by afternoon everything broke loose, whew! Still using ice packs and 1 Vicodin every 4 or 5 hours to stay comfortable.
Sunday Nov 21st: a small set back. The genital area is still inflamed and the scrotal area where the new pump is installed is very sensitive. It needs to be braced forward slightly. When walking tempts you to hold that area in your hand so it can be positioned comfortably. It feels like the pump is big and hanging in the scrotum and requires support. I always have a bandage roll behind the scrotum pushing it forward. Then at night I roll up a hand towel and put that between the mattress and the body so the scrotum is lifted and supported instead of hanging between the legs down towards the mattress, the hanging hurts.
Monday Nov 22nd: today I spoke to the nurse about pain management. My pain isn’t bad but I wanted as much instruction as possible. She recommended adding Aleve because it’s an anti-inflammatory and a pain med. I take an Aleve in place of Vicodin at bedtime and think that helps a lot, follow the recommended dosage.
Tuesday Nov 22nd: today the nurse recommended an athletic supporter. You need a much larger size plastic cup than normal. The doctor instructs you to keep the penis up next to your abdomen. The distance from the head of the penis, in that position, to the bottom of the scrotum is so long that the top of the cup presses the tip of the penis if it is too small. You want to tuck your sore scrotum into the cup so it is comfortably tucked away. But you don’t want the other end of the cup pressing directly on the penis against your abdomen. I eventually removed the cup and used the jock strap over briefs. You add a small roll of gauze bandage between the scrotum and your upper thighs. That holds the scrotum forward comfortably; then tucking everything into the jock strap pouch adds support. If everything is supported properly the comfort level and pain is good.
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