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What to expect on days 4 thru 7 after penile implant surgery

5Jan

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.

Photo lode

Tagged implant penile surgery
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The first three days after surgery

30Dec

In November, Dennis had his inflatable penile prosthesis surgery and he kept a journal for us to share with you. If you haven’t read his first or second pre-surgery posts, check them out. This post deals with the first three days after his surgery.

The theme of the first three days appears to be prepare for laying around. As Dennis mentions, the penis has just taken a lot and will require time to recover. Before you have surgery why not get that book you’ve been meaning to read and movie trilogies you always wished you had time to watch? Remember, the more rest you get, the faster your recovery will go.

With that, here’s what Dennis' first three days after surgery looked like:

Wed Nov 17(day of surgery): I went home in the afternoon sore due to inflammation and the battering the penis underwent during surgery today. I took 2 Vicodin every 4 hours the first day. Urinary and bowel irregularity added discomfort. I started the first day using Milk of Magnesia. Dr Govier prescribed Flomax which helps with a normal urinary flow. These products took a day or two to do their job.

Thursday Nov 18th, (second day): a shower this morning was nice.  Also, I’ve found using ice packs is good for pain management. Constipation is still a problem so I am adding a stool softener in the morning.

Friday Nov 19th: you are required to keep the heart level with the pelvis for 7-days because the penis area is full of capillaries and if you sit or stand bloods engorges the area causing inflammation which is not good. It’s boring to be supine so much but doable.

Photo: Dustin and Jenae

Tagged penile prosthesis
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3 Things to Consider Before Penile Prosthesis Surgery

17Nov

Dawn sat down with Dr. Tom Walsh of the University of Washington's Department of Urology to ask what are the most important things to consider before contemplating penile prosthesis surgery. An excellent speaker, Dr. Walsh called out three things patients should consider:

 

  1. Patients that have had the surgery have a remarkably high satisfaction rate (95%)
  2. It's not a completely natural erection - don't expect the erection you had when you were 18. However, as the erection does not depend on blood flow, it will last as long as you want it to, which may partially explain the high levels of satisfaction
  3. Like people, every surgery is unique so spend sometime finding an experienced surgeon. Experience also counts before surgery as a good surgeon will lead you to a penile prosthesis on a pace that is best for you.

 

This is Dawn's last post with Brokenhandle. She'll be providing us with some advice going forward but her schedule is too busy for her to commit on a regular basis. We really appreciate her helping us establish the site!

Tagged ED ipp penile prosthesis
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Inflatable Penile Prosthesis: A Patient's Expectations

12Nov
In my first post on IPP surgery from a patient's perspective, we met Dennis and he told us the story that led to him choosing to undergoe inflatable penile prosthesis surgery. Dennis is about a week away from his surgery so I wanted to know what his exectations might be. On November 8, Dennis met with Dr. Govier and discussed his expectations. Here's what Dennis had to say after their meeting:

My wife and I met with Dr. Govier and went through the IPP surgical procedure. He spoke to the risk of this surgery which is mainly the 2% possibility of infection and to a lesser extent failure of the mechanism.  He emphasized the recovery; the first week there will be a lot of pain pills and you must stay flat as much as possible. The second week I can ride in the car for two hours to visit friends in Eastern Washington and walk upstairs to a bedroom. Life returns to normal after that except no strenuous lifting. He wants his patients to see him at six weeks for instruction on the use of the IPP. He said not to judge its performance for six months. The flesh of the penis needs to be gradually stretched again and again. One recommendation is to use the vacuum device as a daily exercise inflating the penis five times for two minutes. The satisfaction statistics are that 92% of couples are satisfied and it gets better and better during the first year. This was also what the patient advocate couples told my wife and me when we spoke with them, deciding to move ahead with the AMS 700 IPP procedure. In short, the surgery takes 1hr and 15minutes, there is some pain in recovery the first week and you take it easy for 4 weeks. You begin to use the implant at six weeks and use makes it better and better.

I think it's really important to set your expectations properly. Talk to your surgeon and if you have the chance, talk to guys that have undergone inflatable penile prosthesis surgery. And don't forget to include your partner. They might have some great questions that you haven't thought of. 

If you've undergone an IPP, were your expecations met? Did you and your partner ask the surgeon questions like Dennis and his wife? If you're about to get an IPP, what are your expectations?
Tagged ipp patient penile penile implant prosthesis urologist
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