Update

It's sometime since I last posted, life, work and just about everything else took over.

The main and best thing to update you on is that everything as far as my implant goes is good.

I have now had my LGX700 for almost 18 months and still do not regret my decision to get one.  It has settled in well and is now part of my body.  After lots of practise it has become like an old friend - and I mean lots of practise!!  I am pretty sure that by now it has become what it always will be as far as size goes and again I am more than happy.  I new I would never get back to my original size but this is good, it fits with my body and looks right soft or erect.

Any pain is a thing of the past and has been for sometime.  I see my surgeon annually, just to keep a check on it and he too is pleased with the result.

So that's it for now.  I will take a couple of photos over the next few days for you to judge for yourself so watch this space.

Happy New Year to you and I hope 2015 brings you all that you wish for.

Dave

Long time no post

After months of not being able to get on the Net and then not onto my Blog - I'm finally back.

Apologies for any messages missed, I will catch up.

If I do not respond in the next few days please contact me again.

Dave

Contacting Me

Sorry for not posting in a while, life and work seemed to have taken over for a while.  Things have settled now and I have a bit more time to myself and I will update in the next couple of days.  In the meantime I still seem to be having an on-going problem with the Contact Form.

 

So while I am sorting myself please mail me direct:-

 

rugbydaveblog@yahoo.co.uk

Friday 14 March 2014 @ 06.30

It is 33 weeks since I had my implant surgery and as well as giving you general updates on my progress, life etc. I wanted to have one specific in depth topic each post covering both the physical and emotional side of my journey.  I will still answer you all individually so keep the questions coming but for each post I plan to pick a specific topic and go into more detail.  As always I will be as clear and honest as I can.

So ask away!!!

Hope that all makes sense, well here goes....

One of the questions I get asked often is to do with pain and how it actually feels to have the implant in my body.

We all have a different take on pain and although I believe I have quite a high pain threshold I will and do react differently to the next man and to the next.  As you have seen from the photos way back, although initially my shaft and scrotum were quite bruised and swollen the actual pain I felt was minimal.  It was more uncomfortable than painful and in my case a couple of pain killers before I went to bed were enough to take that discomfort away with the relief lasting throughout the night and the majority of the next day.  To start most pain/discomfort came from the site of the reservoir (only when I was dressed).  My reservoir seems to have been placed exactly where the waistband of any clothes I wear sit.  With sweatpants or shorts it was and is fine and seems to give me very little discomfort.  If I wear jeans or anything with a tighter waistband it can get quite uncomfortable, even now if I am sat for long periods of time in the same position say on car journeys or at a desk it can still get a bit uncomfortable, not uncomfortable enough to take pain relief but enough for a bit of adjustment.  That goes for anything in the shaft or scrotum, a slight adjustment and its fine. 

My new nickname

 

“squirrel”

 

because I’m always sorting my nuts…

 

As I have described previously, for the first three months or so there was some soreness in the head of my penis where the tips of the implant pushed as I stretched and inflated to the max, that soreness has now gone completely and has since about month three/four and even though I am still slowly stretching there is no pain at all.  In the actual shaft there has never been any pain a bit of soreness but nothing much however the scrotum was initially a different matter.  I did mention way back that the first couple of inflations were for me very painful in fact the first inflation by the nurse had me sweating and reaching for the ceiling.  How to describe it - you have all now seen my tattoos, well for those who had a bit of a mid-life crisis like me and got yourself a tattoo well the feeling is very similar – except it was like lots of needles pricking the inside of my scrotum at every squeeze of the bulb instead of my skin. 

If you’ve never got a tattoo please don’t get one on my account just to get an idea of the pain <grin>. 

None of the pain has ever for me been unbearable and at the next inflation appointment I was ready for her.  A couple of pain killers on the way to the appointment and it was a doddle, still a bit uncomfortable but so much easier for me it just that first inflation that was bad. 

As you have read I have spoken at length about my penis, scrotum, testicles and shaft, well there is another end to the implant that sits deep around the pelvis somewhere that I have never mentioned.  Me not knowing exactly where the other end is and it being “somewhere” shows that I have never had any problem with it – from day one I have never felt it, it does not hurt, it’s not uncomfortable, it’s just there doing whatever it does.

Now 33 weeks post surgery I can honestly say that all of the pain and discomfort has gone.

 

Deflated

After 6 pumps

Fully inflated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the only thing I have not managed to do is to get a wax and tidy-up – it’s far too sensitive – in a good way - and I’m not too good with a razor either – so for me, for the time being it’s going to be au-naturel.  

 

Now for how it feels to have the implant in my body. 

Emotionally I can honestly say I have gone from feeling emotionally a 3 to now being at least a 10.  It will not be the same for everyone and we have all had or want implants for different reasons.  For me I wanted back my masculinity and sense of well-being.  Physically I wanted my body to be in proportion again and I wanted to stop being resentful and angry.  Some of those feeling came from the Prostate Cancer and some from my inability to have an erection, either way getting my implant has enabled me to have all of that back and more.  I am happier and more content with life in general.  My confidence is back, I always was a bit full of myself anyway <grin> perhaps it’s back even more than before.

Prior to having my implant I described the Implant to my partner as a couple of long rubber tubes with hard tips lots of other tubes and a small “Lego” brick with a bulb attached to the side.  I was convinced that “the boys” would hit and rub against the corners of the “brick” and hurt and that the tips would hurt way beyond what I could cope with and the other tubes would be everywhere.  There has been nothing, no pain or rubbing from inside my scrotum.  Apart from the slight bit of extra weight in the scrotum when it hangs and the very occasional adjustment I do not even know it’s there.  My pump has settled slightly above and behind my testicles.  You cannot see it, even if you know it’s there and unless you actually feel the scrotum you would never, ever know.  The other tubes are hidden and apart from one that I can feel if I really, really try everything is hidden.  To inflate I put three fingers behind the “block” to steady it and squeeze the bulb with my thumb it’s so easy.  If in the future I have less strength in my hands I am sure I will still be able to use it without any problem.  It’s not uncomfortable and it’s not painful it is just part of the new me.  The bulb feels like another testicle (and it’s as slippery).  It can sometimes slip as I squeeze but even then there is no pain it just means that I have not held it correctly.

The feeling I get when inflating is not the same feeling I had from my natural erection.  Inflation and deflation is a process, I can feel each squeeze of the bulb stretching the shaft, I can feel it growing in girth and length and it does become extremely hard (think back to when you were a teenager).  The biggest changes now have come from arousal which I suppose is how it should be.  I can’t really remember exactly when I started to get the engorgement of the head and surrounding shaft back but it was a gradual thing.  I think it came back fully at around month 7.  That coupled with the return of sensitivity and for me as I have said so many times my implant has been the perfect solution to the situation I found myself in.

Till next time

All the best

Dave

Contact Form

As you can see the Contact Form is back in.  I have done a couple of tests and all seems to be ok. 

If you still have problems contacting me or I appear to be ignoring you please put a note in comments.

Dave

Contact Form Removal

I have removed the Contact Form from the Blog.  For some reason your messages were not getting to me.  So apologies to anyone I have ignored. 

I will get another version of the contact form back as quickly as possible. In the meantime if you want to get in touch I always read the comments pages.

Cheers for now
Dave

4 days to go and it will be 7 Months!!

Sorry I’ve not updated for a while.  Sometimes life just seems to takeover.  I have recently had my PSA blood test (six months later than it should have been) on Tuesday and got the results yesterday.  The good news is that all is well and my levels are still at zero – PHEW!!!

5 ½ years after my open radical prostatectomy I am on annual checks.  Initially I was told it would be for 5 years however at my 4 year check I was informed that the criteria had changed and the annual checks would now be carried out for 10 years and instead of having them done at the hospital I was to be discharged and have them done via my local General Practitioner.

I don’t know how other people are when it comes to having their checks but for me – it goes way beyond scared!!  I have been very lucky as far as the Prostate Cancer goes.  Mine was caught early and the cancer was contained within my prostate meaning I had surgery and that was it, no radiotherapy or chemo mop-up.  However I am still just as frightened by the annual check as I was initially.  My way of coping was and is to have everything the same for each check, same date and place for the blood test, same place and if possible doctor for the results – you get the idea.  This time, 6 months late, blood test was at the same place, results over the telephone if I wanted otherwise they would only be in touch if there was a problem.  As you might guess – I phoned them!!  I just could not cope with waiting for a phone call that may or may not come.

For some reason within my make-up there is something that on occasion gives me a pretty much uncontrollable fear of cancer and since my diagnosis, illness in general.  When I was growing up in the 60/70’s it seemed to me from what I heard from my parents and others that a person got cancer and they died, simple as that.  My mother especially had the same fear as me, perhaps I inherited that fear, who knows.

Times have changed I know, medical knowledge, techniques and medicine in general has come so far in 40 years (even 5 years and less) that the prognosis for many people has changed and so many people go on to live normal lives.  For me, for some reason within me that knowledge does not stop the irrational fear that I get every time I have my check.

Talking of how far medical expertise has come – back to the main theme of the blog, my implant.

All is well and I am beyond happy with the result, as I have been all along.  While I was leading up to my annual check I really didn’t feel much like inflating twice a day as I had been.  In fact I was leaving it for 3 or 4 days at a time between.  The last couple of days I have been getting back to my normal twice a day inflation/deflation nut I have noticed a slight difference in the max inflation now, which has reduced slightly.  Saying that this morning the pump had more give in it again and I can once again feel the stretch.  Measuring, the girth is pretty much the same at 13cm as it always has been, the length has dropped slightly but only by a couple of mm and as I said I can already feel it stretching back.

Goes to show that I still need to be inflating a couple of times a day to get the maximum that I can in the future.

 

As always any questions please just ask.

All the best for now.

Dave

Chat & Show

I have had a few requests from people who are considering getting an implant ask if I would be willing to chat with them in person and perhaps let them see my implant.  I know from experience that all the pictures and videos in the world are no substitute for reality.  So yes I would!!

Bearing in mind that I am in the UK and that the travelling has to be practical the answer is yes.  If you are considering an implant and would like to chat to me in person, just message me and we can take it from there.

Cheers for now
Dave

Auto Inflation

ANOTHER TOP TIP !!

Just a quick mid-weeker...

I was having problems with auto inflation and the lack of a “pop” making subsequent inflation more difficult.  I mentioned it to my doctor at the last visit a couple of days ago and found that for the last 6 months I had not been deflating properly. 

I had been pushing in the deflate button and as soon as it had stopped “buzzing” I had kept my finger on the deflate button and squeezed to what I thought was fully deflated.  I was then having some auto inflation and lack the of “pop” next time. 

 

Now as per my new instructions I push and hold the deflate button for 10 seconds.  I get the buzzing and it starts to deflate, keeping the button depressed I wait for the 10 seconds (even after the buzz has stopped) then let go of the deflate button, squeeze the shaft and it continues to deflate fully.

 

NO MORE AUTO INFLATION!!

 

Dave

6 Month post surgery Appoinment

Well I had my appointment with the doctor yesterday and you will be pleased to hear that all appears to be going well, I even managed to pick up a few tips.

I had always thought that I had at the time of my surgery the most recent model AMS LGX700 implanted which has among other things a one touch deflate button.  As you will have read previously deflating has never been my strong point and although I have always been able to deflate my implant easily enough I have never managed to do it with one touch and a squeeze!!  Now after all these months I discover I have been doing it wrong.  The correct way is to push the deflate button, wait for the vibration and noise as the fluid leaves the rods, continue to hold the button in for 7-10 seconds, even after the noise has stopped, release the button and squeeze the shaft to fully empty it.  I have now managed that method a couple of times and it is so much easier deflating that way.  It now fully deflates and best of all it stays down.

It would also seem that although the rods have settled towards the back of the shaft (that had been causing me a slight concern) they are in a really good position and best of all there is no sign of erosion or infection – so touch wood (as I now can) <grin>, it’s all good news.

I have to admit the doctor’s inflation at this visit was much firmer than mine, in fact once he had inflated fully I could feel the tips pushing into the head much more than when I inflate (slightly sore for a few minutes though).  Apparently firm but secure squeezing of the bulb is the key and if I continue as I am I should be able to stretch the tissue and in turn the implant further.

Flaccid - I seem to hang at about 5 O’clock.  Erect - laying down it points skyward, standing I am at about 2.30.  I don’t know if that will change over time.  If it does, all well and good, if not I am more than happy with that as an outcome.  The slight upward bend that I had in the shaft is improving and it should continue to do so.  I always assumed that I had in some way caused the bend by injecting incorrectly with Caverject.  That was also wrong apparently the Open Radical Prostate surgery that I had can occasionally cause the shaft to bend. (I will take some pictures for my next post to show the changes).

You learn something new everyday!!!

That’s me up to date and with concerns allayed, I’ll leave till next week…..

All the best

Dave

Practicalities....

After receiving quite a few messages regarding what I can and can’t do since having my implant I thought I would give you a bit of a run down on my experiences.

Bearing in mind that I’m not exactly in the first flush of youth and therefore a game of rugby or football is not on the agenda, nor has it been for a few years – I think if I tried that other bits of my body would give out way before the implant – for me it is more to do with the practicalities and enjoying what I can do.

I had always enjoyed hiking and prior to and after my prostate surgery as well as doing pelvic floor exercises I used walking in an attempt to tone-up my pelvic floor muscles, which in my opinion helped with any incontinence I may have had (I was lucky in that respect, 3 weeks after prostate surgery I was dry) and gave me control. 

Before and since the implant surgery:

I walk/ed daily (couple of miles or so) and time allowing I go for a longer walk/hike of 6-9 miles at some point most weeks.

I swim regularly – although it does depend on the water temperature how comfortable I feel, it’s nothing painful and a warm shower soon gets everything supple again.

I can still use a bike and cycle occasionally.  Cycling was more uncomfortable after the prostate surgery than it ever has been since my implant.

I don’t go to the gym (never did) but in everyday life I can lift and carry weight just as I could prior to the surgery (I did wait quite a few months before I even attempted anything heavy though).

In fact 6 months after my implant I don’t think that there is anything I am unable to do that I did not do prior to surgery.

There are just two things that have changed and neither is to do with exercise:-

1. I always wore loose boxer shorts but since my implant I find it more comfortable to wear the tighter fitting boxers because they give me that bit of support but are not as constricting as briefs, which I found to be too tight and quite uncomfortable.  If you are at that stage try different types and styles, I tried so many before I found comfort but it was well worth the effort.

On a really positive note :- 

2. I did have to change the car from a sporty convertible to a 4x4 J.  Sitting in the bucket seats of the car it felt as if the pump in my scrotum was being pulled upwards and although not painful was a tad uncomfortable, especially during longer journeys.  The upright position of the 4x4 is much more comfortable and before you say it – it’s got nothing to do with “big boy’s toys”!! Much J

As always any comments or questions, just give me a shout via the link on the right.

Cheers for now

Dave

Start of 2014 – Update

Everything seems to have settled in well now and apart from a couple of issues I am very happy with the results.  I am due to see the doctor again on the 16^th January just to make sure that the implant and tips are still placed properly, as far as I can tell there has not been any further movement nor is there any sign of erosion or infection however I will feel happier once the doctor has checked me over.

I am still inflating and deflating daily to ensure that I keep stretching the tissue and although there are not any measurable changes in length and girth – at least not by my measure – there is a change in how rigid the implant becomes at maximum inflation.  Everyday there are slight changes and everyday I learn something new about my own body, it’s like being a teenager again and at 55 years old very strange – but very exciting!!!

Take this morning, I woke up with a slight erection, it went after 5 minutes or so and it was nothing too much to write home about but all the same it was there.  I checked and I was fully deflated so I can only assume that it was blood engorging the head and shaft tissue surrounding the implant.  Which I new was a possibility but thought it would only happen if I was aroused. Like I said something new everyday…

My scrotum is sometimes a bit sore from inflating and deflating and occasionally if I really inflate to the max the head of my penis is sore but only for a few minutes. I assume it is because I am still stretching and I take as a good sign.  However what I call pain is now a thing of the past.

I am going to hold off a bit on measuring and leave it to perhaps every 3 or 4 weeks and hopefully then I will be able to measure any changes.  Bit like when you are trying to lose weight, too often and nothing changes.

Not too much else to tell you today – I have put a couple of links on the right-hand side of the page that you may find helpful/interesting and as I find more I will add them.  By the same token if you know of any that you have come across and think might be of interest or helpful to others please let me know.

I will try and give you a weekly update from now on and don’t forget any questions, you only have to ask.

All the best

Dave