In June of 1995, I received an implant and after about two weeks, it became infected. After two months, I went back to surgery in an effort to remove as much of the infection as possible. During the next ten months, I was in constant pain. At times, I would need prescription pain medication. As a side note, I developed a serious ulcer that my gastrointerologist thought was possibly due to my constant use of aspirin during this period. While I was able to use the implant during this period, it was not getting better and suggested to my doctor, that it should be removed or go into the hospital for antibiotics delivered by IV. He did not believe this was necessary and I continued with oral antibiotics.
One year later, and much to my relief, it was removed and in about two months the infection was gone.
Later in 1996, I received new implant that healed quickly with no signs of infection. Due to the infection, from the first implant, it had to be smaller. Suddenly while using it, I felt a sharp pain and shortly after noticed that I could feel the end of one of the cylinders protruding on the side just below the skin. The doctor said that it had perforated the corpra and was likely a result of tissue damage from the infection and that I was not to use it in the normal manner, due to the risk of more damage. As it turns out, I could not ejaculate by any means because the perforation caused nerve damage and I could not experience any sensation. It took about nine or ten months for the nerves to heal but I still had the protruding cylinder to deal with.
In 1998, my urologist told me that by using a gortex shield he could repair the errant cylinder to become functional again. Sometime in the summer of 1999 this was done and part of procedure involved pulling back the head of the penis that reduced the length more yet. The healing time was relatively quick and soon would be ready for use. Now I cannot experience normal sex because it is too short.
In summary, this is what I experienced during the four-year period.
-Five surgerical procedures.
-One year of a painful infection plus the side effects of constant use
of antibiotics.
-Approximately ten months, during which time I had no sensation.
-Thousands of dollars spent. I have insurance but still needed to satisfy
my deductibles and out of pocket expenses.
-After all was completed, I have an implant that gives me
no more function than I would have without an implant.
Make sure that you understand the possible complications of this procedure (I believe that the infection rate is higher than we may be told) and do not hesitate and insist on removal if you have an infection. If I could do it over, I would try different treatments or wait for medicine to come up with a better idea.
If I can answer any questions or if you want to offer your opinion please feel free to email me.