Topic
I finally did something about it
I am 28 years old and have dealt with erectile dysfunction my entire life. For reasons still unknown, I have never been able to achieve a full and lasting erection under any circumstances. As a teen, after I had already realized that I had some sort of problem, I was too uncomfortable to bring it up with anyone. I waited until I was 25 to even tell a doctor. This may be my only regret in life. Of course, in hindsight it is easy to say, but I cannot understand why I was so hesitant to tell someone who could help me. After all, this situation is nothing I asked for. Had I told my parents early on, my college and post-college years would have been very different!
Anyway, I finally decided that I had to do something about it. It was becoming too much of a hindrance to the life I wanted. My first step was to see a urologist in 2009. He was surprisingly not helpful, considering the abnormal case presented to him. I was given a month’s supply of 2.5mg Cialis to take once a day. I was very excited to finally try something and was hopeful that I would see at least some improvement. Even after a month’s treatment, my “erections” were the same as they were before. I was quite depressed by it and I didn’t try anything else until 2011.
I came across a male medical clinic that specialized in erectile issues, so I thought I would make an appointment. Although the staff were all “licensed” physicians, they are not M.D.s, however, I agreed to let them inject my penis with Tri-mix. I quickly became dizzy and fainted in the exam room. This worried me, as I thought that there may be other health issues associated with this. I returned to a “real” urologist, but this time demanded that I get more than just some free samples of pills.
Although the doctor I saw did not do much personally (he did hook me up with some 50mg Viagra samples, which did nothing), he recommended that I make an appointment with Dr. Goldstein (I am lucky enough to live in San Diego, so making an appointment was easy). It was now 2012, but Dr. Goldstein was finally able to do the proper tests and explain what was likely going on that prevented me from getting erections. He too injected my penis (from which I again fainted) in order for him to view blood flow into and out of my penis. He told me that my issue was not a blood flow problem as there was plenty of blood entering the penis, but that it was not being held there. I had a venous leak.
Dr. Goldstein then explained that the best, really only, treatment option was a penile implant. I had anticipated that minor surgery would be necessary, but, if I’m honest, this freaked me out. It wasn’t the device itself that initially bothered me, but more the fact that this would be a major operation that would remove any possibility of ever achieving a natural erection. I came to realize that I likely wouldn’t achieve a natural erection anyway and this implant would give me the results that I was looking for, so why not? Besides, every person that Dr. G put me in contact with who had done the surgery told me that their one regret was not doing it sooner. It now seemed like a no brainer.
After having to wait nearly six months to actually be able to do the operation, I am now two weeks post-op and feeling great. Originally, I has frustrated at having to wait so long to go through with it, though in the interim Dr. G had started a new method of eliminating pain post-op. Before, people told me to expect almost two weeks of pain. Now, I was walking normally within a week and never once had to take any hard pain pills. I’m still a couple of weeks away from being able to put the implant to work, but I’m glad that I’m only a couple weeks away. Thanks Dr. G, if only I’d found you earlier!