bdozer (the girlfriend)

[bdozer]

Hi, I hope it is okay for a woman to do an intro here?  If not, lemme know.

Age - My partner is in his early 50s, I'm in my early 40s.

My partner has had Peyronies Disease for a little over 1 year (we've been together for 6 years)

Very First Symptoms - it's bent!

My Peyronies Disease progression, Treatments (in order), Doctors, Psychological Stages, observable changes -

About a year ago, my boyfriend and I were having sex and he...uh...missed.  It was painful for him but we didn't think anything major happened.  Then within a week's time things were different.  When he has an erection, it's bent in the middle...maybe 45 degrees or so?  And it's not as hard or large as it was.  For a while it was sore but that passed, and now it just feels "weird" (he can't really describe it to me, of course, since I don't have the organ!)

From reading this forum I guess we are lucky because we CAN still have intercourse.  But it's been a long very rocky road anyway.  Geez, I'm not sure how much detail I should go into here about that.  Let's just say it affected his self-confidence a lot, and was part (but not the only reason) we broke up during that period.  He wouldn't talk about it at all, which was part of the problem, and he wasn't getting any treatment.  Now we are back together, and finally talking, and finally moving forward on the medical side of things.

When this first happened I did some net research and we thought he had penile fracture.  This is of course an emergency condition requiring immediate surgery but he didn't seek help for months.  The problem didn't get any worse in that time, but he was really worried about damaging it further so it was kind of "hands off" during that time.  

Finally after many months he saw a urologist...who gave him some tests and told him he needed surgery.  He did NOT tell us that he didn't have penile fracture though.  He didn't really say anything helpful at all.  Because he was not confidence inspiring we found another doctor...who again never actually told us what it was!  He just said, yes, you need surgery...and we still thought he had a fracture so yes, obviously, we need surgery.  We pushed and pushed and pushed for surgery and it kept getting delayed and delayed until finally we found a new doctor out of sheer frustration.

Which turned out to be the best thing because the new doctor actually EXPLAINED what was going on.  Said it was NOT penile fracture (he would have been in excruciating pain and swollen and whatnot, which no one said to us) but actually Peyronie's.  She explained that while yes, surgery was an option, it was not the only nor necessarily the best one.

Being who I am (see my user name), I immediately set myself the task of becoming THE EXPERT on Peyronie's so I've been reading studies and websites and scouring the net and trying to learn everything I can.  

The doctor gave him some medicine to take orally (Colchicine and Pentoxifylline) and he's been taking that for a few weeks.  No change yet that I can see.  From my reading on the net, I suggested he also take 400 mg a day of vitamin E, which he just started.  The doctor also recommended massage (which made us giggle but...).  I also bought him a heat pack because I saw some good stuff about heat treatment on the net, but he hasn't started that yet.

Where I am today, future plans -

His penis is still bent and not getting fully hard after the bend.  Also it kind of...flexes...at the curve point which if it happens during sex is uncomfortable for him.  He also finds working out at the gym kind of uncomfortable (or at least it feels weird).  There's also a sort of band around the whole penis at the bend point where it's narrower (I'm wondering if this is what the literature means with "hourglass").  Feels like someone wrapped a string around it and tightened.

The doctor gave the meds 3 months so we go back to see her in December.  (This will be the first time I join him at the doctor visit.)  Boyfriend is convinced he will need surgery.  From my reading, surgery isn't the right option if you are able to have intercourse and a satisfactory sex life (we have a very satisfactory sex life!!!!!)  but he's not at 100%, and he really really wants to be, so he might be willing to risk the surgery if it has the change to get him to 100%.  I'm, shall we say, EXTREMELY skeptical that this is a good idea.

In the meantime, I will continue to become THE EXPERT on everything Peyronies.  That's why I'm here.  Also, as I said, this as been a long hard painful road for us and I could use some support.  I am really hoping to be allowed into the "women's only" forum because I need some advice from the sisters.

Wow, that was long!  Sorry!