Best US surgeon for incision / partial excision and grafting?

[edgar]

Since I have some hourglassing / instability, I may have to go for a grafting procedure.
I'd be grateful for any opinions and experiences. At this point I'm considering Dr. Levine (Chicago) and Dr. Gelman (LA). Cost doesn't matter to me.

[jan.schaller1958]

If you can travel, I'd see Dr Tom Lue in San Francisco.  I bet if you really looked into it, most of these guys in other parts of the country you mentioned  were probably former residents of his anyway.  

[TonySa]

Dr Lue is top notch but last I heard he told me is only supervising residents at this point vs performing surgeries.  Dr Edward Karpman is a good choice as well.

[jan.schaller1958]

Yeah, I know you mentioned that once Tony, and you are probably right (they're all getting old like the rest of us). If one can get a consult with Lue first, at least that would be a start. Then I'm sure Karpman would be fine.  

[Benjamin62]

Edgar...

I personally spoke with Levine ( Levine charged a fee for a phone consult)  and Gelman ( can be easily reached via his website.  There is a menu selection called something like "Ask the Dr"... he literally called me on a Friday night from his cell phone! Was more then happy to chat no charge)  great  top docs for sure.  But when I developed hourglassing I found the following...

And this was as of like July 2019...

If you have hourglassing I know of only two surgeons in the US who do a synthetic graft to fix the problem.  Tom Lue in SF and his disciple Brian Christine in AL.

Most surgeons will tell you if you have hourglassing to just go with an implant.  I don't think if you can have good Erections you should do this... my humble opinion

I had a severe downward curve with hourglassing.  Brian Christine performed both Plication and a synthetic graft in a 45 minute surgery ... in feb 2020.  It's all fixed

A synthetic graft should not be confused with excision (or incision) and grafting. It's a totally different procedure.  Synthetic grafting uses a synthetic material to fill in the "dent".  Also the procedure I had and speak about above is not deep surgery and is a super easy recovery and will not have a potential for nerve damage and Erectile Dysfunction.

As an aside. I had BCBS PPO from MA and had fulfilled my deductible. So it only cost like 250$.  I did however see the hospital bill 26000$ and the surgeons bill 7000$ As I asked them to send it to me.    

My actual surgery can be seen here:

https://youtu.be/noz7ppIDRLA

[jan.schaller1958]

As I excepted, Dr Christine is a former resident or student of Dr Lue. I imagine most are. But, with time I suppose the younger residents of Dr Lue have to take over. Dr Lue cant last forever.

Dr Christine does look extraordinarily competent.  

[Benjamin62]

Dr Christine is my personal hero!
He straightened my dick; who could ask for more 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Thinker]

Wow so the hospital bill and surgeon bill was over $30,000 oh my goodness that's quite alot.

[jan.schaller1958]

My surgery to remove my gallbladder (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) was around $25,000, all covered by Kaiser. It only cost me $100. And that was an outpatient procedure.  Those kinds of charges don't surprise me. A two day hospital stay, a cardiac angiogram, ambulance transport and not even having stents put in cost $22,000 a year ago. I only paid $100 for it. You gotta have good health insurance for anything.

[Benjamin62]

A straight dick...
Priceless

[jan.schaller1958]

I can't disagree. It's great that you're so pleased with the outcome. A true success story. The only problem is where your doctor is located. Alabama? I guess if you live there, great. Otherwise, it's a bit out of the way for those on the west coast. Of course, with the West Coast fires, there might not be much of a West Coast left after awhile, except maybe San Francisco.  

[Benjamin62]

I don't live in Alabama!
I live in Boston...was prepared to see Joel Gelman prior to my change to Christine due to hourglassing.
Grateful to have both the resources and the insurance to seek out the best care in the country.

I always say... it was the right move for ME. And treating this condition comes down to a personal evaluation of: Time, Dedication and Resources.

[jan.schaller1958]

You seem like the happiest guy on the board, so I'm glad things turned out so well. Did you regain any lost length? And was there an ED risk with the surgery? I guess it depends on your age?

[jan.schaller1958]

Oh, I just saw the earlier mention of no risk of ED with the surgery. I saw Dr Lue in February and he said I could only do Xiaflex. There was no surgery he'd recommend for me.  

[Benjamin62]

I'm very happy
Loss of length was more from
The disease then the surgery.  I lost about 1/4-1/2 from
Surgery itself.  Maybe more due to Peyronies as it is an deformative condition

I can live with it  

[TonySa]

You may want to consult w Dr Edward Karpman.  He did my excision and grafting w the implant.

[jan.schaller1958]

You may want to consult w Dr Edward Karpman.  He did my excision and grafting w the implant.

If you're talking to me, Tony, Dr Karpman might be an option I'll look into (I hope he's one of Dr Lue's disciples) if Kaiser would approve it. Otherwise, they have some urologist dude in San Francisco they referred me to, who does Peyroines treatment and is licensed to do Xiaflex injections (Xiaflex requires special licensing in CA to use it, because it can be dangerous in unqualified hands).  

[jan.schaller1958]

Yeah, Tony, I get this gut feeling the only real fix would be some kind of surgery, but I just don't know. If Xiaflex just fixed everything, with the traction, I'd sort of be surprised.  

[Daremo]

Edgar...

If you have hourglassing I know of only two surgeons in the US who do a synthetic graft to fix the problem.  Tom Lue in SF and his disciple Brian Christine in AL.

For what it's worth, I had a office visit with Dr Levine 2 days ago, and we discussed surgery for my 80 degree angle, and hour glassing. He said the plaque removal and grafting would be the answer, and the grafting was a lab grown protean to simulate the tissue around the heart, and that's what he would use, so perhaps recently, Dr Levine can be added to that list.

[TonySa]

Can you ask Dr Levine the name of this grafting material?

[peter123]

I think Benjamin is talking about extra tunica grafting. I stead of cutting into the plaque you use a graft material to add girth where the hourglassing indentation is. You wrap it around the penis to give it more girth and don't touch the tumica itself. With a bend this will not be enough obviously