Had surgery for CC

[Jamespear]

I had the Nesbit and thought I'd post my experiences to give people an idea of what to expect if they are thinking of having it done.

Day 1:

Not much pain. Quite zoned out on painkillers though. Penis was quite heavily wrapped up.

Day 2:

A bit of bleeding but not much pain. Still did not dare to touch it! The nurses removed the padding. The bruising and swelling surprised me quite a lot.

Day 3:

Not much bleeding now. Stitches are quite itchy. The pain occurs when you sleep. Night time erections are very painful and I woke up many times as a consequence.

Day 4:

Same as day 3 really. Shape is sort of returning to normal. Bruising still quite heavy. There were fewer night time erections (maybe because of the meds) but they still wake you up.

I am taking painkillers before I go to sleep in the hope that it might prevent me waking up from the pain. I am also on cyproterone acetate to prevent the erections but not sure if it is working yet.

[Norm]

Thanks for posting. We are all interested. Please continue with updates. Good luck.  

[Jamespear]

So I've just passed day 5 and the reason I'm online right now is a night time erection caused me enough pain to wake up...again. Does anyone know at what stage this stops being a problem (painful)?

I am quite worried that the stitches will split. I caught a glimpse of myself in a semi erect form and from what I saw I am straight (I wasn't concentrating much on my erection though-more how to get rid of it!).

I am looking forward to stopping taking the medication as I think I am having some water retention as a side effect. Other than night time erections though there is not much, if any, pain. The bruising is going down (although half of it is heavily blackened) and the swelling is now only at the end around where the incision is.

I will continue posting during the recovery period

[notanymore]

James,

Im now at day 12. and my experience has been very similar. i had plication which is nesbit i believe. sutures on the opp side of the curve. my concerns have been very similar. i havent slept a full night yet.

here is how it went for me:
i was discharged the day of surgery. the second day i was told to remove the bandage myself. i did it slowly in the shower and there was slight bleeding mainly because i used the water to soffen the removal. i re wrapped very lightly for comfort reasons even though the doctor said i didnt have to. swelling was what i expected. lots of discoloration, and swelling on the bottom side. pain was really not bad, mostly during movement and in the degloving area. i stopped taking the pain med(10mg hydrocodone) during the day. however the pain during nocturnal erections is intense and the prescribed valium and hydro has done nothing to stop it. The doctor says that is a good sign, and as long as nothing keeps it from extending out or restricts it, it should be structurally strong internally. The degloving area may take longer to heal though.

i just sleep naked on my couch on my side away from any girl and with no sheets. awkward, yes. but when i do wake up during a nocturnal erection and i get that instant panic i grab down and i feel it straight. it takes a while to get it down. but i have to say its pretty awesome. im 30, and thats the first time ive felt it that way. i still worry that maybe the sutures are slowly tearing or stretching out, but nothing seems to have changed.

the only thing i can say is if you are young and have always had strong erections. my doctor said take more time. generally its 6-8 weeks before activity. take 12. maybe thats completely unnecessary, but better safe than sorry. its the most difficult thing to do. i know. i was at a bar this friday and a beautiful woman asked me to her place. i wanted to cry because i knew i couldnt. im sure 12 weeks from now no offers from a good looking lady will be made. but my confidence is up already so im waiting to see what the future holds. lol :-(

[Jamespear]

Day 7:

Had another terrible erection pain during sleep. I have my checkup soon and hopefully they will be giving me some good news. I read the discharge summary from the hospital and it filled me with some hope that they said it was "without complication".

The most annoying thing about being woken up is that I am very tired when I eventually get out of bed! I managed to brave looking at the stitches and they look as if they're breaking down already.

@Notanymore

DAY 12?! That sounds terrible. I do not look forward to having pain that consistently! How long did it last on the previous occasion you had this surgery?

I don't know if I can face another 2 weeks of solitude on top of the 6 weeks I already have to go through! I suppose the first few weeks are the hardest anyway.

I am happy to hear that someone is going through a similar thing to me at approximately the same time (even though it is a terribly painful ordeal!)

[notanymore]

I will say even though it still wakes me up. the pain has reduced over time. the first few days i would wake constantly. now once or twice and its considerably more bearable.

[Jamespear]

Days 8 and 9 were similar. Still night time problems and being woken up constantly is driving me crazy.

Day 10

There is a constant dull pain that I have but nothing major. The stitches are almost completely broken down. Nobody seemed to explain how tired you would be from consistently interrupted sleep so YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.

The swelling seems to be completely gone. I am fairly sure I can feel the stitches under the skin but not sure if that is in my head. I am also unsure as to how curved it is now (if at all) as I have been unable to see myself erect due to the pain that I suffer when I do have an erection!

I met with the surgeon and he informed me that it was more complicated than they anticipated as it was an extremely complex curvature (I must say I never noticed). On the upside he said everything went well though and I have a follow up appointment in a few months. He said I could stop my medication to prevent the erections after 2 weeks and it would be ok for me to have erections after that point. No sex for 6 weeks is still the rule though. I wonder how painful the whole thing is going to be?!

Will keep updating with the progress.

[TheTreee]

Hey, can y'all tell me and the rest of us who did your procedure and where? Did insurance cover the cost of your procedure?

How severe (approximate degrees) and which direction was your curve? How long were you before the surgery and what was your girth? And how's the size doing afterwards?

You guys are brave. Your informing us of your journey is much appreciated. (I have a congenital curve, and at 40+ am finally considering actually doing something about it.)

[james1947]

Jamespear

I will add my question to thetreee question:
Could you post the doctor information? Name, Hospital, contact. We don't have too many in the UK.
Wish you big success with the outcome of your surgery.

James

[Jamespear]

Jamespear

I will add my question to thetreee question:
Could you post the doctor information? Name, Hospital, contact. We don't have too many in the UK.
Wish you big success with the outcome of your surgery.

James

Hi James1947.

I have sent thetreee some long private messages.

I ended up using Dr Ralph's team. He is based in Harley Street (London) but you can also get them on the NHS as they operate out of UCH. I can say that my experience with them to date has been really good. I saw Suks Minhas as well and everyone was quite helpful. Giulio Garaffa did my surgery and he does a lot of work with Ralph and Minhas. I know that the urology department in UCH does a lot of these surgeries so if you want it done on the NHS then that's probably the place to go considering they have MANY people who specialise in this area.

I will be using this forum for at least the coming months so if someone would like further information about this then please feel free to send me a message.

[james1947]

Jamespear

Thanks for the update.
We had some members not so happy with Dr. Ralph, so I am happy that you had a good experience with him and the others.

James

[Jamespear]

Jamespear

Thanks for the update.
We had some members not so happy with Dr. Ralph, so I am happy that you had a good experience with him and the others.

James

Please note that Dr Ralph did not do my surgery. The reality is that I had no contact with him but used his team! I initially asked to be referred to him but eventually had Garaffa do my surgery. Before I had the surgery I actually had face time with everyone except Ralph.

At first I was a little disheartened but after being in contact with people on the forum who have had contact with him I feel quite lucky. Minhas was charming, helpful and very knowledgeable- as was Garaffa. There is actually another member of the team that I spoke with that I would highly recommend. I will find out his name as he was really professional and pleasant (considering the circumstances it is quite hard to be the second one).

I have read some negative comments about Ralph and received messages to that effect however I would be unable to comment as I never actually met the man!

[Jamespear]

Day 11

Some strange shooting pains but they go relatively quickly. The stitches are almost completely broken down and it really does not look like it will scar (I don't even know if that's possible?!).

Something does seem odd in terms of the girth though. I was told that the girth would remain the same but it definitely feels a bit thicker (again I'm not sure that's possible!).

I am still not sleeping through the nights without waking up from the pain. Nothing I can do about that one unfortunately. Can anyone tell me how long it will hurt for?

[Jamespear]

Day 12

The erections are still waking me up although I think I am becoming used to the pain now. I am quite concerned that there still seemed to be a curve when I had a look this morning. It was only half erect so I am hoping that it becomes straighter the more erect it gets. I am also not sure if it was all in my head or not!

I am quite depressed by my glimpse this morning as I had left the surgeons having heard it went well without complications. I think I may be speaking prematurely so I will keep you posted in due course. I do not think I have felt any of the stitches "pop" or break as I have read some people have had on this forum so I am hoping I am just being paranoid.

[james1947]

Jamespear

Relax a bit . It is too early to know the exact result and also if remain some small bend it is not an issue. Most penises are not really 100% strait . I am sure they have induced an erection after they had done they work to see if it will be strait.
Not less important than correcting the curve is that you have erections, it means no damage to nerves.
Keep us updated how is your progress.

James

[Norm]

JS,
Btw, thanks for posting and updating us. It does matter to a great many who are considering going where you have gone. I, personally, am going that direction this month. Keep us advised please as I still have time to back out.  

[LWillisjr]

For those of you recovering from Surgery....  DON'T RUSH IT. You have been through a lot and have taken a huge step to straighten your erection. So give it time to heal.

For me it too 2-3 weeks for the pain to subside. I was pleased to know I could still get erections, but there were sore. So didn't get full hard erections for about 3 weeks or so. And my doctor said no intercourse for 6 weeks. I have spoken to several guys who "jumped the gun" on waiting the 6 weeks and later regretted it. Even after the initial 6 week wait things were a little different. It was probably 6 months or so before I would say things were pretty much back to normal.

Go slow, be patient, and let it heal.

[Jamespear]

JS,
Btw, thanks for posting and updating us. It does matter to a great many who are considering going where you have gone. I, personally, am going that direction this month. Keep us advised please as I still have time to back out.  

I seriously considered backing out many times but when I was waiting in the hospital room I thought it was something I just had to do

[Knight]

Thanks for the detailed log here. Very helpful information for the decision making process I could be facing in the near future. Best of luck!!!

[lordfkiller]

Quote modified by moderator, please use the quote in the way as it is now.
I had a plication procedure done about three weeks ago. The pain kept me up for a week or so (of course I did get some sleep!). After three weeks it still wakes me up in the morning, but it's much better now. I was not put on any medicine to avoid erections and I did not try any narcotic painkillers - only paracetamol, which didn't seem to do much help. I think ice packs work better than medication in the first week.

Try not to worry about how it looks right now. Your penis may look thicker for one thing - that's because it's swollen. You may be unable to get full erections due to pain, which means you can't judge its straightness. Mine also used to point to the right (from the base, not a curve) for a few days and that worried me a lot.

Good luck

[Jamespear]

Quote deleted by moderator.
Read the forum rules please

Thanks. That is very helpful and rather strangely I am happy someone somewhere has had the same mindset I had! Mine is still curved but I have not yet had a full erection so I suppose I will hold fire on any opinion until I see the final outcome.  

How does yours look now?

[Jamespear]

Day 13

The pain during the evening is subsiding a bit but still interfering. I woke up very early however and could not get back to sleep so ended up staying awake. I was able to look at the incision which is healing nicely. Having showers and cleaning is a less sensitive process now.

Day 14

Awoken at 4.30 in the morning due to the erection pain. I will say that is the longest I have slept for quite a while. I went to bed at about 2130 (due to being so tired from the night before) so I suppose it is a nearly a full amount of sleep! There still seems some curvature when I had a look at it semi erect but I am hoping that it will be different when I have a full erection (although I do not look forward to the pain).

[LWillisjr]

Hang in there, the pain will start to subside soon.

[Jamespear]

Day 15

I am still suspicious that there is a curvature. There was some blood today which wasn't pleasant. Not much at least.

No pain woke me up last night, just nightmares! There is still a dull pain during the day which is annoying but a light painkiller gets rid of it.

No real news at this point. Looking forward to being able to use it again as I am going a bit crazy. 3 weeks and 6 days left!!

[Jamespear]

I would also be interested to know at what stage people got full erections without pain please?!

[notanymore]

Yeah, If you are young and in an area like south florida. The 6-8 weeks seems like years. but from experience, just let it heal. even after 8 weeks, be careful.

bad erection pain stopped for me at about week 3. still a little sore when erect, but nothing serious. the stitches at the degloving are a bit raw and uncomfortable, but more than bearable. im not on any pain meds at this date. i was on 10mg of valium to reduce nocturnal erections. that has been my biggest problem. nothing has seemed to stop nocturnal erections, but the doc said as long as it is not restricted in any way it is completely structurally strong and other than the pain at night it does not matter. ive just went with sleeping naked with only a sheet. i even had a wet dream. wow, at 31.

I do however go through anxiety. i constantly reposition it against the original curve. i feel as if it might return. nothing has suggested that it will return, but i am paranoid. i just have to get a feel at night, and although its not 100% perfect(maybe 5 degree left) it sure does inspire some confidence when i feel it. sorry for the details, but its important people know this.

i can tell you from surgery 1, just stay away from women. im a horny bastard(excuse my english) and getting excited while it was restricted in pants was certainly the reason some of the curve returned.

lastly, dont be afraid. i was so nervous my whole life i never even told a doctor until i was 30yrs old and got dumped by the love of my life. In comparison, the surgery is a piece of cake and will do wonders for your confidence, self esteem, and everything else. I wish i had said something at age 16, and i lived in a house hold of two doctors with MD, PHD's.

[Jamespear]

Quote deleted by moderator.
Please do not quote unnecessarily!!! It makes the topic not readable and take place on the server!!!

Ah you actually answered my questions here. Thank you for this notanymore. Week 3 seems so far away. I am currently on day 16...Only 5 more days then!

Medication to prevent night time erections stops today which has me extremely worried. I too am suffering from the paranoia of the curve returning. Staying away from women shouldnt be too hard. I banned my girlfriend from sleeping at mine! I am also feeling less sexual (as a consequence of the meds im sure).

After this long how does it look? What are your erections like now?

[lordfkiller]

I'm in week 4 now. In terms of pain, I don't feel much pain in the morning any more. It doesn't wake me up at night either. Erections are almost painless now, but still it feels uncomfortable and scary to touch. Please note that Nesbit's is much more invasive compared to my procedure which was a 16-dot plication. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if yours took longer to heal.

In terms of looks, it seems to be straight, possibly curving downwards very slightly. It does tend to point to the right when partially erect, but full erection seems to be fine. Then again, I haven't been aroused enough to get a really hard erection lately. I also have a slight torsion which is within normal range and might even get better. Also keep in mind that curvatures less than 20 degrees are considered normal.

I guess it's going to take me a while to believe I'm straight. It's too hard to comprehend the fact that my over 60 degrees ventrally curved (plus 30 laterally) penis that has been part of me all my life now belongs to the past (I just said "has" been instead of "had"!). I'm certainly not going to believe it before I can use it to have sex or masturbate at least once! I just can't help myself.

[Jamespear]

Day 17

The meds to prevent erections is slowly wearing off. My testicles actually shrunk as I was not producing as much testosterone due to the meds. They are now returning to normal size. It is a strange feeling. 4 more days until the 3 week mark which also signals half way. I suspect the last 2 weeks without masturbating and any sexual contact will be quite hard but I knew it was not going to be easy!

I started the exercises the doctor told me to do. It involves pulling the glans and stretching the penis. Not sure what it does-perhaps somebody could tell me? It hurts a bit but significantly less than when I first started (which was on day 14 post op)

[notanymore]

out of curiosity. at what age did you first see a urologist about this and at what age did you have the surgery? what processes did you go through before surgery?

[Jamespear]

I first saw a urologist when I was 24/25. I cannot remember which. I then went to see the specialists and it was about a year after that I actually had the surgery. I had 3 appointments before that though. They tested my erection on one of my visits. They inject the penis with a vasodilator to see the cc. It is pretty funny as you just can't stop that thing growing and it takes ages to go away!

The time between the first visit and the actual surgery was one of torment. I really did not know whether I should go through with it or not. As these posts show-I did do it although I do still have something in the back of my mind wondering if all this will be worth it

[lordfkiller]

Just so that people considering seeing a urologist for their congenital curvature don't get unnecessarily scared:

I think your urologist overcomplicated things for you. I just showed a couple of photos I had taken from my erect penis, he examined my flaccid penis in an office visit and next time I saw him was in the operation theatre.  As for pre-operative erectile function, he just asked whether my erections were rigid and satisfactory. This one was a world renowned andrologist. I also saw another urologist a few months before the surgery and he also was going to proceed to the surgery after one office visit based on the photos and physical examination of flaccid penis.

For young people with congenital curvature (as opposed to Peyronie's), most urologists trust the patient's judgement about erectile function. Then again, there are some inexperienced urologists that go so far as to do a Doppler ultrasound for someone with a congenital curvature. I suppose there might as well be some famous experts that overcomplicate things.

[Jamespear]

@lordofkiller

I think you may have misunderstood why they induced an erection. They wanted to see the curvature before I went under as they said  that they don''t like having someone go under without having seen the CC first. They did not do it to see the strength of it.

The reason for seeing it before the surgery is because that would depend on who did the surgery from what I understand. For complex curvatures such as mine for instance it required a more senior and skilled surgeon.

[Jamespear]

Day 24

Sorry the posts have become a bit infrequent but there is nothing much to report on.

I am still unable to have full erections due to pain and residual medication I assume. I woke up in pain last night again. Was a sharper pain than before- it seemed to be urethral. I have no idea why it hurt so much as I am fairly sure they don't touch that in the operation.

I forgot to post earlier that in relation to the stitches I had three on one side and one on the other side. I can feel all of them. It is odd feeling them. I am still unable to gauge how much length I lost but I'm hoping the doctor's assessment of 1 cm was accurate.

I have noticed some hardening of the skin around the degloving area. Can anyone tell me if this is normal?

[lordfkiller]

I have noticed some hardening of the skin around the degloving area. Can anyone tell me if this is normal?

I had that too. I believe it is going away now. I asked a surgeon (a relative, not a urologist) and he said it was normal - I forgot to check with my urologist.  

[james1947]

Jamespear

The hardening at the degloving are can be as a scar tissue is developing there.
Usually this scar will be very small or not seen in the future, but you must ask your doctor.

James

[keepitstraight]

Yep Like James said hardening around the circuncision area is normal. It is scar tissue. 24 days is too early. The scar will mature with time dont worry :-). Jamespear at this time what you report seems rather normal. It was nesbitt?

[Jamespear]

Thanks all. The hardening of the skin seems to be subsiding already due to my erections and stretching the skin.

I doubt I will have a scar as I cannot see any at the moment. I did not get circumcised but it may have to be done due to the slight excess of foreskin. I am assuming that is why they normally do it?

It is all healing quite nicely. I saw myself erect yesterday and it seems nearly completely straight. Erections are still quite painful (at approx 4 weeks) but so far so good!

[james1947]

Jamespear

Your concerns are "legal" but as you can see, things are settling down

James  

[lordfkiller]

Finishing 6 weeks tomorrow here. Pain has noticeably subsided during last one week and erections are now painless enough to masturbate. I didn't dare to do that though - I'm still scared to touch my thing at this point!

[lordfkiller]

Btw, I think my erections are much more rigid after surgery (which I would assume is a good thing). Has anybody else noticed this?

[keepitstraight]

Yes lordfkiller i noticed that. I even think i might gained a tiny bit of girth. But definitly erections improved. Im 1 year post op. It could be pshycological but also a slight improvement on the erections hemodynamics.

[Jamespear]

@james1947: what do you mean that the concerns are "legal"? I don't understand

@lordofkiller: I have noticed that my erections are more solid since the surgery. I am assuming that is a good thing although it is going to take some getting used to!

@keepitstraight: I too noticed some girth ( I think we may have had this conversation).

I am 6 weeks on from surgery now and erections are still a little bit painful. I will post back once I have used it!

[Jamespear]

Last night was the first night I saw my full erection and the 45 degree right curvature seems to have gone. What is now there is a kink at the bottom which makes my penis point to the left. If you can imagine the base of the penis curving immediately left. It is approximately 45 degrees and is really starting to worry me.

I do not understand how this could have happened. I remember reading some people posting that they had their penis point in the wrong direction for a few days. I was wondering if they could elaborate on it please.

[Norm]

James,
I, too, had surgery. Mine was plication. And I too notice a slight lean to mine. It just tilts a little from the base. I am not at all concerned about it, it is straight and it will certainly tilt back easily for sex. I chalk the lean up to the fact that we are men, we wear pants, and we have to dress right or left. The inseam in your pants just won't let your penis ride squarely in the middle. So I am guessing yours is leaning the direction that you dress. Unless it gets worse, I would not concern myself about it. You are straight. Enjoy!  

[Jamespear]

Week 6

So it seemed that at this point I was allowed to masturbate and have sex. There is no way either would happen. It is too sore to even contemplate something rubbing it!

Week 7

I finally managed to masturbate but it is quite sore. It took over an hour to ejaculate and had to be done VERY slowly. Sex is out of the question at the moment. I will think about it in week 8 maybe!

[james1947]

Jamespear

How are your erections?
I think this is the most important thing after surgery, not how early you can have sex.

James

[Jamespear]

Very solid. Scarily so. They are a lot harder than they were before which I did not expect

[james1947]

Jamespear

This is the good news. Strong erections.

James

[Jamespear]

So I had sex for the first time since the surgery. Still VERY sore and had to go VERY slowly. Lubricant is essential! I managed to ejaculate which seems to be a good sign and positions are significantly easier.

Will post back when I can have sex properly and without large amounts of pain!