Hi guys,
It’s been a while since I’ve been on the forum. Things have been busy, and besides, I was holding off posting while I tried to figure out a way to post my MRI and ultrasound images. Alas, life has taken over and I’m not sure when I will be able to post them.
So here’s my accounts of my ultrasound and NPT tests at UCLH which will perhaps be useful to someone.
UltrasoundThis went considerably better than my MRI. My appt was on time and unlike my MRI I was lead into a private room to receive both the caverject injection and the scan.
It was the same consultant / radiologist who performed both the injection and the scan. He was a pretty nice guy who seemed to know his stuff. We chatted briefly about my MRI and suspected CF, to which he said ‘Trust me, you don’t have Corporal
Fibrosis’, so I suspect he was also the guy that perused my MRI scan results.
He first performed the scan on me
flaccid and kindly allowed to me see the images on screen, explaining how he was looking for plaques. There was one area of stark white which he saved, explaining that if this was still evident once I was erect it would most likely be
plaque.
He inject me with 15mg at the base and recommended that I massage it through to the tip in a one-way slow masturbatory motion. He left me alone for 15 mins and a nurse sat in the room at a computer (a curtain had been drawn between us). I called out once the drug had taken effect, which it did very well this time (unlike during my MRI scan where it had no effect at all), and the nurse called the consultant to come back in. I mentioned that I didn’t know to massage the drug in during my MRI and he said that while it’s not in the drug instructions, he’s learned from pro experience that this yields better results. And indeed it did, I had a full erection for 3 hours following the scan and was actually starting to worry that I’d suffer
priapism.
He performed the scan again and the suspected
plaque was no longer evident. He speculated that this was just the tissue tightening around the injection site. He then scanned my undercarriage to check for arterial in-flow. Initially he thought it was a little weak but still within normal parameters, but then moved the scan-gun around a bit and said actually it was reasonable. I didn’t enjoy hearing sounds one normally associates with pregnancy scans, particularly in light of my wife’s recent miscarriage.
But that was that. The consultant summarised that everything was in order and there was nothing anomalous as far as he was concerned. Which leaves me feeling perplexed as nature of the internal woodiness that can clearly be felt and has been identified by two urologists, including My Minhas. I’d welcome any suggestions as to what this is.
I got dressed and was given a sheet warning me when to go to hospital should I still have an erection and noting the dose of caverject I’d received. Confusingly the nurse said to go to A&E after 3 hours, the sheet said 4 hours and reading online
priapism is sometimes diagnosed only after 6.
Okay then, NPT (Nocturnal Penile Tumescence) Test In a nutshell this checks that you’re getting morning wood okay. Good morning wood = psychologically based
Erectile Dysfunction. Bad morning wood = organic
Erectile Dysfunction. This was important to me since following years of fighting the pro’s assumption that my
Erectile Dysfunction is psychological, I’m keen to demonstrate that it is not.
The appt letter I received requests that you call the urology dept within two weeks of the letter being sent to confirm you will be attending or you will be discharged. As we moved house recently I almost missed it. It also requests that you call a mobile number on the day of the appt to confirm that there is still a bed available. The mobile appears to be carried round by one of the nurses on the ward.
EDIT: I wrote this the morning after the scan and spend a few paragraphs moaning about confusing times at the hospital. If you want to get straight to the test, skip a few paragraphs down.
I got to the hospital at 8.45 pm for 9pm appt. The letter does not give directions, just says to go to the front desk, which I did. The chap at reception was having a loud personal phone call. I stood waiting for 5 mins, got bored so went to the urology outpatient desk, but they were unable to help and sent me back to the front desk. I stood and looked at the guy still on his phone for another 5-10 mins, he just stared right back at me. In the end I called the previously mentioned mobile and they directed me up to the 2nd floor which is the urology surgical and short stay ward.
There was no-one at the small reception desk but a sign stated that should no-one be around go through the doors on your right and find a nurse, which I duly did. I found myself in the women’s ward, which was quite busy, and no nurses around, although I could hear from behind a curtain someone complaining about the treatment of their mother at a different hospital and demanding that the same not happen at UCLH. After a while a female nurse appeared from round the corner and looked a bit shocked to see me. I explained why I was there and she didn’t understand at first then directed me to the ward at the other side of the reception desk which was the men’s ward.
I got the attention of a male nurse in the busy ward. Again he didn’t seem to understand what I wanted at first and then twigged and smirked. Perhaps I’m being a bit sensitive here. Anyway, he led me to a private bedroom at the back of the ward and offered me a chair and said I was welcome to watch TV while he went to get another nurse. The other nurse came in, said it was the wrong room, and I was lead back to the female ward and put in a room just off the corridor. This one had an en suite toilet, for which I was grateful as I often need to urinate at least once in the night.
Nonetheless, I felt guilty that I was getting a room to myself when there were plenty of people worse off than myself with just a curtain separating them from their neighbours. I was left in the room with the rigiscan instructions, which I’d already had a good read of as they were sent with the appt letter. About 20 mins later a female nurse came in with the rigiscan and explained very briefly which bit went where. Then I was left alone, I assumed, for the night.
The rigiscan is about the size and weight of a Sega Game Gear, for anyone who liked video games in the 90s, with two wires coming out of one end and an on/off switch on the side. The wires have loops at the end which you affix to your base and tip of your penis. You strap the unit to one leg with a surgical sock. When you turn on the machine, the loops slowly tighten. They then tighten and relax at 15 sec intervals for the duration of use, and by this method measure the extent to which you engorge and presumably, the length of time you engorge. Perhaps I’m missing something here, but despite the name ‘rigiscan’ I can’t see how this method could measure the rigidity of an erection, it simply measures the diameter and
circumference of the penis at the base and tip. You can turn it off mid session for up to 15 mins if you need to urinate.
I got myself hooked up relatively easily and then got myself on the bed. I had a read of my kindle for perhaps an hour and then lights out. The rigiscan is cumbersome but not unpleasant. It’s nonetheless distracting so it took me quite a while to fall asleep. Just as I was dosing off, at about midnight, a male nurse comes into the room and asks just to check that I’d set up the rigiscan properly. He expressed surprise that I’d already tried to get to sleep. At midnight! One must also bear in mind that the appt states you need to leave at 6.30am the next day. That’s quite a small window in which to make an assessment that requires sleep.
Finally fell asleep an hour or so later and was woken by a female nurse at 6.15am. I was up, dressed, out of the room and ready to hand over the machine by 6:30am. Except the nurse who had woken me had disappeared and no-one was around. Went to the male ward and saw a male nurse from across the room who gestured that I should leave the machine just to one side on a cabinet, which seemed strange given how expensive I’m sure this thing is. I hope some kid hasn’t picked it up thinking it’s a Sega Game Gear. What if they’ve tampered with my results.
And that was it, out the door. I was surprised that there was no assessment of how well or long I’d slept. I could have stayed up all night to rig the results. Unless they check in on you periodically, which if so, I didn’t notice.
So there you go. I hope this is helpful to someone. My follow up appt isn’t until December but I’ll post the results when I know.
Best
Peety
Author
Topic: Ultrasound and Nocturnal Penile Tumescence Test at UCLH (Read 2902 times)
September 04, 2010, 10:58:56 PM