Prosthesis thoughts?

[QuantumSheep]

Hey everyone -- I hope everybody is doing well today. My question goes out to those of you who have opted for a prosthesis after your I/O surgery. I tried to find if this question has been hashed out before but I didn't find much about it so here goes ...

I had my I/O about 4 weeks ago, and opted for the prosthesis to be inserted during the procedure. First of all, my doctor never showed me the prosthesis (something I understand is very commonplace). My recovery felt very long and arduous due to quite a lot of swelling and discomfort -- surprise surprise -- in the area of the prosthesis itself.

Now, four weeks out, everything feels much better -- but not great. Since I never saw the prosthesis, I do not know exactly how large it is -- but at the moment the right side feels at least 1 1/2 times the size of the left side -- and it is also VERY hard. And to some extent, it is a bit uncomfortable to the touch. Not painful at all but definitely something of a distraction during sex. Is this normal this far out after surgery? And if so, how long can I expect to wait until this becomes something less noticable? It's also taking its sweet time in "descending", i.e. it's still much closer to my body than the other one, and the surgeon said last week that it "should start descending soon." I'm really starting to regret opting for this thing and I wish I could go back in time and tell the surgeon to forget about it.

Any thoughts and/or personal accounts (especially if you've had a prosthetic for some time now) would be very appreciated!!

[Scott]

You should find some opinions on both sides of the issue if you search for the term "prosthetic."

[QuantumSheep]

Thanks Scott,

I did in fact do those searches prior to posting and found some decent information (information which, sadly, probably would have made me choose otherwise prior to my surgery had I seen it) as well as a few answers to some of my other questions but most of the posts seemed to be made relatively soon after the surgery ... I'm wondering what experiences people are having 6 months or a year or more down the road, if there's anyone here that fits the bill ... thanks!

[Scott]

Good, I just wanted to make sure you'd seen whatever information is already available. I'll step back now and let those with first-hand experience chime in.

[Rune]

I don't have first hand experience, but there's a good Personal Story about this over at TCRC from one of the regular posters on TC-NET:

http://tcrc.acor.org/stories/martin.html

[QuantumSheep]

Thanks so much you two; it's funny, I thought by now I had read every word that could be found on the TCRC site but then they go and surprise me again ... that kind of testimonial was exactly the kind I was looking for ...

By the way, this website is so great that I'm including it in the "Thank You" section of our upcoming CD! Now I just have to hope that millions upon millions upon millions of people end up reading that "Thank You" section. For completely selfless, altruistic reasons, of course ...

[Scott]

Hey, thanks for doing that! I'll just have to buy a copy!!

[Rune]

.. same here, I'd love to hear it. Do you know when it will be released?

[TCLEFT]

Quantum,
I opted for the Jelley Bean about 4 months after my i/o. I didn't like the feel at first. They sutured it in place so it always rides a bit high. It does feel hard and the endcap definately feels foreign. Over time I've gotten used to it. I also keep in mind that the reason I got it was that I was uncomfortable with just one. Not the look, but on those warmer days it was like I was carrying an egg in a Hefty bag. Things would twist up at night which would always wake me up. Not the most pleasent of times. Now I hardly think about the bean. My Sister, who's a bit warped, runs in the family, suggested I install a squeaky toy. My reply to her was then everyone would know when I'm coming. Anyway, I'm okay with having the new hardware. I still miss the old one, but the important thing is that I'm all right now. Good luck.
Mark

[QuantumSheep]

Hey Mark --

Oh, my friends have been more than helpful in coming up with "alternate" prosthesis ideas ... the vibrating one, the "strobe light" effect, the iPod model (so you can always take your tunes with you), and so on. One friend recommended that I install TWO extras, so I'd always have a conversation starter ... (although given what just one feels like, I'm sure glad I never considered that one ...) Let's see what else ... there was the alarm clock model, the type that sounds like a clown's horn when you squeeze it, oh, the list is just endless.

Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts about why it could be less-than-desirable to NOT have one ... I need that encouragement now!

[QuantumSheep]

.. same here, I'd love to hear it. Do you know when it will be released?

We're handing it off to the engineer today for mastering -- that should take about a week or two. My brother (God bless him) is designing all of the cover art for us for free and he should be done in about 2-3 weeks, then we send it off to be duplicated (not sure exactly how long that takes). We're working on having songs available on iTunes and actual CDs available thru cdbaby.com -- but as soon as we get the masters back, we will at the very least put a few songs up on MySpace.com so people can take a listen.

Don't worry, you can be sure I'll let everyone know when it's done, as it's taken over a year and a half to complete! And I can assure you, THIS little TC diversion hasn't helped things one bit!! But at least I'll always have the story of how, the night before my IO surgery, I was laying down a few final guitar solos instead of packing for a week of recovery at my dad's ... where I used my laptop to do a little bit of production work while on copious amounts of painkillers -- should provide for some interesting moments on the CD!!