Implant - To Anchor Or Not To Anchor

[brad john]

Regarding testicular implants:

Anchor vs "Free floating" Would love to hear any and all experiences. I am scheduled for implant surgery Wed. Aug. 24.

Thanks!

[JamesC]

My doctor was very sure that Sutchering them in was best and this is what I went with (July 13th) He said there is a real possibility that they would migrate up into me (Up the inguinal Canals) and require more surgery later to fish them out and put them back into my scrotum. Mine never were anchored with the internal ligiment correctly so they spent a lot of time up inside me which might have caused my problems with Orchialgia.

Anyway I like the way my appliance feels, the firmness is "correct." BTW I opted for a device from AART (Not the Mentor) The AART is solid but "squishy" and my surgeon said he had never heard of them before but would suggest them to future patients. I like that they come in adult sizes. I think the old Mentors are limited (Plus I don't like the possibility of leaks)

[Russell's Mom]

Anchored. I can remember Russell's humor while in the midst of it all. If you could picture him sort of wiggling around, then catching an imaginary object as it erupted from his mouth...... I believe that this was a learned idea, but he also asked for Titanium. I have heard no complaints from him!!! Good luck, Sharon

[JamesC]

An update on the question. My surgeon said that to no anchor it would open me up to the possibility of the device migrating up my inguanal canals and getting "lost"

Well... this might well be true with the smaller devices but these 31mL units from AART would require dynamite to go back upside me

As to where to anchor (base of the scrotum or hung high) all I can to this is that old guys tend to have "saggy" balls so perhapes its good to hang em high...

[Kev]

Hi Brad John
I had a left I/O at the beginning of April (100% classic seminoma, 1 round of carboplatin at the end of May). I was given a saline filled implant (don't know what brand -- only that it is an adult large). The implant feels a little hard and not all too natural -- my urologist doesn't think much of this type of implant and told me the old silicone implants were way more natural but not currently available due to the silicone implant health concerns.

My implant was anchored, but at my 5th week post surgery I noticed that it would rotate end for end. My urologist got quite a kick out of this and told me he had never seen this happen before (reassuring right?). The implant had been anchored to the base of my scrotum, now somehow the stitches came loose. He assured me that the free floating implant would not cause a problem, it be highly unlikely to travel up through the inguinal canal, and it would not harm my remaining testicle. If it bothers me he will reattach it, but he sees no other reason to do this.

I was told that it is common practice to anchor the implant to the base of the scrotum. As I was still in the process of healing I can't really comment on the comfort differences between having had an anchored or now having a free floating implant, but I think it may be more comfortable/natural now that it isn't anchored and can move around in a similar fashion like the real testicle.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Kevin

[Aegletes]

Thanks for the update, Kev. I'm going back to my urologist next week to talk about my implants. The left one was inserted inguinally and sutured in place and rides a little high. The right one (to replace a testicle "lost" twelve years ago) was inserted through the scrotum and anchored to the bottom and rides very low. I guess that makes me lop-sided. The right one bothers me and I want to talk to the surgeon about what my options are to "fix" it if possible. Did you and your urologist discuss just how re-surgery for implants works? Is it very involved (general anesthesia, large incision, long recovery, that sort of question)?

[Kev]

Hi Alex,
The urologist and I did not discuss any specifics regarding re-anchoring my implant. I was content to learn that having it free floating will not cause any problems. The urologist did mention that if I felt I wasn't happy with it, the implant would be easy to "pop out". This is the same information he gave me when we discussed the pros and cons of getting an implant. He assured me that it is much easier to insert during the I/O and not a big deal to get rid of later if I either didn't like it or decided I didn't want it -- not that I'm too excited about the prospect of more surgery around that area for awhile.

From what I have read, problems with correcting the implant height are not uncommon, and I would expect that the correction surgery would not be too dissimilar to a non-inguinal insertion.

Although my implant is no longer anchored I find that it still sits somewhat high as the scrotum on this side seems to sit higher, or not be as deep as the other side. My urologist commented this may correct with the simple effect of gravity over time. I don't know if this is a result of the I/O or not, but it really isn't anything I'm concerned about.

I can honestly say that I don't have issues with the un-anchored implant -- albeit it is a little weird. It generally seems to hang in the proper north-south orientation and although I was still tender when I noticed it was loose, I think it may be more comfortable now loose then when it was anchored.

Hope that helps. Sorry I don't have any specific information. Let me know how you make out. As implants are techinically not a "lifelong" device, I expect that this may be something I'll be faced with at some point.

Good Luck next week,
Kevin

[Aegletes]

Thanks, Kev, for your reply and PM. I'll talk about it with my urologist next week although, like you, I don't welcome the prospect of more surgery. I still have residual pain from the scrotal incision so I'm not eager to let anyone near that part of me with a scalpel. Nevertheless, I want to see what can be done. Ah, the joys of artificial body parts.

[JoePSU]

I've been debating whether or not I want to have an implant to replace 'ol leftie. I know this is a rather personal question, but can you guys tell me what the implant feels like, not only when you touch it with your fingers, but can you tell there is something inanimate and without nerves in your scrotum when you sit down, walking around, are having sex, etc...

I don't know if my insurance will pay for it, and my urologist knew nothing about testicular implants. (I "fired" him a few months ago).

[Aegletes]

I'm not surprised by the urologist not knowing anything - TC is rare as is and getting implants is even less common. I was fortunate that my urologist volunteered the idea of implants. As for how they feel, I'd say based on my own experience that what is noticeable is the absence of feeling. They're not really part of you, after all, but simply take up space. The scrotal skin will still have all the sensation you're accustomed to, of course, but you won't feel anything else beneath the skin. You can actually be quite rough with the implants and you'll experience no discomfort the way you might if, say, you were to press on a real testicle tightly. The saline-filled implants are also harder than real testicles, which is probably the most disconcerting thing at first. I'll say, though, that three months after being operated on, I've grown accustomed to that hardness. My own concern is with how they "hang" as getting a natural positioning of the implants isn't as simple as you might think. That seems to be one of the biggest sources of disatisfaction from what I've read and in my own experience.

[JamesC]

Wow! The twirling testicle! I have a late news flash that my right device has come loose as well. With the sound like a guitar cord breaking when DW and I were getting intimate. She even heard this and stopped saying "What was that?" My answer was "WHO CARES?!"

ha!

Anyway, my doctor said the same sort of thing. Its ok, lets just leave it alone. And he was the one telling me it needed to be sewn in so go figure. I've no complaints about it floating free. My wife was just a tad freaked out when I told her it could do 360s now. She is NOT interested in seeing that.

Hummm... I'm thinking of a really big bar bet. It goes along the lines of

Bet I can do something you can't! At least watching the other guy try would be funny...

[ukboyuk]

Strange this is that my implant seemed to suddenly loosen and become more free about 2 or 3 months post-surgery.

It still feels as if it is "tethered" from the top of the implant - it's almost like I can feel a thin wire or string holding it in place. And yet my surgeon claimed he used disolvable stitches? Maybe this is just the body playing tricks.

I could massage it but it doesn't feel good to push against resistance. If something went "pop" I think I'd panic. I'll leave it be!