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Unable to watch Brian’s video? Read his story below
My name is Brian Wright and I’m 34 years old. I currently work in logistics. I’m an eight-year military veteran and an alumnus of Georgia State University.
I found out that I had erectile dysfunction when I was around 18 or 19. Like I said, I had the problem the entirety of my adult life. I was able to get an erection, but I was not able to maintain an erection. I sought treatment with a general practitioner when I was around 20 years old and he gave me prescription to ED pills, but he also told me during that visit that the problem was likely psychological, and what do you do what that kind of information at 20 years old?
I went to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled and I tried it and it did not work for me, so I actually went on for another couple of years with nothing and then around 23 I heard an ad on the radio for the Men’s Clinic. I stopped there to get penile injections.
Penile Injections
My experience with the penile injections was an interesting experience, to say the least. I visited the Men’s Clinic and they gave me 10 doses for $1,000.00 and the very first time I tried the penile injections they worked great. I had an erection for about an hour. The erection went down, and again I was ecstatic that I actually had a solution for the problem.
However, over time I started having varied responses to the medication. Sometimes I was not able to get an erection at all. Other times I was experiencing priapism. That’s an extended erection, where I would have an erection for five, ten, even fifteen hours at a time. The time that I had a 15-hour erection I actually had to go to the emergency room to meet with the urologist on call it was at that time that he informed me about the inflatable penile prosthesis.
Discovering Penile Implants
When he first told me about it, it was kind of a hard concept to wrap my mind around because you’re never going to be that guy that had the implant. That’s always going to be somebody else, you know?
I found out that I actually had a condition that was causing my erectile dysfunction. It was called a venous leak, and I was informed of this by my urologist at the time when I was having the priapism taken down. I was absolutely relieved to hear this because all this time I had thought that the condition was psychological. The great thing about learning about this medical diagnosis of venous leak is that there was a solution for it.
Recovery
One of the questions I’m frequently asked is, does the penis look and feel the same after surgery, and for me, my penis looks exactly the same. It feels the same. Sensations are the same. I’m still able to urinate. I’m still able to ejaculate. All the things that I was able to do before, I’m able to do now. Talk to your doctor about any consultations that you feel you may need to have.
Many people want to know, will others know that you have a penile prosthesis, and the answer is no. One of the common analogies that we use is that if you’re standing in the middle of a locker room naked, no one would know that you have a penile prosthesis. The device is completely concealed inside the body.
Impact of Penile Implant
How has having the inflatable penile prosthesis impacted my life? In a word, confidence. Professionally, personally, socially. From a professional standpoint, I’m able to pursue my professional endeavors with kind of an assertive brio that I didn’t have before. On a personal and social level, I’m able to walk into the room now and be that guy that I always wanted to be, just confident and self-assured and knowing what I want. That has made all the difference for me.
Erectile Dysfunction, a “Couples Disease”
One thing I want to emphasize about erectile dysfunction is that it’s a two-person condition. What I mean by a two-person condition is that it affects you and it affects your spouse. That’s why it’s very important to be forthright and forthcoming about the condition. I personally was not upfront with my wife about the condition that I had and it really wreaked havoc on our marriage, up until the point of our divorce. For your partner, as well, if you’re watching this, just understand that erectile dysfunction is a real condition. It impacts men from, again, ages 18 to 99. There is no age limit on erectile dysfunction and there are solutions out there.
What should men know?
One thing I want other guys to know is that there are options out there. I know there are other guys out there who are like me, who are embarrassed about the condition, who think they’re alone in this. You’re not.
If you are suffering from erectile dysfunction, do not suffer alone in silence. Seek help for it. See someone who specializes in the field of erectile dysfunction, and they can provide viable solutions for you.
