Hair loss Treatment Center

PARTICIPANTS J. François Eid, MD Private Practice, NYC

Dr. François Eid is a surgeon in private practice in Manhattan, and he's the Director of Advanced Urological Care. Thanks for being with us.

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Thank you, David.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: And we're lucky to have two patients today who we last saw 18 months ago, and that was just a few weeks after they had the pump inserted, and we thank you for being here, John and Jim, and John's partner is also with us. They are off camera. We will hear what they have to say about this experience.

So, Dr. Eid, it's obviously hard to make the decision to have this implanted.

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Yes.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: But once the decision is made, what should people expect?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: I think they should expect normal function, a feeling of normalcy and being able to make love whenever that individual wishes to do it.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: There must be a lot of fears about the surgery -- if it's going to work, how it's going to feel. How do you prepare them?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: It's not easy, David, and one has to spend time with the patient talking about the procedure itself, the device and what it can do for that particular patient. So I really start by showing a tape of a patient with a device and showing that patient actually activating and deactivating the device, and what the tape shows is that the person looks totally normal. That's number one.

Number two, when the person finds out that it's a fluid filled device, they have all sorts of questions. How do you put it in? Do you need to cut the whole penis? Does the pump stick out of the skin? Do I have normal sensation? Will I be able to reach orgasm? So all these concerns have to be explained to the patient, and very often we'll actually preempt the question and describe the device and what it does in a lot of detail.

I think it is very important for an individual who is thinking of this option to ask as many questions as possible, and we guys don't ask questions, and that's one of the things that limits, sometimes, our medical treatment options.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Well, let's ask a couple of the guys. John and Jim, you're off camera, and you were kind enough to join us today. It's interesting, because we last saw you 18 months ago, and you had just had the procedure, so now we can kind of take a look back, and remember how you felt when you finally decided to have the procedure, John. Did you have any concerns? Did you have any worries? What were you thinking?

JOHN: Actually, I was worried, as you would be about any operation, but I was very happy to think that this operation was going to give me back something that I enjoyed, that I wanted and I missed.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: But this isn't just any operation. We're guys. We're sensitive. I mean, this is, I would think, a little bit more worrisome than just a normal surgical procedure.

JOHN: Well, I think yes. But it is aiding what we have lost. It's correcting something that broke down.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: What did you want to know? When you first talked to Dr. Eid, what questions came up in your mind?

JOHN: How does it work? I'm very mechanical. I was very interested in the process mechanically, engineeringly, how it worked. What I would certainly suggest to anybody considering this, and I think Jim would agree, is not just look at the film. Actually ask to look at the device. It is a very simplistic device, and when you see it and touch it, it takes away all the apprehension that you may have had. I say this to people on the phone. Ask the doctor to see it.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Let me hear from Jim. Now, what were your concerns right away?

JIM: After the Viagra didn't work, as I said, I was 53 years old, and there wasn't really that much of a choice -- being, really, impotent -- but getting the operation. I had full confidence in Dr. Eid after looking at the tapes, after the films, and he assured me 100 percent that it would work. I had the operation.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Did you have questions for him about it?

JIM: Yes, yes, I had questions. I was worried about the surgery. Would it be painful, how long it would take before I could have sex, but everything was explained first. Everything was explained in the tapes. I saw how it was done. He explained, he showed it to me. He showed me how it worked. He explained the situation, that I didn't even have to stay in the hospital.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Tell us briefly about the operation. You obviously convinced Jim. He never had a question.

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Well, the operation, the way we do it, we do it through a small, one-inch opening in the scrotum, so we don't make any cuts, any opening whatsoever in the penis. We want to preserve the penile skin. That's the sensitive part of the penis, and we want to avoid that area. We put it through underneath from the scrotal sac area. That's where we make our little opening, and through that opening we first -- the operations is really three parts. The first part is putting the little sleeves inside the penis, and we do that through a tiny opening about a quarter of an inch in the penile shaft all the way down at the base of the penis underneath the sac where the testicles are.

The next part of the operation is placing the pump, and the pump is placed between the two testicles. There's a little area there where there is a little bit of fat, and we put that there in a way that is accessible, yet looks cosmetically appealing so that a patient can go to a locker room, be naked in front of other men and not look funny. We want to make sure --

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Let me pick up on that point, because, obviously, cosmetics are very important. Do couples have unrealistic expectations? Do they have an idea of how this is going to turn out in advance?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: I think some do and some don't. I think the most important thing is for a man to understand that what we will do is we'll make his penis functional again. He'll be able to make love and feel the regular feelings of lovemaking. The penis may not be as big as it used to, but what we want them to expect is that they'll be functional.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: After the procedure, how long does it take to recover? How long does it take for a man to be able to make love?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Well, it varies. We've had patients -- for example, the other week, we did a patient on Monday, and on Thursday he was playing basketball one-on-one with his son. On the other hand, we did another patient two days after that, and that's over a month ago, and the patient hasn't yet been active. So it really varies. In general, it takes about two to three weeks to feel totally normal, and about four weeks before they're able to be sexually active.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: How was your recovery, John?

JOHN: Extraordinary. I was seeing a doctor a week later, and he said, "Fine. Go home. Rest a week, and I'll show you how to use it." I misinterpreted that, and thought he said I could go home and use it.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: And it worked?

JOHN: It worked.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Okay, good.

JOHN: I was very, very, very pleased, and I think it's attitude. I wanted it to work. I wanted to try it, and I had a partner that was there. It was a very good recovery, and the pain was -- I walked out of the hospital the next morning.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Jim, how about you?

JIM: The pain lasted a week or so. It wasn't that bad. Sex, I tried about three weeks after the operation and was successful.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Now we're going to go to John's partner. The whole process for you, were you concerned, and now that it's over, obviously, you probably are happy with the results?

JOHN'S PARTNER: Yeah. I was always mainly concerned about John, not for me. The recovery was quick and easy, like John says, and we have a perfectly normal relationship, sexual and otherwise, and have had since a couple of weeks after the surgery. It is definitely the way to go.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Let me ask you, is this a good thing? Is this a normal thing, the partner-to-partner counseling, to some extent, patient-to-patient guidance? Is this a good thing? Does it happen commonly?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Yeah, it is extremely helpful for patients, and we have a list of patients who are willing to speak to possible patients who are interested in getting one of these.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Do a lot of patients ask for it?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: A lot of patients ask for it. Some ask for it and they never call. They're a little bit shy. And when they call, John and Jim will tell you they're a little bit hesitant about asking the questions, and a lot of patients will say to me, "Doctor, I trust you. I really don't need to call." I say, "Well, you know, you're not calling to check on me. You're calling to become more informed and to educate yourself on how it's going to feel after you have this procedure, because once you have it, I want you to be perfectly happy with it." So it's important for patients to call.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: It's a difficult thing to talk about.

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: It's a difficult thing to talk about, but one of the things I appreciate the most is very often patients will call, and they'll get the partner on the phone, and the partner will very often talk about how it is to make love to a person who has one, and what was the process that it took to get one.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: John, do you have any final comments about what kind of expectations people should have?

JOHN: I think that the expectation is that they'll return to normal, and that will happen. In everybody that I've heard who has had this operation, it has happened.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Dr. François Eid, I want to thank you for being here.

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Thank you, David.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: And thank you all for being here once again. I appreciate it. Thanks for joining the webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. Goodbye.