TOPIC: Sudden trouble with Dr. Elist's silicone implant

Hi lads,
first of all, I want to thank Scepticle One for making me aware of this forum. Secondly, since I am new here, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Patrick, I am a 35-year-old from Ireland, and I had surgery with Dr. Elist in January of 2010 (penile implant). I have taken out a huge loan to travel to the US, stay at a hotel, and most importantly, have the surgery done. It will be another 3 years before my loan is paid off!
Initially, I was very happy with Dr. Elist\'s implant. I did have some serious initial pain, which far exceeded the \"moderate\" pain described on his web site. However, after about 2 weeks I was almost pain free and the healing went well. After about 10 weeks, I was able to have \"light\" sex with my wife.
Like many others have reported, I could feel the edges of the implant and a sharp tip pointing to my penis head (on top, where the two halfs were stitched together). The implant material itself seemed very sturdy / hard inside my penis. It was very noticeable to the touch, but it did look really well. And I finally felt comfortable using public urinals, etc. I really loved the look of my new penis.
About 3 months ago, having had normal sex with my wife (not hardcore, but not light either, just \"normal\"), my penis was sore all night and the next day. I started to feel sick and in the following night, my body temperature rose to 104 degrees. My wife gave me 2 Paracetamol tablets every 4 hours to get the temperature down to normal. My penis, scrotum, and pubic mound hurt like hell and everything was very swollen. I wrote to Dr. Elist, who told me to see my GP and have him prescribe very strong antibiotics. Of course, my GP examined me very thoroughly and, not knowing what that was inside my penis, questioned whether this was a good thing to have. It took 3 full weeks for the swelling to go down. I have taken the Antibiotics for those full three weeks.
During this time, and afterwards, my local GP kept re-examining me and he explained that the material in my penis had become loose an the sharp tip and/or the edges caused microscopically small injuries, which, in turn, caused the infection. I have contacted Dr. Elist several times after this for advise, but he only asked for pictures and once I had sent them, he would not write back to me.
Can any of you give me any advise? My penis is currently causing tolerable pain, but it is certainly deformed, because the implant seems to have dislocated and my penis appears much wider now (not nice!), especially on one side. I might be able to lend some money for another flight to LA, but I certainly cannot pay for another surgery to have the implant repaired or removed by Dr. Elist. I am still paying for the first surgery. Is he ethically or legally required to fix or remove it free of charge? What will happen to my penis if he removes it? Will it be all messed up? I am really frightened.
Also, I have not had sex with my wife since the infection (because I simply can\'t, erections cause pain similar to the pain I had right after surgery) and this can\'t be going on forever. There seems to be no healing on its own. Should I start wrapping my penis again?
I would appreciate any advise any of you could give me. Thanks for your time and concern.
Pat

Hi Patrick,
I am sorry about your poor experiences. I believe there are a few members on this board who have had the Elist implant, such as messageman and lasttime. You may want to check with them to see if they have any suggestions. I wish you the best. Feel free to ask as many questions, and we are all rooting for you.
Skatezy

Hey bud, I had my implant removed 1 year ago, and I only had it removed due to it being so noticeable and fake feeling. I did not want to have something that every women would find out that I have a penis implant. Dr elist should be able to remove it for free. I had to pay for the room and anestesia which was about 1000.00 bucks, but since you have an infection, he should do it for free. If I were you, I would just have the thing removed, or have your GP take it out, but of course he will charge you, but you wont have plane and hotel cost either. Anyway, you dont need something so detectable in you, what is the point. But I will warn you, after your Removal, you will not only miss the Girth, you may have some scar tissure build up in you pubic area and possible on your penis like I have. However, you will have the opportunity to come back and start and Hanging and stretching routine that will most likely bring back your original length or more. Then you can go for other and better options like PMMA or even FFT. But dont think about that now. Remove implant now, because even if your infections clear up, you are always succeptable to more and new infections in the future, it never stops.

Patrick,
I am very sorry to hear that, the best thing you should do is to make an urgent consultation with a consultant surgeon (e.g. plastic surgeon) in your area.
Sure what you have is a penile silicon implant infection and there will be a formation of a Biofilm around the implant :-
a) An antibiotic (it will be better if it is I.V.) is one of the treatment it will help you against the infection but the problem is the biofilm around the implant the antibiotic cannot reach it so the infection could recurre again esp. you have an opening in the skin (also avoid water coming near to the wound).
b) Some doctors will advice for the treatment of the biofilm is by irrigation thru the opening with antibiotic fluid or antifungal (it depends on the culture/sensitivity).
c) The above two managements are only if you want to try to (to give it a last chance) keep the implant as long as you can (I would have it removed), so really removing the whole implant in my opinion is the best for you just to avoid any further damage to your penis e.g. esp. the Tunica or the dorsal nerves ( also to avoid septicemia or later on an extrusion of the implant ).
I know some people will be against my opinion, and I am really sorry if I wrote something which make you more anxious and frighten but you have to act quickly and this is the best for your penis and for your health.
The best advice is to find a good surgeon in your area as soon as possible and dont wait for a longer time (for Elist\' opinion, he should reply to you quickly), try to send him an e-mail about these three options just to see what he says .
I will pray for you Pat. , and you will get over it .
SM

I agree with you 100% lastime, Pat should have it removed as quick as possible by his local surgeon otherwise at the end it is going to come out through the opening which can make more damage for the penis by just waiting for a longer time.

Pat I know how you feel believe me, I\'ve been there. It was hell for a few weeks . Not the implant but a reaction to a scaffold which I had removed some weeks after it was inserted. I really do think the only option is to have it removed. You may experience some retraction after the Removal like I did, but don\'t worry if that happens, mine came back, and a bit more ! I used a pump which may have helped the extra growth while it was healing

Yea. I think I have his cell number, so PM me if you need it, but call first thing tommorrow morning and get ready to have it removed. There are a few other guys on this forum that had it removed and 1 that is needing it removed other than you. One guy that I got in touch with had it almost 2 years and got a spontaneous infection and had to have it removed. Not worth it. You will like having your normal penis back after the implant regardless of the possible length loss. It should mostly come back on its own given some time, and you may likely even gain some with a motivated Hanging program. But get that infection under control fast.

Call Dr. Elist on the phone and remember he is in California so call him in the morning between 10 am to 12 noon Caly time. Leave a message to have him call you back urgently. He is in surgery from noon on.

If the the swelling is gone, you must wrap it day and night. This will form the implant back onto the penis shaft and help stabilize it. It seems like the stitching had come loose near the glans hence the pain and infection. Wrapping will help the healing process. Wrap it tight enough to stay in place but not too tight to stop blood flow. DO NOT USE ICE. Take some anti inflammatory pills Like Advil or Alleve.

Of course Removal has been suggested and it may be your only choice at this point. But call Dr. Elist and talk to him and see what he says. He can be very helpful and he most likely will remove it free of charge. There will be scar tissue and retraction and a long recovery time afterwards.

If you decide to have your local Dr. remove it, have him call Dr. Elist and talk about the operation. Dr.Elist has done it tens of times so he can give him some pointers. Make sure your Dr. can remove it without any incisions on the penile shaft and by using the original incision. You will need some Kenalog shots afterwards to help with the scar tissue.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Pat
Two years ago, my (Elist) implant became infected and had to be removed...I, like yourself, experienced the extraoridanrily high fever, frantic phone (and unreturned) calls to Dr. Elist, and the stress and turmoil caused not only by the horrific fact that my penis looked like it was exploding (in slow motion), but also because of the torturous uncertainy facing me....The difference between you and I is that I didn\'t have this website as a support system back then. In fact I had nobody to talk to and was forced (or at least gullible enough) to take everything the doctor told me at face value...
My experience (the infection and Removal of the implant) was indeed a very difficult time in my life but it had a happy ending...After a few months of stretching and pumping, not only was I able to get my original length back, but I also half an Inch...I was also able to retain some of the Girth due to the capsule being formed (giving me 3/4 of an Inch more than when I started)...
I personally feel you should remove the capsule as soon as possible...Considering money is an issue, I would recommend having the Removal done in Ireland....As one of the site members suggested, have the doctor speak to Dr. Elist for advice regarding the Removal...
It will be a trying period for you but it will eventually get better...
In my humble opinion the implant is a flawed procedure for enlargement. I believe it is reckless and fraught with possible/probable complications...I also believe the Removal of all these implants is an eventuality for most, if not all, of the patients...so better take care of it now than later...
You can always consider PMMA as an option down the road...Please PM me if you have any questions or wish to talk by phone.
Best of luck my friend, MM

@PatrickEire

I also suggest you contact Elist and arange a phone call between Elist and your GP. There are technical questions that your GP will be able to answer for Elist and Elist will be able to answer for your GP.

They should be able to sort out your next step after they have a consultation.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your kind support, your prayers and your valuable feedback. I will try to respond to you individually here:
@lastime: The infection is gone now, due to the strong antibiotics that I ad to take for 3 weeks. However, my penis is still sore, similar to what it was like immediately after surgery. But it is also \"bumpy\", not nice and \"straight\" as it was after the initial healing. And I also believe that infections will keep coming back. There was no obvious reason for the recent one to appear, it just happened. I don\'t need this a second time!
@smartman: The infection is actually gone now and there is no opening. But the implant is no longer in place, it has become loose and seems to be moving slightly around. I am very worried that one of the sharp edges might poke into the skin of my penis and cause a new infection. Also, because of its movement, sex as well as masturbation is totally impossible. And this is no fun after three months. Very frustrating, both for me and for my wife. I think I will opt to have the implant removed rather than fixed.
@mikehok: Of course I am very worried about retraction once the implant is removed. This was the main reason for me to get it in the first place. The Girth was only a nice side effect. I would hope that a little extra Girth would stay even after the implant Removal, but retraction is a very serious concern of mine. But certainly much more acceptable than another infection!!
@Evil Pnievel: I actually live in Dublin and I am back home now. I work for HP and I frequently travel to customers in Germany, France and Belgium. It is okay to travel now, because the infection has been treated successfully. But my penis is still sore and the implant is out of place. Therefore, I will need to see a surgeon. I have an excellent GP, but I don\'t know any surgeons here. And I think I would prefer Dr. Elist to take the implant out, because he would (hopefully) know how to do it with the least bit of damage. I mean, he is the one who put it in after all!
@Mustang2020: Thanks for the info regarding the wrapping. I have asked Dr. Elist for over three weeks (by mail) whether I should wrap my penis and just has not gotten back to me. I will will phone him tomorrow (Tuesday) evening (which will be morning time in LA). He did not even respond to my most recent mail asking him if he had gotten any of my previous messages. I find this very disturbing. I hope it is not too late to wrap the penis now, as I haven\'t done so since the infection.
@messageman: You cannot even imagine how good it feels to know that someone has gone through the same thing for the very same reason, and all turned out well! You give me much hope, thank you! If Dr. Elist would remove the faulty implant free of charge, I would be able to borrow enough money for the flight and a cheap hotel. But if he charges me, I would have to find an Irish surgeon. Did you have your implant removed by Dr. Elist or by another doctor? Once it is removed, I would love to get some input from you as how to do the pumping. I have tried stretching before I had the surgery, but this did not work well for me, as the noose of the streching device would always slip off my penis head. I just don\'t want permanent retraction again. I was so happy that it was an experience of the past.
@egstudent: I will phone Dr. Elist tomorrow and hope that he is available. I just cannot believe that he totally ignores my (and apparently other mens\') need for help.
Again, thanks to you all for your support so far. I will keep you updated.
Thankfully yours,Pat

@Patrick
Please keep us posted on your situation. In my opinion, Dr. Elist should definitely remove it at no extra cost to you.
Messageman, lastime, and mustang2020 in particular all have valuable insight, be sure to use the private message feature to get in contact with them.
Good luck!

Hello brothers,

I was actually able to speak with Dr. Elist today. I couldn\'t reach him on his office phone, but thanks to one of you I was able to phone him on his mobile. I told him that I had sent him several eMails and apparently they ended up in his spam folder. Nonetheless, he listened to my story and he looked at several pictures that I had sent to him and this is what he said (I am paraphrasing):

While every care has been taken that the risk of infections is minimised, there is no way to eliminate this danger. He could tell from the pictures that the infection was in fact gone now, but that the implant was dislocated and some biofilm (a gel-type tissue) may have formed underneath the implant, causing it to to look out of shape.

There are two ways to handle this:
(1) Have the implant removed. In this case I would still have more Girth than I did before I had the implant put in, but I would initially loose some length, which would come back after about 3 months though. He would also give me Cortisone and syringe which I would have to bring to my local GP to be injected if scar tissue builds up. I would have to do regular massaging of my penis in order to gain the length back.
- or -
(2) Have the implant removed, the area carefully inspected, and then the new type of implant put in, a type that was not stitched together but put into the penis in one piece. It would not have any such sharp edges as the one I currently have and therefore be less likely to cause infection.

In either case, he will perform this fix (not a nice word when I talk about my manhood!!) 100% free of charge, which means that I only have to come up with the money for the flight and the hotel. I will be able to save enough money for this trip so that I could travel to LA in late August / early September. He also said that this surgery would be significantly less \"traumatic\" (for lack of a better word) than the first one, and I could fly back to Ireland only two days after the surgery.

Of course, being very worried about future infections, I asked him if he would recommend me to have the current implant removed or the new type inserted. He told me that he could not give me an honest answer before he actually had a full picture during surgery. He would then make an ad-hoc decision which would be the right one for me.

He sounded very comforting and, having been very happy with the results of his work before the infection came about, my gut feeling is that I should trust him on making the right decision. He seemed very open and honest on the phone. I am much more at ease now.

Of course, I will keep you updated. Thank you all for your kind support.
Pat

Cool, I told you it would be free. Imo, take it out. Work on your length with hangers and stretchers, and move on with your life. I had the newer implant, it is still very detectable, and you are still succeptible to infections. Go for some manual PE, you will notice a difference, I sure am, they are new and improved stretchers out there that are not noose fittings. Then after a long period you can think of FFT or PMMA if your still not satifisfied. Good luck

Hi lads,
thanks for your valuable feedback. I am very self-conscious and don\'t find it easy to talk about it, especially since I thought this was a nightmare in my past but, before I had the implant inserted, I suffered from a condition called micro-penis. Please don\'t take this the wrong way, but my penis was not just small but all you could ever see was the head. Since I don\'t have a before picture (and only an after picture in its current \"malformed\" stage), all I can do is to show you a similar case. If you look here, you can see why I was so much looking forward to the implant and why I was so happy with it:http://www.surgeon4men.com/gallery.php?procedure_name=penile_augmentation&start=0(See case PE1, bottom half of the page).
This is not exactly my result: My pre-op size was even smaller and my result after surgery was also a bit smaller than the result pictured, but it was a massive difference and I felt comfortable doing things I have never done before: sauna, sex with the lights on, showering at the gym, etc.
My fear is very simple: In terms of size, I don\'t want to go back to where I came from! I don\'t even care so much about the Girth, but the length is important to me. And your man keeps talking about retraction now. This is not good! I do have to get my current situation fixed, because I am unable to have sex (see my previous posts). If I get the implant removed, as suggested by you, I will not ever get an infection, but I will also go back to the micro-penis. Stretching, pumping, etc. never did the trick in the past, I am afraid it won\'t help now. My alternative is to have Dr. Elist replace the broken implant with the new type, but I am hearing different things about it.
Please note that I am not concerned about how the implant feels. I have gotten used to the feel and, with the exception of my wife, no one else really touches my penis. I am more concerned about the sharp edges. Are they gone in the new model? My infection was a direct result of a the sharp tip (left side, where the two halves are stitched together). Dr. Elist tells me the new implant comes in one piece. Are there still sharp edges, though? If they are gone, I think it would be an option for me to at least retain my penis size. But if they are still there, I would rather suffer from a micro-penis than living with the fear of an infection coming back again and again. But both options are reallz shite!
@lastime: You said that you had the implant removed because it was so detectable. I agree, as mine is very detectable as well. May I ask, did you have the newer or older version and, if so, do you know if there is a difference in terms of noticability?
@messageman:My head tells me you are right, but my \"wanting-to-be-fully-male-madness\" tells me to try with the new implant so that I don\'t go back to the hell I came from. I am really in a slump now!
I have never told a person (with the exception of Dr. Elist, who noticed, of course!) that I had a micro-penis. Not even in an Internet forum. It is much easier to talk about a small penis. But I want you all to know where I am coming from. Darned if I do and darned if I don\'t!?!
Blessings,Pat