Luis’s new life with a penile prosthesis after prostate cancer: “I wanted an active sex life”

There are pivotal moments in life when everything changes. It’s at Luis Miguel Rodriguez It was about three and a half years ago when they detected an aggressive one prostate cancer. She barely had time to fall and was already in the operating room, where they removed the tumor and the entire gland. After the operation their erection problems have deepenedny had to undergo a penile prosthesis implant. And she smiled again.

“I was about 65. I am relatively young and I am still very much in love with my wife. I wanted a active sex life. I didn’t have to give up “, says Rodríguez, retired bus driver 20 minutes to Spain.

Prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction

prostate cancer is more common in men in Argentina and in many parts of the world, and the third leading cause of cancer death of its kind after lung and colorectal cancers.

Because it has no symptoms in the early stages, it can often be diagnosed in late stages. Hence the indication of a urological control from the age of 50 or a decade earlier for those with a family history.

“Up to 75% of those who are treated surgically and 55% of those who undergo radiotherapy suffer from subsequent erectile dysfunction,” reveals urologist and andrologist Óscar Gorría, of the University Hospital of Navarra, of the data in his country.

The practitioner also refers to the small number of implants that are placed relative to the number of cases of this tumor that are detected, given that the Side effects of primary treatments.

How does the implantation of the penile prosthesis work?

Dr Félix Campos Juanatey, of the Urology Service of the Hospital de Valdecilla, in Santander, was the one who informed Luis of the possibility of an implant.

“Before my cancer was detected, I had already used some systems, but after that they no longer worked well for me. Viagra also has heart risks and the injections are quite unpleasant. You have to apply them in the previous minutes, they cut the ‘roll’ and nobody likes to be poked in that area“tells about his experience and reflects the Spanish environment.

Through a quick operation they positioned the prosthesis. And after a few weeks of rest, after a month I can activate it to get used to it. So, from that moment on, when you want to have sex, press the pump located in the scrotal sac.

Doctors explain that the bag communicates internally with a fluid reservoirwhich usually is in the abdominal cavity. “With the pressure, the liquid passes into the two cylinders inserted in the penis and stiffness occurs,” they warn.

“It’s very noticeable to the touch and it doesn’t even bother going to the bathroom. It’s normal in everyday life,” he explains. And he specifies how it works in a key moment of sex: “When you reach orgasm, you press the same pump and it deflates until it rests.

Sensations and pleasure

Beyond the satisfaction with his prosthesis, Luis points out that however his sensations and his pleasure are no longer the same as before due to the prostatectomy he underwent.

“My prostate had grown a lot. If that is the usual thing is as big as a walnut, mine was like an orange. When I took it out, there was a very large hole. As a result, the penis goes inward and becomes quite short. I reach orgasm, but I don’t have the sensation of pleasure I felt before “, details the man who at the same time clarifies that the prosthesis does not involve a system of lengthening or thickening of the member.

“It allows me to have erections and I can please my wife, something she wouldn’t otherwise have,” he admits to 20Minutes. And he ends with a little modesty: “She is 72 and taking more pleasure than when we were 25. Besides, we didn’t know anything about sex. “

From teasing to talking to children

Faced with an often derided argument, the Spanish pensioner assures that “We need to talk seriously about this topic.with all the education in the world, to avoid so many taboos and traumas “.

Moreover, given the difficult times he had to go through, he had no problems confronting her three children to talk about cancer, prostate, prosthetics and sex.

Dr. Gorría does nothing but support his point of view and bring hope to people who believe age is an impediment, noting that he places implants on patients up to 80 years of age with an active sex life. And, of course, there is no age to be happy.