Douglas Joslyn doesn’t like to sit still; after a long career at UPS, he worked at Mohegan Sun, then as a certified nursing assistant and now as a part-time bus driver.
He has always worked hard but cancer surgery in 2015 left him feeling “like less of a man” due to erectile dysfunction.
“They took out my bladder, prostate, lymph nodes and some of my intestines. I am cancer-free but I wasn’t happy,” said the 74-year-old Griswold resident.
He’d heard of penile implants helping men in his situation, and even knew a man who had one, but he couldn’t get the man to talk about it or answer his questions. He had questions about the surgery and the implanted pump components, but mostly Joslyn wanted to know if the penile implant made the man feel whole again.
Unable to get answers to his questions, he set out to learn more about the implants for himself. His doctor referred him to Dr. Jared Bieniek, a board-certified and fellowship-trained urologist with Hartford HealthCare’s Tallwood Urology & Kidney Institute and medical director of Tallwood Men’s Health, for a consultation.
Noting that erectile dysfunction affects as many as 30 million American men, Dr. Bieniek first reviewed the array of approved erectile dysfunction treatment options. Joslyn tried oral medication and penile injections with minimal effect. In November 2017, he underwent the penile implant surgery. The doctor inserted the three pieces of the implant — two chambers in the penis, a pump in the scrotum and a reservoir under the abdominal muscles — that allow the man to create an on-demand erection by pumping salt water from the scrotal pump into the cylinders located in the shaft of the penis. Joslyn instantly felt more masculine.
“If anyone ever has any doubts about their manhood after prostate surgery, this procedure will help that. It is fabulous,” said the man who recently celebrated his 51st wedding anniversary. “I would recommend it to anyone. I’m completely happy with it.”
For more information about the Post-Prostatectomy Rehabilitation Program at Hartford HealthCares Tallwood Urology & Kidney Institute, click here.