On October 22, 2008, I drove from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia for my Orchiectomy with Dr. Kimmel.

SUMMARY

The procedure took a couple of hours from start to finish. Apparently I had large testicles (according to the Dr.).

BEFORE THE PROCEDURE

Right before the procedure, he told me that he was going to administer an antibiotic shot... in my butt/hip. I asked him if it was going to hurt bad... good question... right? He said... "No, because I am going to smack your butt" - I was like "Um, ok" and he told me to roll onto my right side... Before I knew what was going on, he smacked my butt and inserted the big needle at the same time. I barely felt the needle. That was definitely an interesting technique that I never seen used before in my entire life. He then gave me a total of (if I remember correctly) 8 shots. 6 (3 on each side) of Lidocaine and 2 (1 on each side) of Xylocaine. Then he waited for about 10 minutes for the numbing agents to do their thing. Then the procedure began...

DURING THE PROCEDURE

During the procedure, I was lying there staring at the ceiling and listening to Dr. Kimmel talk about his family (which was nice... kept my mind off of things)... I was calming down and the lido and xylo was doing their jobs... for the most part... I got zapped a couple of times from the Bovie unit he was using... nothing major... until... ZAP! (apparently, the lido didn't take effect as well as it should of, on my LEFT spermatic cord. Long story short... I felt the bovi hit it and it hurt so bad that I teared up and pretty much screamed "That's NOT numb!!!" and then he jumped a little and again... ZAP! from the Bovi wand hitting the tip of my penis. It felt like a really strong static-electric zap. Then after I jumped from that, the wand hit my thigh I had a small white spot on the tip of my penis for about a week.

ADDITIONAL ISSUES?

Other than those couple of issues, there was no major issues during the procedure.

POST-CASTRATION/SUTURES

After the castration was completed, the internal cords were both sutured (with dissolving sutures) and cauterized with the bovi. Then external sutures were put in place. I was numb but I can tell that the sutures were tight... very tight... maybe too tight? Keep reading...

POST-SURGERY

After the majority of the Lido and xylo wore off (which took about 1 hour), I was able to stand and walk out to my waiting ride. I then went back to the hotel and relaxed. We stayed an extra day in the area. I relaxed more. Then we drove back to Pittsburgh. I laid down in the back of the SUV for the whole trip.

POST-OP SWELLING

After about 12 hours, the swelling was large... think about the size of an large orange or so... I am not going to lie... It hurt alot... even with the pain killers that I had (Ibuprofen) but I tried not to let it get me down. I kept thinking... The pain will go away. There is nothing I can do at this time so all I could do is deal with it.

2 DAYS POST-OP

Two days after the procedure, I had an issue. Extreme swelling (later found out it was a bad hematoma) and a suture that came untied (at top) which I (myself) retied so I wouldn't bleed badly. I also had a loose suture which popped. Luckily I found the end of the suture and managed to retie it to prevent it from slipping inside my body.

FIRST VISIT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM

I then went to the local ER. Most of the people there know me (as I am an EMT and I take people there alot) so that was awkward. They noticed I had an infection even though I had been taking my Cipro as directed. They put sterile pads on me and after putting in an IV and drawing 4 vials of blood, they finally sent me home.

SUTURE REMOVAL / SECOND VISIT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM

Fast forward 15 days... I was now on Day 17 after my procedure. I was told on that day, I could self-remove the sutures. So I did... After I snipped the sutures, I became horrified. The incision site opened up (as if there had never been sutures there). I put Steri-strips across the incision to hold it shut. I then put on a diaper (I am incontinent so yeah) and went BACK to the ER. I got into an exam room, they examined me and then gave me another IV and drew another 4 vials of blood... and they scheduled an appointment with local urologist a week from that date for a follow-up. They gave me a goodie bag (if you want to call it that - actually just supplies for the next week or so). Until my visit to the urologist, I have to put a small -wet- sterile pad INTO the incision and a -dry- sterile pad over that. They didn't want to re-suture because they stated I had a hematoma (still) in the scrotum and until that heals, the external sutures won't heal. So, after seeing more docs and patient care techs that I know... They sent me home.

3 WEEKS AFTER THE PROCEDURE

Now, 3 weeks after my procedure, I am laying down - watching tv... with a hole (actually about an 1" slice along the mid-line) in my scrotum. I hope that the urologist can fix this easily and I really hope that I don't have to have surgery to fix this. I will keep you guys and gals posted.

LUNCH MEET IN OR AROUND PITTSBURGH AREA

If any of you live in the Pittsburgh, PA region and want to get together for lunch and talk about the procedure etc, I am more than willing to meet up. Contact me via email (in my profile).

IMAGES OF THE INCISION SITE

http://www.lilpup.com/lj/images/tg/inc01.jpg

http://www.lilpup.com/lj/images/tg/inc02.jpg

http://www.lilpup.com/lj/images/tg/inc03.jpg

http://www.lilpup.com/lj/images/tg/inc04.jpg

http://www.lilpup.com/lj/images/tg/inc05.jpg

http://www.lilpup.com/lj/images/tg/inc06.jpg

Ash

What a horrible experience. It seems to be the luck of the draw with him. Sometimes everything is fine, other times a horror!!

After reading all yours post about Dr.Kimmel has me wondering too. Its been five years since he removed my scrotum and did my penis work. He was very professional and I had no problems. After he finish my penis he told me it would be several years before it would look the way I wanted it and he was right. He left me just enough to stand an pee. I wish we could post pictures here so you could see my small penis. If anyone is interested please send me your email address on private message and I will be glad to send you a picture.

I do wish all of you seeking castration the best but I hope you make sure its right for you. Listen to the ones suggesting chemical castration first. For me it was the right thing and I would never go back to having those things hanging between my legs again and a full size penis. Its more fun being a bottom this way.

Eddie

All surgery has some risk of complications but yeeek... Maybe this is getting to be too much for the good Dr? I think Dr S had similar issues before he had to retire.

I too have had some suture problems with Dr. Kimmel. The skin was everted (turned under) in one place and left gapping in another. I was in major pain from the stitches that were pulled too tight, while other stitches were hanging out in loops.

I've been to both my regular doctor and to the urologist that I was refered to by my doctor after he saw the mess that Dr. Kimmel has made of my scrotum.

Now I hear of another horror story from a person who was castrated by Kimmel just 2-days after mine.

At this point I am wondering what action to take. Several possibilities are: contact the Penssylvania Board of Licensing, hire an attorney, or merely write Dr. K. a nasty letter.

I think that the time has come for Dr. Kimmel to go into retirement or at least to take on an understudy to do most of the work.

What do YOU think?

its the dissolving sutures that are the problem

he should go back to ones that need to be removed

sduyck_2000 (imported) wrote: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:32 am its the dissolving sutures that are the problem

he should go back to ones that need to be removed

Outer sutures were the permanent type (black nylon). Those were incorrectly installed in several patients. The sutures in the tunica vaginalis were of the self-disolving type.

I was castrated by dr kimmel 6 months ago and i had a much better experience than you and kangan.

The Dr. told me that the larger your testicles were, that the more drainage there would be. Since your body tries to replace the lost tissue (or something). I was in the same place you were at on day 17, i could have taken the stitches out but i was still having drainage. It didn't make sense to me to take them out so i waited about 23 days i think. When i did take them out there was a little little hole, it looked like i got stabbed by the tip of a sharp pencil. I wasn't really thrilled about it and shook my fist east toward Dr. kimmel's office. I think part of it may be being in "pain" and wanting to blame it on someone. But it healed in about a day.

Dr kimmel really helped me out. Considering the horrible things i read about cutters and self castration horror stories... a couple loose stitches... not that big of a deal.

Ashley, if the stitches were so mangled why didn't they fix them at the ER ?

Randy,

You are correct, compared with illegal procedures these problems are not life threatening, and the fact that the ER did not redo it suggests that it is resolving...

Kangan (imported) wrote: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:35 am I too have had some suture problems with Dr. Kimmel. The skin was everted (turned under) in one place and left gapping in another. I was in major pain from the stitches that were pulled too tight, while other stitches were hanging out in loops.

I've been to both my regular doctor and to the urologist that I was refered to by my doctor after he saw the mess that Dr. Kimmel has made of my scrotum.

Now I hear of another horror story from a person who was castrated by Kimmel just 2-days after mine.

At this point I am wondering what action to take. Several possibilities are: contact the Penssylvania Board of Licensing, hire an attorney, or merely write Dr. K. a nasty letter.

I think that the time has come for Dr. Kimmel to go into retirement or at least to take on an understudy to do most of the work.

What do YOU think?

This is exactly how it went with Dr. Spector before the "casualty" count finally got high enough to get people's attention. Sad to say, but the man may be losing his edge...

Anyone else with similar experience, please share.

It's a real shame, too.