HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

My kingdom for an ED pump

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/10/2013 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
Looks like that is the only way I will get one, unless I find a sex shop.  In a nutshell, My Uro's recommended vendor for a vacuum pump is located in Georgia. I live in SC.  Apparently the company and BC  (my insurance) are having issues with each other.  Company says BC won't honor claims so they won't fill the prescription.  So, Uro says this is the only vendor he deals with (does that sound right?) and told me to ask BC to provide a list of approved vendors and he will write an RX to my choice.  Well BC has a list of 50 or more vendors for medical equipment and they say they cannot tell me specifically which ones sell vacuum pumps so they tell me to ask my Uro for a list of his vendors and they will tell me if they are on the approved list. I checked with several on the BC list and others didn't respond to my email but none of them sell the devices.  So, I give up.  If Cialis doesn't jump start my poor weenie then I guess he will just have to shrivel up and die...Oh wait a minute he has already shriveled up so I guess the end is near.  I am in a Catch 22.  I know I can break down and get one on Amazon or Ebay....but I have insurance for a reason..guess I am being stubborn.
Posted 4/10/2013 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
Ok: What many of us have done is to go to a site such as Amazon and get a $50 to $125 unit. These work just as good as the $500 medical models since they are indeed the exact same thing. You can get the battery powered units too. I got a combination model for $125 and I ended up liking the manual pump more than the battery pump. Everything is included from the "handsome carrying case" to the rubber shield that prevents your testicles from getting sucked in! You also get the various sized silicone rings to help you have intercourse. They come shipped in "brown paper" and you can have one at your house in a matter of a few days. I used mine for about 6 months every day and I honestly believed that it helped. It certainly got the blood flowing and for several minutes everyday my mental attitude improved since I really looked massive! I was not able to inflate myself and maintain the required hardness using the silicone rings for good sex, but it was at least a start! If you want you can e-mail me and I can give you the exact model number and make that I found to of excellent quality and excellent functionality. There are a few tricks that make these pumps work even better such as starting on your knees, using plently of water-soluble lube, trying to totally relax, etc.

Although many men and perhaps quite a few doctors say that an ED pump is not really necessary, I didn't want to take any chances with my recovery from 100% ED. ( In fact my ED was so severe, that just looking at my attractive wife undressing or thinking about sex would actually make things even smaller!). Prior to surgury at 58, I had 0 ED. But that all changed in an instant. So I made that, BiMix injections, L-Arginine supplements, and daily tablets of 5 mg. of Cialis all part of my regiment. After 15 months, I was able to have unaided, very good quality intercourse with my wife. Something that I thought would never happen again, even 1 year post surgery! Now reaching 21 months, I am almost 100% NORMAL again! Our road to recovery may be a long on so don't ever give up. As long as there is blood flowing thru your body, there is a way to get it to your pecker!

Bill K. from NJ
Posted 4/10/2013 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
One of the proposals to solve the problem of spam email was to require that each message sent should be decorated with an easy-to-check but expensive-to-compute token that encoded the sender, the recipient and the date. Any time someone wanted to send an email they would have to compute this token that would take a couple of seconds on a fast machine before it could be sent. The idea is that for an individual needing to send a small number of emails it would represent a negligible delay but for someone trying to spam every email address in the US it would be crushingly expensive.

I think the insurance companies are using a similar tactic with VEDs. They will ''cover'' them, but only after you and your doctor and the manufacturer have each done $300 worth of mickey mouse paperwork for a $200 device (for which the manufacturer charges $500 to cover his part of the paperwork requirement).

I am quite happy with my OTC Model 1001 Vacurect VED for which I paid $194 cash money out of my own pocket. Even if I could have gotten the (almost identical) ''presrciption'' model it would have bugged me that my insurance company had paid an extra $300 for the same device -- making everyone's premiums just a bit higher.

My advice: put a price on your time and if it looks like you will spend more time working out the insurance details than you would be out-of-pocket for the pump at its over-the-counter price give up immediately and pay the money. You have other things to worry about.
Posted 4/10/2013 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
Bill that is one point that makes me not want to give up. If there is any chance I can get back to the man I was and this device can help, then it is a small price to pay if I have to pay for it myself.
Peter your advice is well taken. I can't believe all the hoops I am having to jump through. It is enough to have to suffer this disease along with the indignities it brings, now I have to then put up with this....you know what! Well, if I have do the leg work, then it will be on my terms and I will just pay for it out of my own pocket. Thanks both for the comments!
Posted 4/10/2013 11:05 PM (GMT 0)
I would be real surprised if your uro did not get a kick back from the one and only company he recommends for pumps. And I don't understand why BC can't tell you or your doctor what companies they approve that can supply you with the pump. On the other hand, it sounds like your uro is trying to help you.
You can email me and I will give you the name of the company who I got mine from and who United Healthcare paid 100%. Like the other Bill, mine came with all the bells and whistles including a 60 day supply of lube wrapped in brown wrapping paper. You can have your uro fill out the prescription for it and see if BC will pay. I think it would have cost about $200 out of pocket.

Time is wasting, you need to " start pumping now!" yeah


Bill from Florida
Posted 4/11/2013 2:58 AM (GMT 0)
I went thru the whole thing with the Uro , bought an expensive $500 Timm Osbon ErecAid from a salesman that came to the office eyes , insurance paid about 3/4 of it after a long bullcrap process for re-embursement , anyway it didn't work that well, so I tried a cheaper 120 $ ENCORE , it worked better than the TIMM so I asked for my money back as they had guarrented it , had to meet with salesman again to verify problems ,it kept sucking my nuts up in it and it hurt smhair so they did give me a refund.If it were me I would buy one such as ENCORE  http://www.activeforever.com/encore-deluxe-manual-vacuum-erection-device ,I have had no trouble with it after like two years ,I am also like 21 months from larp and also am getting results from injections ,quadmix .o7 ml and therapy with the pump . It's like if you pay attention to him he will stay awake ,.There are lots of good advice here so go get a pump and start pumping before long you will be rich as an oilman with sex and the shrinkage goes away also.. yeah gams
Posted 4/11/2013 8:45 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the advice. Bill I appreciate your offer, but I see you are from Florida. I think part of the problem is the company I was referred to is in GA and I live in SC. So if the company does not have a SC address I am not even going to attempt it. Not worth the hassle but thanks for trying.
Jim
Posted 4/11/2013 5:45 PM (GMT 0)

Somebody said...
Although many men and perhaps quite a few doctors say that an ED pump is not really necessary, I didn't want to take any chances with my recovery from 100% ED.

My husband and I just returned from a class on the vacuum pump given at the facility we go to by the rep from the company. According to the research it is necessary that blood continues to flow to that area or within a short period of time (6 months) those vessels will atrophy making it impossible for an erection. In other words, if you don't use it, you lose it! (The representatives words, not mine!) He recommended that the pump be started immediately after surgery when the catheter is removed. For ED without surgery, men should be instructed to use the pump as soon as possible.

This should be information already given to the insurance companies so they will authorize payment. I think it is unacceptable that they deny this essential treatment. Your physician should be able to justify it without any problems. The fact that it HAS to be justified is another issue!

Posted 4/11/2013 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
tdnjam,
I believe the company that makes my pump is in Ohio. I live in Florida but was born in Charleston, SC
Bill
Posted 4/11/2013 6:34 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks again Bill. I have given up on going the insurance route and am doing price comparisons online before I decide.
astuurmans thanks for the info. From the posts I have been reading it is interesting how differently doctors treat their patients concerning ED after surgery. I asked my doctor at my three week check up and he said we would discuss Cialis and pumps at the six week check up. I had the same concerns I read in your post...use or lose it and I didn't want to wait six weeks. When my manhood virtually disappeared after surgery I was wondering if what was left would just shrivel up and die, so I have been doing my best to bring it back to life. Can't wait to get my new toy!
Posted 4/11/2013 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
Hey tdnjam, (from an earlier post on the same subject)

I, too, thought $400 was too much for a pump so I made my own super sucker out of a plastic Gulden's mustard jar. I slit a piece of tygon tubing lengthwise to cover the mouth end and make a seal, and used an automotive vacuum pump for suction. When I was bench testing the empty device, as I evacuating the chamber, suddenly the container collapsed on itself. Good thing there was nothing in it! Can you imagine explaining that in the emergency room? Yikes!

Proud owner of an Augusta Medical Device for $400. It pumps it up but let's it down faster than a Maury Povich show DNA test result. Dang!

Jeff

You can built your own if you come to GFMPH next weekend. A glass tube would be stronger. On second thought....
Posted 4/11/2013 9:23 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff, I am afraid I don' t have the skills to build such a contraption but judging from your results, I couldn't do much worse. LOL! I mentioned somewhere that maybe I could pull out my vacuum cleaner and get a jar of vasoline. But I finally broke down and bought a $125 Encore model on Amazon. Can't wait to fire the sucker up! Pun intended.
Posted 4/11/2013 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
tdnjam -

If you can cancel that order, and want a very slightly used Osbon Erecaid pump, it's yours for the asking. I have not found it useful and have moved on to other approaches (a member in good standing of the prick prick club). FWIW, the parts that touch could easily go through the dishwasher or whatever other sanitizing approach you wanted to take. ;)

Just email me an address if you want it.

UG
Posted 4/12/2013 9:19 AM (GMT 0)
UG Thanks for the offer but it shows order has shipped so I hope my $125 is well spent.
Posted 4/19/2013 2:22 PM (GMT 0)
I have the encore for $125 and it is very well built. Also got a hustler pump from amazon for $20 that works well too.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply