64-year-old Thomas Manning spent 15 hours in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to have the United States’ first penis transplant carried out as part of a study to help cancer patients, combat victims and others who’ve been injured in accidents. According to Daily Mail, Manning suffered injuries from an accident involving heavy equipment, however upon closer inspection doctors noticed a growth on Manning’s penis and diagnosed him with an aggressive form of penile cancer.
Doctors were forced to remove a significant portion of his penis, leaving him “with just a stump about one-inch in length.” Manning said he “wouldn’t go near anybody. I couldn’t have a relationship with anybody. You can’t tell a woman, ‘I had a penis amputation.’” After a year of physical test and psychological evaluations, Manning was finally matched with a donor:
During surgery doctors connected nerves, veins and arteries from the donor penis to Mr Manning.
Nerves are then expected to grow into the penis at a rate of about one inch per month, eventually enabling sexual function.
However, it was by no means plain sailing from there – after the operation Mr Manning began to hemorrhage and was taken back to the hospital for treatment.
Thankfully, the complication did not prove to be fatal and after recovering he began to dream of getting his love life back and working again.
Manning said “If I’m lucky, I get 75% of what I used to be. Before the surgery I was 10%. But they made no promises. That was part of the deal.” However he’s yet to check and see if his new hardware is functioning at all, as he’s still “too scared” to look at the results of the surgery. Nerves are reportedly “expected to grow into the penis at a rate of about one inch per month” and will eventually “enable sexual function,” so what’s the rush? Why look now when it’s not working when you can wait six and pop a woody for yourself?
Patience is a virtue, my friends.
[H/T Daily Mail]