I had robotic prostate surgery 2 1/2 years ago and everything went great except for incontinence. This continued for about one and a half years. Finally I was pad free except for very mild stress incontinence and a little dribble after urinating. This was driving be crazy and all I wanted to do was to be normal again. I did my research on the Advance Sling, read over 100 stories from patients and with a 80 to 85% sucess rate it seemed the best thing to do to get myself back to being normal again. I consulted the urology team and after several test I was told I was the best patient for this procedure due to the fact that I had a very mild case. This past Friday Feb 18, 2011 I had the Advance Sling procedure no real pain except for a little bruising. It did not work and I was back to four to five pads a day. I had to go back in a few weeks to have the procedure done all over again. The doctor says the sling has to be removed and a new sling put in but at a different position. The position that it is in is somehow stopping the urethra from closing. The doctor is very optimistic and wants to make be normal again. I pray that the second attempt will work.
So this last Tuesday March 15th  I had it removed and the I-Stop TOM sling was put in which is positioned further up on the urethra.  Well I'm in a lot more pain than the first procedure and I am still incontinent but now it's only 2 pads a day and when I am standing the sling feels like I am suspended on a steel bar between my legs, when I am setting it feels like a neuse aroung the penis and scrodum and it is pulling up causing pain and when walking the sling irratates the inside area between my legs making it very uncomfortable.  Remember I wasn't wearing any pads.  So I went back to see the Doctor on March 22th and told her what I was feeling.  The doctor examined me and told me that everything is OK.  The pain and swelling is normal and should go away.  She gave me anti-inflamatory meds.  She told me to give everything a chance to heal before she should make good assesment on what went wrong with the sling.  She told me that if there is no change on my condition she will send me to see Doctor Nitti at NYU so he can examine me and make a second determination on my condition.
 
 My ongoing concern is the numbness in the penis and the pressure that the sling is causing.  My question is can this pressure from the sling cause perminent damage?