Health4 min(s) read
Man who had penis rebuilt using skin from his arm reveals what it was like having sex with his wife again
A man who had his penis rebuilt using skin from his arm has opened up about what it was like having sex with his wife again.
Paul Lucas, a local government official from Dudley, recently spoke with OMG Stories about being diagnosed with penile cancer at 37 years old and undergoing a penectomy.
According to the NHS, symptoms of the cancer can vary from a growth, lump, or sore on the penis that does not heal within four weeks, to a rash, penile bleeding, smelly discharge, difficulty pulling back your foreskin, or a change in the color of your penis or foreskin.
Lucas revealed that he first noticed something unusual just months after marrying Nicky in April 2022.
"We got married in April 2022, and in that summer, around June, I could tell something wasn't quite right," he said. "I thought it was just like my pee stream was quite off. It was like spray or at different angles, and to be honest, I just sort of waved it off and thought it was just one of those things that will happen, and it'll correct itself."
However, the problem persisted, and Lucas eventually noticed growth and changes around the tip of his foreskin.
Following encouragement from his wife, he was quickly referred to a specialist and diagnosed with the rare cancer.
He soon faced three procedures, beginning with total penectomy, which involved removing his penis - something he did not know would happen until 24 hours after the operation.
He remembers waking up from surgery, feeling happy that he "wasn't in pain" anymore.
"By then it was October, so I'd been struggling with sort of discomfort and pain for about three to four months at that point, and it was just getting worse, so getting rid of that pain was just a lovely feeling," he said.
Lucas underwent complex surgery to reconstruct his penis
After the penis removal, Lucas underwent a complex, "sci-fi" surgery to reconstruct his manhood.
In a previous interview on This Morning, Urology surgeon Wai Gin Lee explained that the operation involved reconstructing Lucas' phallus and urethra using tissue from his arm, with nerves connected to those in the pelvic region.
Lucas said his wife helped design his new manhood and revealed the one major advantage it has over a normal penis.
"It's bigger for a start - so that's positive," he said, adding that regaining sensation is a gradual process.
"There isn't much sensation at the moment because that is the slow process of the nerves regrowing. So it's getting there. I'm getting short, electric shocks through it occasionally because that's the nerve endings misfiring," he shared.
"It's nice. It's sort of warm. It's sort of soft to the touch because it's made of skin and muscle. It's quite dense, I would say. It's quite heavy," he added.
Lucas reveals what it was like having sex with his wife again
Lucas will also undergo the second and third parts of the procedure, which are to create a glans and then insert an erectile device, making his penis functional in an intimate setting.
He revealed in the interview that despite the remaining surgeries, he and Nicky had already had sex and opened up about the intimate experience.
"I never thought I would be brave enough to put myself through this operation, and it had almost been three and a half, four years at that stage since we'd last been intimate," he said.
"And to have that sort of connection again, even though I couldn't really feel anything, but to have that sort of physical sense in my head, it's like, 'Wow' all this hard work, all this recovery.
"It was really just a lovely moment that we shared between the two of us," he concluded.