December 2009

Call for help from Intact America

IntactAmerica Sa NO! to circumcision. Protect baby boys from genital cuttingThere is still time to support a great outfit. If not this year, then next year.

I received the following letter from Georganne Chapin, the Executive Director of Intact AmericaIntact America is an organization that advocates for bodily integrity for all infants, particularly baby boys. They seek to protect baby boys from genital cutting, otherwise known as routine infant circumcision.

Georganne is seeking funds to continue their campaign to stop male infant circumcision. She writes: Read more . . .

Intactivism: Week in Review December 26, 2009

Say no to circumcision - support intactivismSay no to circumcision, support intactivism: Blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting. I was expecting this week to be light on circumcision related posts, but Dr Momma was very busy and others were not slackers, either.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Male Circumcision and HIV: GAWAYA TEGULLE: Unmasking the lie: Circumcision, sex and HIV/Aids
Commentary on Commentary Article by Gawaya Tegulle, a Ugandan who is not circumcising his sons and questions the circumcision campaign in Africa.

Dr Mamma - peaceful parenting: How the Foreskin Protects Against UTI (urinary tract infection)
Blog describing the human urinary tract. Particular attention is paid to how the foreskin aids an infant in avoiding infection and contamination from fecal matter. Circumcision removes the benefits of having a foreskin. Read more . . .

Pee In Morse Code - My Enlarged Prostate & Me

Enlarged prostate - BPH showing the urinary tractAnother blogger who had prostate problems found this site and gave me a link back. Thanks! But that is not why I am writing.

I had a HoLAP procedure on my enlarged prostate.The other blogger had a green laser treatment of his prostate. He wrote a chronicle of his prostate problems. He starts with a description of why he calls his blog Pee In Morse Code.  He describes his prostate surgery with the Green Light PVP procedure. He also describes his recovery and the health of his prostate as the years go by. For anyone considering treatment for BPH, his blog is a must read.

I must say that his experience was much different than mine. He had lots of post-surgery pain and blood clots. After my HoLap procedure, there was virtually no pain, but I still had a Foley catheter. He also had lots of urinary tract irritation and, apparently, the medications he was prescribed offered little relief. The irritation was most likely due to the green light laser inserted through his urethra. Read more . . .

Intactivism: Week in Review December 19, 2009

Banner logo for CATIE-News: Bite-sized HIV/AIDS news bulletins published by Canadian AIDS Treatement Information Exchange.Blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. Here is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

International Coalition for Genital Integrity: United Nations is sexist, misandrist and hypocritical
The United Nations has declared February 6th as the International Day Against FEMALE Genital Mutilation. Instead, it should be declaring an International Day Against HUMAN Genital Mutilation.
 

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Baby Dust Diaries: CIrcumcision: Legal Genital Mutilation of our Boys
A mother says she "wasn't going to permanently disfigure my child's body through surgical mutilation of his genitals." Read more . . .

Measuring foreskin restoration progress

Measuring foreskin restoration progressRestoring foreskin takes time. I have been restoring my foreskin for over a year. The difference between when I started and now is truly amazing. But, the skin grows so slowly, it is not really possible to see any difference day to day or even week by week. Being able to see restoration progress was a great way to motivate me to keep on restoring when I first started.

I've used several methods to measure my progress. Good objective measurement of restoring progress is difficult, at best. The skin grows slowly, so the changes cannot be seen just by looking at your foreskin. Measuring skin length is not easy because the skin stretches when you pull on it and the skin is very flexible. Read more . . .

Relieving catheter pain

Pyridium phenaxopyridine urinary tract analgesic for those wearing a catheterI wrote previously about having to wear a Foley catheter.  At the time I wrote those posts I could not recall the analgesic that I used to relieve the irritation and pain of the catheter.  Well, I found a pill bottle with my leftover stash.

During each of my two emergency room visits the doctors inserted a latex catheter. The latex irritated me. Most likely I had an allergic reaction to the latex.  Also, the latex catheter was stiff. Every time I sat down or bent over, there was a pain where the catheter bent inside my groin.

During my second ER visit, I pleaded with the doctor to give me something for the irritation and pain. He wrote me a prescription for Pyridium. Pyridium is a tradename for phenazopyridine. It is an analgesic for the urinary tract. The drug is a tablet taken orally, preferably with food. It is quickly secreted through the kidneys and relieves pain and irritation from the catheter. Read more . . .

Intactivism: Week in Review December 12, 2009

Blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of links to the ones I found interesting.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

DrMomma peaceful parenting: Forced Retraction: What Now?
Instructions on how to handle a forced retraction of an intact infant's foreskin. Too often medical personnel retract the foreskin, breaking the adhesions and harming the infant. The best thing to do with an intact infant is to leave the foreskin alone.
  Read more . . .

16 Month progress report for restoring foreskin

16 month progress report of foreskin restoration of a routine infant circumcisionSixteen months sounds like a long time, but it is flying by for me. At least, now it is. I remember when I started tugging I thought, wow, this is going to take a long time! Well, not really. It also helps that my progress has been rapid. I went from a wrinkled shaft to full flaccid coverage in that time.

Full flaccid coverage is a good milestone. After reaching this point in my restoration, I have two more goals. I want to have enough inner foreskin to cover my glans. The other goal is that I want to have enough restored foreskin so that I don't have to wear a retainer to bed. I am working on the first goal almost exclusively now. I figure the second goal, not having to wear a foreskin retainer, will happen in time. Read more . . .

Foreskin retainers, part 2

TLC Tugger Your-Skin Cone retainerI wrote previously about foreskin retainers. I hold my foreskin forward with a baby bottle nipple retainer. I also use the TLC Tugger Your-Skin Cone. And, there are other alternatives. The foreskin retainer is invaluable for those who are trying to regain their sensitivity and do not yet have enough skin to cover their glans unaided. The foreskin retainer keeps the foreskin forward and allows the glans and inner foreskin remnant to dekeratinize and regain their natural sensitivity.

TLC Tugger sells the Your-Skin Cone. When I bought my TLC-X bi-directional tugger it came with a Your-Skin Cone. I also bought an extra one. The Your-Skin Cone is worn similarly to the baby bottle nipple retainer. As seen in the picture to the right, It is white silicone.  The Your-Skin Cone is just as easy to clean as a silicone baby bottle nipple. I just use regular soap to wash and rinse under running water.

The Your-Skin Cone stays on best when the foreskin had some tension on it. As my foreskin grows and as the temperature changes, I alternate between the baby bottle nipple retainers and the Your-Skin Cones. I prefer the nipple retainers because they have a lower profile than the Your-Skin Cone.  I occasionally snag the outside edge of the wide part of the cone. This dislodges the Your-Skin Cone. Some say that you can use sharp scissors to trim the edge. I have not tried it, but it seems like it would help. Read more . . .

Intactivism: Week in Review December 5, 2009

I Want My Foreskin for Giftmas at Amazon.comBlogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. Here are the ones I found interesting, including a new discovery from October.

New Discovery!

Code Name: Mama: Our Perfect Son
A mother writes about her decision not to circumcise her son. Both she and her husband agreed that their son's sex life would be important to him and decided against a circumcision.
 

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Gloria Lemay: Jack Black, Telling it like it was
A YouTube video of the scene where Abraham tells the character played by Jack Black that he will be circumcised. The Jack Black character ends up running away because he does not want to be circumcised.
  Read more . . .