I am a pro-intact advocate. That is, I advocate that routine infant circumcision should be stopped and baby boys should keep their intact penis. Only in the United States is it common to routinely circumcise baby boys for non-religious reasons. This practice of routinely circumcising babies must stop.

I never felt strongly about any issue. I was too busy working and having fun. Even now, I am busy building my business and trying to enjoy life in the process. As a middle-class white guy, I never felt oppressed or was placed in a position where I felt society wronged me. Several years ago, I clerked for a criminal court judge. I read court records of the trials of child abusers. I reviewed the evidence showing the abuse. I got incensed at the things people would do to children. But, still, I was not motivated to be an activist for children's rights.

Then I learned about circumcision and how it removes the foreskin so that the glans is fully exposed. I realized that my exposed glans accounted for my penis being irritated from my underwear. The glans and inner foreskin remnant are mucous membranes. They are meant to be protected. Even after my glans keratinized, there was a portion of my corona that was still sensitive. I felt the irritation when that area brushed against my clothing or bed sheets.

I learned about the techniques for separating the foreskin from the glans of infants. The foreskin of an infant is attached to the glans, the same as a fingernail is attached to the finger. During circumcision, the foreskin is forcibly separated from the glans before the foreskin can be cut away. I realized that the scarring near my frenulum was most likely due to the doctor using forcepts or another appliance to separate my foreskin from the glans. That area of my penis always hurt to the touch and looked a lot different than the rest of my penis. Read more . . .

Like many people, I collect links to interesting websites. But the question is, how do I remember the sites that I want to remember?

Well, this site now has a links section, arranged by category.  Click a category from the box on the left side of the window and see links relating to that subject. You can leave comments for each link. Let everyone know if you find the link useful or not.

Just one year ago I discovered foreskin restoration. Now, a year later, anyone would call me obsessed with foreskin restoration.

A lot has happened in the past year. I started restoration just before prostate surgery. Both that surgery and my foreskin restoration proved to be very successful. I became very active in the battle against routine infant circumcision. This website was born as part of my desire to be active. Read more . . .

I've been restoring my foreskin for 9 months. And, I miss Winter. Winter was a real ego boost because, with the cold weather, my foreskin covered my flaccid penis almost continuously. Read more . . .

This wraps up my third month of restoring. I am happy to report good progress with my manual tugging routine. I have been retaining all month with either the YourSkin Cone or a baby bottle nipple.  My glans has not yet dekeratinized, but my inner foreskin is getting more sensitive and the texture of the skin has changed.  I don't notice spontaneous rollover anymore because I am always retaining. Read more . . .

I almost exclusively use manual tugging. I have both a TLC-X and a DTR, but I use them only for a couple hours a week.

I manually tug 1 to 2 hours a day, every day. My routine fits into my lifestyle and I don't feel that I have to make time to tug. I just tug at the same time I am doing what I normally do. Read more . . .

I just finished up my second month of tugging.  I have been manually tugging about 1 to 2 hours a day.  I tug when I take a shower, when I read the paper, go to the bathroom, and any other time when I am not using my hands for anything and I have some privacy.  I tug for about 1 to 10 seconds, relax, tug for 1-10 seconds, relax, and repeat for between 1 and 30 minutes.  My preferred method of manual tugging is Read more . . .

Up until I was 52, I thought I was normal. I knew I was circumcised, but I really did not know what that meant. I knew I did not have a foreskin, but I've never seen one on another guy, and I had no idea what a foreskin was.

That changed on Saturday, August 9, 2008.  I was suffering from a severe case of acute bacterial prostatitus (ABP).  My urologist recommended surgery. Having a healthy dose of skepticism and wishing to be an informed patient, I began researching ABP and my options, both surgical and non-surgical. That Saturday I learned about male genital mutilation, commonly called circumcision. Until that day, I never realized what had been done to me when I was born. I was appalled and I finally understood the reason for some of the irritation and pains that I experienced with my penis. Read more . . .

As noted in my last blog, I was scheduled for prostate surgery. I was told to be at the hospital at 1:30 that afternoon. The surgery was as an outpatient and I was supposed to be able to go home in a few hours. I could eat and drink only up until midnight the night before. I got to the hospital nervous and hungry. Thirsty, too.

The surgery was to start at 4:30 that afternoon. Talking to the check-in nurse, I found out that my urologist had several patients before me that he was operating on. I was to be the last. I hoped he was not going to be too tired. But, I thought, he should have lots of practice by the time he gets to me. My wife and I waited in the waiting room for about an hour before they called us back. Read more . . .

My urologist gave me the options for fixing my BPH: surgery or drugs, and he did not thing the drugs were a good option.  My prostate was 50 grams and myurethra was almost completely blocked. Antibiotics were no help in opening up my urethra. So, if I wanted to use drugs like Avodart or Proscar, I would have to wear the catheter for several months until the prostate shrunk enough. Ugh. That was not a good option.

Then there is surgery. I asked about the less invasive laser treatments, such as the green laser. My urologist said those laser treatments would require me to continue wearing the catheter until my prostate shrunk enough from the laser treat. He said that the laser destroyed the inside of the prostate and that the prostate would collapse on itself, making my urethral opening larger. But, that takes time.

My doctor's first choice was TURP - trans-urethral resection of prostate. TURP requires an overnight hospital stay. It also has a 2 to 4 month recovery period.

The other option was HoLAP - Holmium Laser Ablation of the Prostate. My urologist was not too optimistic about HoLAP, considering the size of my prostate. At 50 grams he said I was on the high end of the range for it. Read more . . .