Canadian Men’s Clinic : Gay & Black Glossary

Be on time. If you are late, you have to reschedule. The Vancouver clinic is at #708 — 2525 Willow Street in the Fairmont Willow Building just south of Broadway. Without that clue (which they won’t give you), it is hard to find, since none of the buildings but one on Willow have street numbers and the one that does has a false number 101 — an apartment number that masquerades as a street address. They also have offices in Toronto and Ottawa. They don’t publish the clinic addresses on their website for patient privacy. They don’t want people off the street just showing up at the clinic door. They have a paranoid scheme to prevent patients from ever seeing each other. They promise confidentiality and they go out of their way to provide it.

On your first visit, they take blood to test for diabetes, high cholesterol and low testosterone, all major causes of impotence, along with smoking. You need to water fast 10 hours previously for an accurate result. They do the normal doctor things, take blood pressure, listen to your heart, take a medical history and learn about your medications. They ask mostly yes or no questions to determine just how serious your problem is.

They explained the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches. I decided to try the prostaglandin approach (based mainly on economics) to see what I could do to repair the damage HIV (Human Immuno-deficiency Virus) had done to my sexual plumbing. You will typically receive a trial dose of medication that should give you an erection lasting about 45 minutes during your visit. There are private waiting rooms, some separated only by curtains, to reduce embarrassment. They don’t tell you if you are supposed to encourage the erection by touching yourself. I presumed not, mainly because the magazines provided to read were not in the least pornographic.

For me nothing happened for about 30 minutes then a handsome young attendant knocked on my room to check on how I was doing. I said that nothing had happened. All I could feel was a slight fullness, much like after a hot bath. He asked to see for himself. Boing, instantly it rose to the occasion. I was mightily embarrassed. It looked either as if I had lied or I was coming on to him. I felt a wave of horniness rush over me, quite unlike Viagra which I had tried previously, buying it over the Internet. He graciously covered for me explaining that simply moving from a sitting to a standing position could be sufficient to trigger the erection because, in a sitting position, the blood flow is slightly blocked.

Since they were busy, they asked me to leave before my erection had subsided. It reminded me of being a teenager trying to act nonchalant as I walked down the city streets with a raging hard on.

On your second visit, they ask how long the erection lasted and then adjust your dosage accordingly. They twice teach you how to use the injection device, give you a video tape and written instructions and finally give you the injection kit and a sufficient supplies for 15 to 20 doses, for an additional to , usually depending on strength. You don’t actually inject on the second visit. The only tricky part is locking the hypodermic in the PRO-Ject without accidentally pressing the plunger.

I presume the Viagra and Muse options would work similarly.

You can make at appointment at (888) 636-7377.

My only complaint with them is they are hopelessly heterosexually oriented. All their literature and teaching materials presumes heterosexual sex. They kept presuming I was straight though I told each staff person in turn I dealt with that I was gay. They weren’t homophobic, or unaware of HIV problems, though.