“I told the doctor after surgery that he saved my life. No less,” recalls Amir, now 72, who remarried and rebuilt his life after years of illness and loss. “For years before the implant, I was a broken man. By day, I was a successful businessman, but at night I felt like a rag — powerless in bed, hopeless, ashamed. The surgery restored my confidence, my masculinity, and my joy for life. I exercise again, my mood has improved, I travel, work, and live — and I have a fulfilling sex life with my wife.”
Amir, the owner of a construction and project management firm in Haifa, now shares his story to encourage men who silently suffer from impotence to consider penile implants without shame. His path was not simple: it was paved with love, devastating loss, life-threatening illnesses, and ultimately, a fight to reclaim intimacy.
Amir and his childhood sweetheart, Sima, grew up together in Tiberias. “By 14, we were in love. At 20, still soldiers, we married,” he says. They built a family — two daughters and a son — and later moved to Haifa. Sima managed a radiology clinic, while Amir ran projects. “We had a fairy-tale life. We only needed each other.”
But 12 years ago, during a trip to Madrid, Sima suddenly fell ill. Back in Israel, tests revealed pancreatic cancer. Despite conventional and experimental treatments, her condition deteriorated rapidly. Just three months later, she died in Rambam Hospital.
The couple’s daughter, Rotem, rushed to marry her fiancé before her mother’s decline. “Sima was too weak to attend. I was there for Rotem, and later returned to whisper to Sima, ‘Our daughter is married.’ She asked me for a kiss — and as I pressed my lips to her cheek, I felt her hand go limp. Her beautiful blue eyes turned gray. She was gone.”
The grief left Amir hollow. “I couldn’t bear the silence of the house. I searched for her in every room.” Four months later, determined not to drown in despair, he began a new relationship. Soon after, his kidneys failed. His new partner took charge, found a hospital abroad willing to perform a transplant, and supported him through it. “I got a second chance at life, and we married in 2015,” Amir says.
Happiness didn’t last. Not long after, Amir was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Surgeons warned that removing the prostate would likely destroy his ability to have erections. “It was a choice between life without sex, or sex without life. In other words — to live, or to enjoy.” He chose surgery, followed by 60 rounds of radiation. All the while, he hid the illness, maintaining his image as “the big boss.”
Amir was not ready to give up on sexuality. “I told myself, after losing Sima, surviving a kidney transplant and cancer — I deserve to live fully. If I solve the erection problem, I’ll get myself back.” Pills and injections failed him. Then, in 2019, he underwent surgery with Dr. Ohad Shoshani at Rabin Medical Center to implant a penile prosthesis.
“Three months later, I was back to sexual activity. Six months later, I barely remembered it was an implant. I press a tiny button, get an erection, and, most importantly, I can satisfy my wife. The intimacy makes our bond stronger. With one click, I can have an erection again and again — like I was 20.”
Now, Amir volunteers to mentor men considering the surgery. “I remember the despair — a powerful man by day, nothing at night. Impotent. Don’t lock yourself in the closet of shame. The solution is there. If I had known about penile implants earlier, I wouldn’t have delayed prostate surgery out of fear of impotence, which risked my life.”
Dr. Shoshani, a senior urologist at Rabin Medical Center who trained in Chicago and Melbourne, explains that two main types of penile implants are used: semi-rigid silicone rods and inflatable three-part systems. “The inflatable implant most closely mimics natural function,” he says. “A small pump in the scrotum moves fluid into cylinders inside the penis, creating an erection. After sex, the fluid returns to a reservoir in the abdomen.”
Both implants are covered by Israel’s national health basket, with partial patient co-payment, and are also reimbursed by some private insurers. The surgery, performed in public or private hospitals, does not lengthen or enlarge the penis, nor does it affect sensation or orgasm. Its purpose is to restore reliable erections when all other treatments fail.
Amir insists his story is about more than sex. “It’s about dignity, confidence, and living fully. I’m not ashamed anymore. I want men to know — this can give you your life back.”
