Penis Transplant Recipient's Progress: 'He's Aiming'

Since 2012, Thomas Manning had been forced to sit to urinate, the result of a partial penectomy he had to undergo due to penile cancer, which left him with a member just an inch long. Today, the 64-year-old is "standing up and he’s aiming, just like the good old days," says Dr. Dicken Ko on the occasion of Manning leaving Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday, roughly three weeks after he became the first American to have a penis transplant. The New York Times reports all news is good news so far: He's now able to walk, blood flow is sufficient, healing is progressing, and there are no indications of rejection. He'll have twice-weekly doctor visits in the short term; sensation and sexual function have yet to return, but are expected to within months.

Manning's destination upon leaving the Boston hospital was his Halifax home. On the docket for last night: spaghetti and climbing into his own bed. "The worst of it is all done," he says, though he wasn't entirely chipper. The AP reports Manning was "blinking away tears" as he said that it took a few days to work up the courage to look at his new organ, and "it's one of those things that, if you look at it, it doesn't look too good." Dozens of stitches remain, and there is still a lot of swelling, though he said the entire experience has been basically pain-free. (More penis transplant stories.)