The recipient of the America's first penis transplant says he is looking forward to walking out of the hospital a "complete" man.
"There is no doubt in my mind that everything is going to work. And I mean everything," 64-year-old Thomas Manning said on Wednesday with a grin as he continued to recover at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital.
"You can interpret that any way you wish."
Manning was upbeat and chatty after undergoing the 15-hour operation last week.
The former Massachusetts bank courier whose organ was amputated after he was diagnosed with penile cancer in 2012 has been ambling around his room with a walker and said he doesn't feel any pain.
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He has taken a few peeks under the gauze covering his new organ, and the swelling and discolouration appear to be diminishing.
Manning is just the third man in the world to receive a new penis, following transplants in South Africa in 2014 and China in 2005.
The South African patient remains healthy and was able to father a child, though the baby was stillborn.
The Chinese man, however, had his new penis removed weeks later because he said it made him and his wife uncomfortable.
The revolutionary procedure could give hope to cancer survivors, accident victims and maimed soldiers, and could also benefit transgender people.
Manning's doctors said in announcing the operation on Monday that they hoped to release him sometime this week.
But Manning said he would stay and undergo largely cosmetic surgery on Monday to improve the organ's appearance.
"They're in no rush, and I'm in no rush," Manning said.
"I'm going to walk out of here complete."
Doctors said it would be a few more weeks before Manning could urinate normally and that sexual function was further down the line, but reproduction was not possible since Manning didn't receive new testes.
As for the prospects of having a sex life again, Manning, who is single, never married and has no children, said: "When it happens it happens. I don't have to push it. I hope to be around for another 20 or 30 years. Will it still be working by then? I sure hope so."
