What about sex?

What about sex??

When you are first diagnosed, often thoughts are all about survival and what on earth it might be like to get through surgery and other treatments.  Yes, it’s true that you might think about how you or your partner might react to changes in your body, scars or differences in sensations; but often those thoughts are ‘shelved’ for a bit while the whirlwind of appointments and treatment demands gets going.

After cancer treatment, women and men can have concerns about their sexual and intimate lives that, if they are ignored, can become long-term problems. Changes to the way you think about yourself and your body, fatigue, pain, losses or changes in sensation (such as in the skin, nipples, penis), erectile changes, loss of sex drive, vaginal dryness or decrease in pleasure are all really common challenges.

Emotionally, of course, you may have changed too. Relationships can be put under strain, your partner might not have cared for you in the way you wanted or felt you needed. Roles change; maybe you feel like a patient and not a lover. Cancer just happens right in the middle of life; there could well have been problems beforehand that now seem more difficult to talk about or face.

Changes to sexuality and intimacy are a really common problem when you have been having cancer treatment. Often people (including the medical team) don’t talk about it and you are left wondering “what’s normal?” and “is that it?”. If you wonder sometimes if parts of your anatomy may well have shriveled up and dropped off or have chosen early retirement, it’s OK. Others do too and there’s information and help out there.

Check out some of these links…..

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping-with-cancer/coping-physically/sex-sexuality-and-cancer/how-cancer-can-affect-your-sexuality-and-sex-life

http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CAN753-Sexuality-Intimacy-Cancer-NSW-LR.pdf

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/coping/relationships/your-sex-life-and-sexuality

http://rekindleonline.org.au/

http://www.sexualhealthaustralia.com.au/files/Prostate_Cancer_Pamphlet.pdf

http://www.sexualhealthaustralia.com.au/files/Breast_Cancer_Pamphlet.pdf

http://www.sexualhealthaustralia.com.au/files/Testicular_Cancer_Pamphlet.pdf

http://www.sexualhealthaustralia.com.au/files/Cancer_Partners_Pamphlet.pdf

http://www.prostate.org.au/awareness/for-recently-diagnosed-men-and-their-families/gay-and-bisexual-men/