Chemo & Radiation induced sexual dysfunction

danker said:

ERECTIONS

As I approach my 84th birthday,I find the comments almost humorous!  I cannot even remember  my last erection. LOL

lol Danker, you make my day all the time.  I would have liked to be saying something similar at 84, sadly I'm 46.  Thankfully, I have a fabulous personality if I do say so myself. As the saying goes . . .  If like throws you a lemon, cut that bad boy open and throw it at someone because life didn't also throw you sugar and water dummy.  Can't change what cards I've been dealt but I can accept them and move on with what I do have and I have a heck of a lot to offer . . .and I don't even have to stop for long bathroom breaks on road trips!  lol

ron50 said:

Hi Sue

   As you know I have a raft of problems stemming from chemo. The trouble is that there are few around except Foxy (Virginia from New Zealand) who were on levamisole mostly because it was banned for human use around 200-2001. Virginia ,like me, suffers from auto-immune problems that they cannot put a name to. I have suffered severe peripheral neuropathy from a short time after chemo therapy. I have been diagnosed with auto immune nephrotic syndrome causing protein loss up to 7 grams a day. On cyclosporine I maintain my loss at around 1 gram a day. I have just seen an endo cronologist who believes my endocrine problems are also auto immune . My testosterone levels of a morning are 5.2 , the norm baseline being from 8-18. My nephrologist has tested me for auto-immune hepatitis and has found I vary from mild to moderate. I have medication induced type two diabetes (prednisone ,75 mg a day for nearly two years) and I have moderate premature ventricular and atrial ectopic heartbeats (10,299 a day at last count). It has cost me over a hundred thousand dollars in specialists since cancer and not one has been able to give me a cause or suggest a treatment for any of them except my nephrologist who freely admits that he does not know what caused my kidney disease but has been lucky to find a treatment that has kept me alive, He freely acknowledges that most of my auto immune problems are the result of the chemo I had and he also knows that the treatment he is using is highly likely to cause more cancer including skin and myeloma as well as other blood cancers.. My wife did not leave only for the lack of initimacy she just got tired of dealing with non stop illness. Ron .

I know you hate when I say this but you remain my hero.  You are an incredible person and have tolerated more than what most people can deal with and have done it with grace even if grace includes the ocassional throwing of objects=)  Even objects can be thrown gracefully.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Helen321 said:

Thanks Sue. The problem is

Thanks Sue. The problem is that it's not just a sexual issue. My reality is that that part of my life has come to an end for the most part. According yo the doctor, the problem is that over time, if not taken care of, the tissue breaks down and causes other problems which is actually a natural part of menopause. Add radiation and you get a lovely mix of woes Including the possubility of fistulas. So its worth discussing with a GYN oncologist. The doctor who helps correct it just happens to be called a sex therapist. She also helps with the mental that goes with the loss of function. My doctor and I had a discussion that all patients should be sent to a GYN oncologist as well as the Colo before surgery and especially when radiation is involved, not only during but after and yet we're not. My reply, well make it happen captain. Time for change starts now. It's illogical not to great all parts of the body affected by cancer. Even if treatment just means basic discussion of possibilities, options and consequences. 

Today was my second radiation treatment and afterwards I had a quick visit with the Doctor. In passing he quickly talked about side effects and quickly mentioned that I may have some "toxicity" in the area of my genitalia. ...and he walked out before I had a chance to ask just what the heck that means....

So I've already gone through menopause... and I don't treat myself for it and I occasionally enjoy sex with my husband. So what do I have to look forward to? What can I do to avoid this toxicity? 

Man....I was just getting to the point where I can handle the treatment and now this?

Ugh

Viagra, the little blue pills work for me. 5 years out and been thru part of lower colon removal after oral chemo and radiation a resection and 9 months of main line chemo every 2 weeks, 2 bouts with blood clots in my lungs so that now I am on daily blood thinners. After all that my erections were not very rigid until i tried Viagra and WOW. It is very pricey tho in the states, so I get mine at 1/10th the cost thru Canada. It is a generic but works just as good.

Helen321 said:

I've come across the same

I've come across the same issue.  Suddenly I find many conversations "stupid".  When I hear people complaining about standing on a supermarket line I want to say "oh shut up you have no idea".  Or when people my age (46) are talking about small things that I used to relate to while we're out at a bar I just think, wow who cares, there are bigger things in life.  It's hard to relate to people sometimes now.  I have to remind myself that they don't "know".  They're still in the "happy, I'm going to live forever" part of life that we don't get to be in anymore where small stuff still matters.

Really glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has become more withdrawn or less social since diagnosis and treatment. It's partly hard to concentrate when I'm listening to people because I always have something serious on my mind. There is also this feeling of being very different from people who don't have a life threatening illness. This quote expresses the feeling pretty well. A young woman named Rebecca Babcock said this in a film called "I am a Visitor in Your World." She had colon cancer and unfortunately has passed away.

"I've disassociated myself with you. You, as in the rest of our normal world. I don't belong there anymore. I'm not normal. I'm in another class now. And not the cool kids or the theater kids or the jocks class. I'm now a member of a society of people, I believe, who can't help but acknowledge that what we once were is no longer. And what we are now is in a completely bizarro, Twilight Zone reality that most can never even fathom."