# Sex after Prostate Cancer (treatment)



## lucky_guy (Jan 23, 2011)

Hi,

I am in my mid 50's and have recently had prostate cancer surgery. Here are some statistics which I hope will catch the readers attention:

1 in 3 guys WILL have prostate problems.
1 in 5 guys WILL get prostate cancer. 

The Good News - if caught early, its 100% treatable. 
The Bad News - the treatment causes temporary incontinence issues and longer term erectile dysfunction.

Why do I mention this here? Well, there are obvious implications for the physical side of a couples relationship post-op. Given that this could easily affect 1 in 5 couples, I think it's something that should be considered and discussed.

Do any of you have any experiences or thoughts you'd like to share. Remember, if this happens to your partner, they are the same person as they were pre-op, just they they will have problems "getting it up" and will almost certainly have an emotional reaction as well.

How did my wife and I cope? We got creative before surgery and have continued post-op. And we have had a LOT of VERY open and honest conversation as well.

Thank you for reading this.


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## magixz64 (Jan 18, 2011)

What were your initial symptoms?


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## lucky_guy (Jan 23, 2011)

This is my experience, others may vary. I am not a doctor.

In the early stages, I had no symptoms of cancer. I had an enlargening of the prostate (BPH) which indicated that there could be cancer, but since its usually BPH, it didn't help. BPH is usually monitored or sometimes controlled with drugs. The synptoms of BPH were the age-related difficulty in urinating.

There is a blood test - a PSA test (here in the USA) - that measures an antigen (a protien) that the prostate produces. As a general rule, the higher the figure, the worse the BPH. Or possibly cancer. It's hard to say. 

BPH and Prostate cancer can grow very slowly which means that increasing PSA from BPH can hide an emerging prostate cancer.

"How did I get diagnosed" might be a useful question. And the answer is "by accident" following another procedure. I had a prostate biopsy (not fun) which showed a gleeson of 3+3 and Stage 1 cancer. The treatment options vary, but we chose the 100% effective one (removal) and to deal with the concequences post-op.

*In my (non-medical) opinion* I would monitor the PSA "velocity" (the amount it changes over time) with 6 month PSA tests. If there is a steady increase in level and the level has reached 3 or more, OR, if there is a rapid increase, I'd start taking things more seriously. *There is no substitute for seeing a Urologist*

The DRE (digital rectal exam) is a useful way to find that you have, say Stage 2b or Stage 3 cancer which to me is a little too late in the day. 

Ladies -- this is an ugly condition that can be avoided with tests and screening. It's the male equilvalent of Breast Cancer.

Please send me a PM if you have any questions you don't care to post here.


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