Chris's Story

Ethnicity
White British
Age
50-59
Work
Prefer not to say
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Geography
Greater London
Relationship status
In a relationship

Radical Prostatectomy (Surgery)

Tips and advice for any sexual side effects of treatment

Do the pelvic floor exercises, I found the Squeezy app very helpful, annoyingly so at times. Don't always give in to the urge to pee if you can. The lack of sexual urge is down to the hormone treatment not surgery and takes some adjustment.

Tips and advice for any physical side effects of treatment

Exercise has been important for me and I believe helpful. The hot flushes and night sweats again down to the hormone treatment I believe but you adapt . The sweats more intense than hotflushes . So far I have been lucky with lymphoedema given that I had a bunch of lymph nodes removed. I found that swapping to trunks from y fronts helped in that regard to the slight swelling I got in the groin, top of legs area.

Tips and advice for any mental and emotional side effects of treatment

The emotional side effects are down to the hormone treatment than the surgery. Mood swings for sure but am coping and understanding them better. I'm not sure you ever get away from the anxiety and repeated testing that an aggressive cancer diagnosis brings but again you deal with it

How this treatment impacted my life the most

The single most way it impacted me as a man was my sex life. That is something I am still trying to come to terms with, I'm not sure I really ever will sadly. That also effects your male ego and sense of masculinity.

If I had to do it all over again, would I choose the same treatment?

Yes

Why did I give this answer?

It was made clear to me that surgery and extent of surgery was really the only option, to put put me in as good a place possible, given the grade of cancer, There are so many wonderful things in my life, the trade offs, negative effects, were worth taking.

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