Kerry's Story

Ethnicity
White British
Age
60-69
Work
Other (please specify)
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Geography
West Midlands
Relationship status
Married/In a Civil Partnership

Radiotherapy

Tips and advice for any sexual side effects of treatment

The combination of radiotherapy and hormone therapy reduced my sex drive . I could still orgasm but produced no semen. Not great but could be worse .

Tips and advice for any physical side effects of treatment

Hot sweats come and go ! More annoying than debilitating.

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

I didn’t get much warning about the episodes of depression . They last for a few hours up to 14 hours at worst. I was eventually helped by my GP mental health team and prescribed antidepressants, which helped. Following my three month post treatment review I decided to stop having the hormone therapy , I had been given three out of the six injections and my Consultant Oncologist advised me the risk was small as opposed to the impact it was having on my quality of life.

How this treatment impacted my life the most

The episodes of depression , anxiety and poor sleep were by far the worst part of my treatment.

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

Yes

Why did I give this answer?

I chose Radiotherapy and hormone treatment as it has a good success rate for my stage of cancer. I am self employed with my own salon and staff and it was important I be able to continue to work albeit not full days as having to have time off would have impacted my business which has already taken a battering during the pandemic.

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