Is this true?
I was starting to do a lot better but then I read that it can take 18 months to get my testosterone back to my pre-ADT level (~600) when my six month Lupron shot wears off ? I also read that impotence from radiation kicks in at 18-24 months.
Does this mean I will NEVER get my sexuality back again, i.e. impotence will kick in just as my testosterone is finally recovering enough? I honestly don't think I can go on, or even WANT to go on, if this is the case. I used to have sex at least twice a week and haven't even been able to masturbate for four months now. What's the point of life with no intimacy?
I wasn't told ANY of this when I reluctantly started treatment and just found this out from doing online research. I finally felt I was making progress but now feel once again like my soul is crushed. I don't see any quality of life ahead of me at all.
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.
As I mentioned in a previous post, my ability to have a (dry) orgasm returned about a year to 18 months after radiation (I don't remember exactly), even though I'm still on ADT and Erleada. So "hang" in there ... (get it?). š
With partners like that you're better off without them . I bet you felt better when these hanger- ons left . Just looking for a meal ticket & pension plan -- Your insurance .
Smile & Cheer Up.
Think of the story about the drunk who got cremated - He drank so much Scotch Whiskey -- When cremated -- It took 2 weeks to put out the fire .
Oh I fully agree. Those were the exceptions and not the rule, thankfully. I have noticed since getting cancer that several people in my life seem uneasy and don't really know how to talk to me anymore. I wish that they just continued to treat me the same way they always had, but I've heard this is a common thing so I may just have to let it go because just as many have gone out of their way to help me.
There are a lot of elderly widows in my neighborhood and I guess word got around because they all started bringing me food. I don't have the heart to tell them that I can't eat three tuna casseroles, and as much as my dog would love them I don't think it's a good idea š.
| Find out 'why' sex is so important to you ...
My therapist asked me that question directly and I told her it was the intimacy and also a feeling of power to dominate someone in a very primal way, but always in a way that the other person wanted (i.e. I NEVER pressured anyone into anything non-consensual).
She tied it back to me always wanting to be in control. Then she asked how many hours a week I spent on sex previously and I said "probably 2-3" and her response was "OK, so the other 137 or so hours haven't really changed that much" and I sort of laughed at the absurdity of it.
She's very good in that she told me her goal upfront is to take something traumatic and help me figure out how to turn it into a way to grow and change but she also said the process isn't going to be easy and that there is a definite loss that has to be properly grieved with sadness and maybe some anger.
Great news about the switch to Orgovyx. Hopefully that will be a game changer. Iām 3 weeks post 31 sessions of IMRT and things arenāt working as well as they were before surgery and I expect that over time things will improve. Rome was not built in a day and all of us that have gone through surgery and radiation and now are on ADT need to accept that it will take some time to get things working again.
Patience is warranted and prudent here. That can be difficult. Let me share my āprayer for patienceā with you. Itās short.
Dear God, please grant me patience and I want it NOW!
Seriously, so much of coping with all this often requires that we change how we look at things. There is an old adage that says āChange the way you look at things and things will change. Thatās certainly appropriate here.
Remember, youāre not alone. Those of that that respond to your posts hear you and are here to support you as best we can.
said the process isn't going to be easy and that there is a definite loss that has to be properly grieved with sadness and maybe some anger.
Certainly grief , anger and at least for me a fear of change. Change in losing something so fun!! and also a small look into our mortality and glimpse into the not so fun aspects of aging.
Keep doing good things for others, do not let depression get you down and keep reaching out, good luck, Ziggy
Beware . Don't let these widows get too close . Marriage , life insurance , estate potential ?
I have seen it all .
Speaking of prayers, I'm pantheist (I believe all religions are seeking the same truth in different ways), but I did pray during the first, long night lying alone in a hospital bed after I learned about my cancer.
I didn't pray to be cured, because I refuse to believe in a supreme being or force or spirit (or whatever) so petty and cruel that it wouldn't just go ahead and cure people on its own if possible.
Instead, I prayed with an invitation: "Whatever happens, please stay with me through it; don't let me be alone." Whether it's coming from inside or outside me, I haven't felt desperately alone since, so I guess it was an ok prayer. š¤·āāļø
I know this sounds hippy-dippy but there have been times when I've been walking in the woods and I will ask the universe "why did this happen?" and the "answer" will be a rabbit running by or the wind in the trees.
When my dad passed away I asked "why" and when I returned to work after bereavement leave a plant I had on my desk had sprouted a beautiful flower, something it had never done before. I interpreted that as the "answer" even though I don't understand it.