2023-04-24 19:02:15
“I feel like my body has betrayed me.” With these words, Brenna Gatimo, 34, describes her condition after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, where she underwent radiotherapy, had her breasts and ovaries removed, and is now taking a drug that inhibits any remaining estrogen in her body.
“All the things that make her feel like a woman have been removed or stopped,” says Gattimo, who is from Wyoming, like “estrogen, progesterone, ovaries, and breasts.”
She is currently suffering from vaginal dryness, lack of sexual desire, and difficulty reaching orgasm, and she does not feel any sensation in her breasts.
Gattimo is like many others, AThey received a report from the Washington PostThey are cancer survivors, but they live with permanent changes in their bodies, including those related to sexual functioning.
Don Dizon, professor of medicine and surgery at Brown University, points out that sexual problems after cancer treatment are a very important issue, especially when they do not receive the necessary medical care.
Sharon Popper, director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said the focus should not only be on survivors’ sexual functioning, but also on “the person’s sense of self as a whole, and engagement with their partner”.
Jacob Lowe, 31, a fourth-year student at the University of Michigan Medical School, is currently having difficulty going on dates since he was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. He is afraid to talk to people because it appears that he is hiding something.
Louis suffers from low libido and erectile dysfunction, and now this feeling of his body’s power has turned into feeling “like a wreck on the inside”.
As Gatimo tries to adjust to her new life, she struggles and has thoughts like, “What if this didn’t happen? How would I be?”
The Washington Post refers to the story of a 44-year-old man who suffered from rectal cancer in 2018, underwent chemotherapy and radiation, and underwent surgery that resulted in a formation called the “ostomy bag”, which is a bag that collects stool outside the body.
The man, who asked not to be named for privacy reasons, feels “broken”. He points out that sex for him now requires going to the bathroom to empty the bag, and he also takes Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction, which he began to suffer from since undergoing treatment.
Don Dizon, a professor of medicine and surgery at Brown University, says it is a common misconception that sexual problems in cancer patients are only associated with sex-related types, “but this is not true,” and there is evidence that colon and lung cancer, for example, are also associated with sexual problems.
He also explains that the chemotherapy itself can affect the mucous membrane of the vagina, which may cause pain when having sex.
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