Re: doctors offices sex-free zones

[Guest guest]

Hi Laurel,

Since my wife had breast cancer I joined the breast cancer

list. A great bunch of gals over there. I am sure they would

love to see this article. So if you don't mind I am going to

send it over to that list.

Thank you for all you do.

Love

Aubrey

Mick, I am technology challenged as well. I recently learned to copy and paste. Woohoo! Here is the op/ed piece. It is short but packs a punch to the medical community.LaurelStart the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

[Guest guest]

Could not get the link to work, tried variations still no luck.

Technology challenged, Mick -- Abilene, TX

>

> Someone on another list posted this opinion/editorial piece from

the

> Boston Globe last week. After forwarding it to Gregg, I asked him

if

> his urologist of nearly 3 years has ever asked him about any

sexual

> issues. Gregg said that he never has. Pretty sad state of affairs,

> considering the number of breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder

and

> gynecological cancer survivors who are left facing sexual

disfunction

> as an enduring side effect.

>

>

www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/01/07

/le

> ts_talk...

>

> Laurel

>

[Guest guest]

Mick, I am technology challenged as well. I recently learned to copy

and paste. Woohoo! Here is the op/ed piece. It is short but packs a

punch to the medical community.

Laurel

Let's talk about sex - and cancer

Email|Print| Text size – + By Sharon L. Bober and Elyse R. Park

January 7, 2008

ALTHOUGH AMERICAN culture is saturated with overtly sexual images and

suggestive advertising, one place where most of us never hear about

or talk about sex is in our doctor's office.

Last month, the Institute of Medicine released a hallmark

report, " Cancer care for the whole patient: Meeting psychosocial

health needs. " This document calls for a new standard of cancer care

that tackles a broad range of often unaddressed psychosocial issues,

such as coping with accompanying mental health issues, work and

financial disruptions as well as caregiver burden. However, sexual

functioning is barely mentioned.

Even though more than one in three Americans will face a cancer

diagnosis at some point in their lives, rates of disease-free

survival after five years continue to grow. With more than 10 million

long-term cancer survivors in the United States, attention is

increasingly turning from avoiding death to quality of life.

According to Schover, a leading authority on cancer and

sexuality at the University of Texas M.D. Cancer Center, at

least half of breast, prostate, colorectal or gynecological cancer

survivors are left facing sexual dysfunction as a significant,

enduring side effect of treatment. Changes in body image, erectile

dysfunction, pain, and loss of desire are exceedingly common

difficulties and nobody seems to be talking about them. However, like

the discussion of sexual functioning missing in the Institute of

Medicine report, conversations about sex and intimacy within the

healthcare setting are similarly absent for many cancer patients at

every step, from diagnosis through long-term survivorship.

For patients who have already had to endure the physical, emotional,

and financial challenges of managing a cancer diagnosis and

treatment, the additional loss of sexuality and intimacy is not only

painful and embarrassing, but can also become an insurmountable

challenge.

Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormonal therapies all have the

potential to result in dire consequences that can be both immediate

and long lasting. Mastectomy, colostomy, and other physical

disfigurements after surgery must affect one's sex life. Hormonal

therapy for prostate cancer depletes a man of testosterone. Such a

therapy may be life-saving, but is devastating to a man's sex life.

The majority of prostate cancer survivors find themselves struggling

with erectile dysfunction and severe lack of desire for years after

treatment, burdened also with feelings of being damaged and

depressed. In addition to the complex issues involved with body

changes, possible infertility, and body image after breast surgery,

many young breast cancer survivors feel wholly unprepared for the

impact of chemotherapy-induced early menopause, which can have a

powerful and negative effect on sexuality including pain, loss of

desire, and decreased physical response.

Although the consequences of cancer treatment on sexuality are often

quite significant, the good news is that a variety of helpful

treatments and practical solutions exist, many of which are easy to

use and readily available. Brief sexual rehabilitation counseling has

been shown to be enormously beneficial to both individuals and their

partners.

However, somebody has to start talking about sex. Few medical and

mental health professionals are ever taught how to talk to patients

about sex and many health professionals avoid talking about sex

because it feels like too " risky " a topic. Because of this, patients

and professionals often find themselves in an awkward dance in which

neither partner knows who should lead or what to say. Not

surprisingly, the doctor's office often remains a sex-free zone.

Considering the fact that sexuality is such a central, life-affirming

element of human experience, it is tragic that we have done such an

inadequate job of integrating the treatment of sexual functioning

into patient care.

If we strive to integrate talk about sexuality and intimacy into

cancer patient care, we need to start educating medical and mental

health professionals how to talk about sex in a frank and skilled

manner. It's time to start talking about sex - only then can we

attain our mission to truly address the cancer patient as a whole

person.

Sharon L. Bober is a psychologist with the Perini Family Survivors'

Center of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an instructor in

psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Elyse R. Park is a psychologist

affiliated with the Institute for Health Policy of Massachusetts

General Hospital and an assistant professor in psychiatry at Harvard

Medical School

> >

> > Someone on another list posted this opinion/editorial piece from

> the

> > Boston Globe last week. After forwarding it to Gregg, I asked him

> if

> > his urologist of nearly 3 years has ever asked him about any

> sexual

> > issues. Gregg said that he never has. Pretty sad state of

affairs,

> > considering the number of breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder

> and

> > gynecological cancer survivors who are left facing sexual

> disfunction

> > as an enduring side effect.

> >

> >

>

www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/01/07

> /le

> > ts_talk...

> >

> > Laurel

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Aubrey, please do send it to the breast cancer group. I want to send

it to Gregg's urologist, perhaps without a signature or return

address. The doctor treated Gregg for bladder cancer and is following

up after his prostate treatment and has never once asked him about

his sexual function. Shame on him! Gregg asked him about Viagra type

drugs following his proton radiation. The doctor said that he should

just keep using " it " . I did find studies and or articles that

suggested that Viagra was a good idea for radiation patients in

fending off radiation induced impotence. So far all is well, but if

at some point it seems needed, I will push. Pushing is beyond my

comfort zone, but I have become more pushy in the last couple of

years.

Laurel

>

> Hi Laurel,

>

> Since my wife had breast cancer I joined the breast cancer

> list. A great bunch of gals over there. I am sure they would

> love to see this article. So if you don't mind I am going to

> send it over to that list.

>

> Thank you for all you do.

>

> Love

>

> Aubrey

>

>

>

>

> In a message dated 1/16/2008 5:52:43 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,

> LaurelFace@... writes:

>

> Mick, I am technology challenged as well. I recently learned to

copy

> and paste. Woohoo! Here is the op/ed piece. It is short but packs

a

> punch to the medical community.

>

> Laurel

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in

shape.

> http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?

NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

>