Rediscovering life and manhood after prostate cancer
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the end of 2019 and feared losing my manhood and my life. I was lucky to have my prostate surgically removed before the cancer spread more widely. The most minimal roadmap for recovery was provided. I want to expand the roadmap and the conversation about recovering life and manhood after prostate cancer.
Here, in the blog you can read a variety of survivor’s stories and those of their partners. There are lots of useful resources for your own journey, including videos and my new book. And this is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
The roots of the blog below lie in the step by step sharing of my story as it unfolded over the last five years, together with others who have different experiences right up to the present day. My aim is to mark some points on the rather uncharted landscape, so you can build your own roadmap.
It includes direct and personal accounts of our body, head, heart and soul and partner journeys as well as the inner and outer resources that helped us along the way. Grateful thanks to my wife and an increasing number of other cancer survivors and their partners for sharing stories on these pages. They also helped inspire and inform the book featured on this page.
The goals: rebuild health, expand identities, make the most of what we have.
Before and after my surgery: short videos
Get the lowdown in minutes: click above for short, revealing videos before and after prostate cancer treatment
Journeys of recovery from – and adaptation to – prostate cancer
Below are the thumbnails of the most recent posts – click on each for the full story. For chronological order, please visit diagnosis, treatment and recovery pages. More here every week. I invite you to subscribe (see above and sidebar on the right/below) so you don’t miss a thing.
Research part 1: Learning from gay men
15 January 2020: I want to know what it will really be like if I have my prostate removed. The technical stuff is not enough. What will it feel like? The most comprehensive answers so far have come from studies within [...]
Partner story 1: From diagnosis to surgery
A cancer diagnosis affects the partner and the marriage about as much as the patient. Big thanks to my wife Colleen for sharing her side of the story. Here is Part One: This journey started for me with Mish complaining of [...]
Sexuality | libido | identity
6 December 2019 Now I know I most likely have prostate cancer, and that my preferred treatment is radical prostatectomy surgery. I am reaching out to close friends and family for support. What looms large is that the treatment is likely [...]
Daytime gratitude, night time despair
4 Dec 2019 I got the results of my MRI scan today – PIRADS level 4. Google says it means 80% likely it's prostate cancer. Pretty upsetting. I am very hopeful about catching it soon. They say no signs of [...]
How I found out I had prostate cancer
3 December 2019: The first signs of prostate cancer were not at all obvious. I am so lucky the problem was picked up in time. When I went to see a GP (family doctor) in mid-November 2019, my issue was apparently [...]
Invitation to contribute
Your input is invited
- Please comment on individual blog entries and ask questions. You do need to give your valid email address (to avoid spam) and your contact info won’t be published or abused in any way. You are welcome to use a nickname or even “anonymous.”
- Use the Contact page to open up broader topics
- Consider sharing your story. Example 1 and example 2. Maybe your voice and story also belong here? Let me know or Try this template – you will be surprised how much you learn from telling your story (open to prostate cancer survivors and/or their partners)