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.
Guest post 3: I like measuring things – Tracking urine control
By Pramod Daya I like measuring things. Especially the reports on my health – cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, weight. And graphing them, to get a sense of whether my general health is improving, or declining. My brother [...]
Guest post, part 2: Adult incontinence after prostate surgery
By Pramod Daya Adult incontinence is an unpleasant and often undiscussable side effect of prostate cancer treatment. It's a frequent consequence of prostate cancer treatment and affects about 40% of all men going through radical prostatectomy surgery for up to [...]
Join the conversation: prostate cancer and men’s sexual health
This is an invitation to join a live, inclusive real-time conversation circle where we share our experiences with prostate cancer and men's sexual health. If you join at this early stage in the group's formation you will be able to [...]
Day 120: Easy ways to eat healthy organic food and resist cancer
26 June 2020: This is about the astonishing joy of eating easy anti-cancer food. Diet is not a panacea, but here are some practical ways to eat healthy organic food every day. I'm convinced it helps keep cancer at bay. I [...]
Day 115: Awkwardness and love intertwining
21 June 2020: I still have severe erectile dysfunction according to the International Index of Erectile Function. What a blessing to have a partner with whom I can laugh, cry, connect and learn. We have been fumbling, laughing and loving our [...]
Guest post: getting to dry(ish) days
By Dr Rhys Leeming Bladder control is a big problem for prostate cancer survivors and here's how I helped myself by doing Kegels after my prostatectomy. I felt lucky to regain night time continence within about a month of prostate [...]
Guest post: The road to dry nights after prostate surgery
By Dr Rhys Leeming Without a doubt, of all the medical interventions I have had, my prostatectomy has left the deepest scars. Thrown instantly into erectile dysfunction and bladder incontinence, my world was thrown into a deep turmoil. This is [...]
Partner experience after prostate cancer surgery
Prostate cancer impacts couples: here are the early weeks of my partner experience after prostate cancer surgery. By Colleen Dawson The harsh reality of cancer The reality of my husband's cancer hit me only at the post-op check with the surgeon. [...]
Day 98: The importance of energy flow
4 June 2020: Tracking and managing the flow of my energy feels crucial to my healing. There are many ways to make meaning of "energy." In this post I will look at where different forms of energy come from, get boosted, [...]
Day 88: Yoga for the penis | penile rehabilitation, part 1
25 May 2020: At last I am able to take practical action on penile rehabilitation. Medically, it directly addresses the biggest danger to long term erectile function arising from my prostate cancer surgery. Penile rehabilitation exercises also promise to help with [...]
Drug free treatment of erectile dysfunction – a business and personal story
Here is a backgrounder on the drug free treatment of erectile dysfunction. The story starts in the 1990s and goes back more than 100 years earlier. It is also a very modern story of business and technology innovation to solve an [...]
Day 74: Resources supporting recovery from ED
11 May 2020: I need more resources to support recovery from erectile dysfunction (ED) after my prostate cancer treatment. My surgeon told me "use it or lose it" but I don't know how to find this erection to use! I've been [...]
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)