Tips and advice for any bladder or bowel side effects of treatment
Having a good diet- removal of sugar, and cutting down on meat helped personally.
Tips and advice for any sexual side effects of treatment
Need to take someone with you throughout the process, from the time of the diagnosis till the treatment and post-treatment/recovery as you don't know what you will be told to you. It's important that the doctors/clinicians understand your sexual appetite; this is not often asked, and can be left unsure of what different treatments e.g vacumn pump to use. Getting the sex drive back was essential in helping my holistic recovery. Having an understanding and helpful partner during this process was quite vital. Communication is key and discussing this with close family and relatives. Keeping things to yourself, especially as a man, maybe the comfort however it's important to discuss this. Counselling is important. I went to a sex therapist; you don't think about these things until you have to come upon them, though it was not always as helpful as it was with a woman and she did not always understand. This helped me mentally a lot.
Being part of a support group helped me, speaking to other patients going through the same experience. Knowing someone that's gone through it , sharing experiences means I was not ignorant and I was able to come out of the other end. Can Survive UK has allowed me to feel normal again
How this treatment impacted my life the most
Felt like less of a man and didn't have much to live for until I got to meet other people going through. Appetite for intimacy. Having the treatment itself, the cancer term and negative connotations regarding what cancer means, specifically prostate cancer. My mentality and mindset helped me navigate through this.
Why did I give this answer?
The procedure done, brachytherapy 2 was an expensive procedure, and I understood that it would not be needed unless completely necessary. This is what swayed me to get done but I don't know if I would do the same treatments, I would look to do other treatments that were less invasive. I would not go through the same one and see what is out there that is good for me personally if there were more updated ones. Getting a second opinion would be helpful. It's important that research is done and not just taken the first opinion as the first opinion given to me was to have the surgery and later a second opinion showed that was not necessary which helped other negative experiences that could have happened.
