Your Life Post-Cancer Treatment - Part One
Intimacy and body image
This can be a time of grieving with a sense of loss about the way your body once looked or functioned. It takes time to adjust to a new way of being OK with the way you look and how your body now works.
Navigating through your thoughts and feelings, as well as so many other things to consider, you can feel as though your head is going explode.
You can’t make sense of it all. The words feel jumbled and the thoughts and feelings that are massive to you feel unspeakable. "Will people think I’m being vain or silly?" You may think, and suddenly clam up and retreat into a dark lonely place.
Coming to terms with change takes time.
What you see in the mirror and how you view yourself may be completely different to how others see you. A lack of libido, erectile dysfunction, feeling self-consciousness about the way your body now looks can affect intimacy - you can find yourself drifting apart in your relationship.
Further, fear of finding a new relationship and the dread of having to explain all the changes you and your body have been through, can be a daunting place to find yourself.
Hormonal Changes due to treatment
Men and women may experience a multitude of symptoms due to treatment and medications. These can include night sweats, vaginal dryness, erectile dysfunction, weight gain, a lack of libido, and high emotions such as tearfulness that sometimes will come from nowhere.
All these symptoms and more can leave you feeling out of control with a sense of loss of self, and it can take time to recover physically and emotionally from a diagnosis of cancer or supporting someone through treatment.
But there is help available for you.
Exploring your experience
One of the steps to your recovery is exploring your experience of cancer in therapy. It is sometimes hard to reach out, but you don’t have to be alone once treatment has finished. It can take time to overcome what you and loved ones have been through, but you can take control one step at a time to move forward to a meaningful life.
You can call or email me and take that first important step today.