Sexuality and Fertility After Cancer

by Leslie R. Schover

Overview

In the United States today, there are 8 million cancer survivors, including the 5 million who are alive for over five years since their diagnosis. With the help of the American Cancer Society, this leading sex therapist and staff member of the prestigious Cleveland Clinic has written an accurate, up-to-date and empowering reference for these survivors on staying sexually active and having children after cancer treatment. Examines the emotional and physical impact of breast, prostate and other cancers, plus sections on dating and sexual orientation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471181941
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	09/30/1997
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.03(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

LESLIE R. SCHOVER, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and sex therapist at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Widely recognized as the leading authority on cancer and sexuality, Dr. Schover is in great demand as a lecturer and consultant. Her writings and interviews appear frequently in a variety of print and broadcast media.

Table of Contents

Partial table of contents:

THERE IS SEX AFTER CANCER!

Sex, Cancer, and Your Emotions.

Greater Expectations: Women's Sexual Health.

Getting the Word Out: Talking About Sex.

Going Back to Bed.

Safer Sex After Cancer: Preventing Disease.

IS THERE A PROBLEM?

WHY IT HAPPENED AND HOW TO FIX IT.

Getting the Help You Need for a Sexual Problem.

Where Did My Libido Go?

Enhancing Sexual Desire After Cancer.

The Bells Aren't Ringing: No Orgasms, Slow Orgasms, and Dry Orgasms.

Causes of Painful Sex.

Overcoming Pain During Sex.

FERTILITY AND PREGNANCY: WHEN CANCER ADDS INSULT TO INJURY.

Empty Arms: The Pain of Infertility.

Special Delivery: Getting the Sperm to the Egg.

Having Whose Baby?: Third Party Reproduction.

SPECIAL STROKES FOR SPECIAL FOLKS.

Myths About Sex, Women's Health, and Breast Cancer.

Survivors of Childhood Cancer.

Sex and the Single Survivor.

A Final Thought.

Resources.

Bibliography.

Glossary.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Loss of sexual desires is one of the most common results of cancer treatment, and yet that loss and its link to infertility are often ignored by doctors, especially outside the major cancer centers.
It is a complex problem with many causes. Damage to the ovaries from radiation therapy, for example, impairs hormone production and may result in lowered sexual interest. Removal of the testicles in testicular cancer causes a loss of testosterone and of desire, as can bone marrow transplants.
Pain relievers, nausea drugs, beta-blockers for high blood pressure and tranquilizers and antidepressants also decrease libido. As the author, an associate professor of behavioral science at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, sums it up: "It's hard to get in the mood for sex when you are generally feeling lousy. Any cancer treatment that produces fatigue, chronic pain, nausea or weakness can decrease your interest."
This valuable book provides accurate information on the causes of these important problems, and offers some reassuring and workable solutions. Many of the suggestions are helpful not only for cancer patients but for people with other illnesses, the elderly and those who believe that sex must involve penetration to provide erotic pleasure.
The author includes sections on exploring sexual touch, on intercourse positions that minimize pain and on exercises that help men and women cope with the genital pain that often occurs after cancer. She also dispels some common myths about sex and cancer, among them that having sexual relations cause cancer to spread, that giving up sex will help cure cancer, that mastectomy destroys a woman's sex life and that cancer is contagious through sex.
The physical aspects of cancer and its treatment are not the only things that interfere with sexuality, according to the author. She writes, "It is the emotional reactions people have to cancer that most commonly cause sexual problems." (The New York Times, Oc

From the Publisher

Addresses the needs of people who have sexual problems as the result of cancer and cancer treatments. Covers emotional and communication issues as well as the particular needs of those who have had breast, prostate, and many other types of cancer. Also discusses female and male infertility, survivors of childhood cancer, gay and lesbian cancer survivors, and sex after radical surgery. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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