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NEW! CLICK HERE to listen to an interview "Overcoming Obstacles to Intimacy" with authors, Ralph & Barbara Alterowitz from the Mom Radio Network with Kathleen Kane-Murrell and Marika Szoke
COMING SOON! Articles on Intimacy after Breast Cancer
ARTICLES ON REGAINING INTIMACY:
The Loving Pie
By Ralph & Barbara Alterowitz
Intimacy and sexual pleasure is known to be essential to good physical and mental well being; it may evenlengthen life. Unfortunately, many couples abandon intimacy after prostate cancer treatment, unaware that their intimacy can not only be revived but possibly made better than before. Often all a couple needs is a vision ofwhat intimacy could and should be for them and how to go about regaining it. >> more
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The 97# Weakling Can’t Have Good Sex?
By Ralph Alterowitz
Charles Atlas was able to have great sex. Whether he did, we do not know. But he was physically fit for sex.
Paraphrasing the old song, sex and marriage go together like a horse and carriage – except when they don’t. Weight and physical fitness can get the best of marriages mired in the “no sex” bog,>> more
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Is there Sex after Prostate Cancer?
By Ralph Alterowitz
Recently, a Long Island reader wrote to Ann Landers about her husband’s impotence. She was upset that he wouldn’t try a penile implant. He said it wasn’t natural.
Ann Landers printed a response from a man who had had an implant and it was great. He wrote that the “implant is so natural, her husband won’t know he has it until he needs it.” >>more
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The Lovin’ Clock
By Ralph Alterowitz
“I don’t understand it,” he said. “In the morning, I can feel hot and want to make love. But in the evening, forget it. After dinner, I gradually run out of steam. By 9 or 10 P.M., I am ready for bed. In fact, I’m straining to stay awake until then. Unfortunately, my wife is completely the opposite. She’s awake in the evening and not in the morning.”
A prostate patient made this comment during one of our recent “The Lovin’ Ain’t Over” talks to a support group. His situation is not unusual. >>more
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Elephants Do Bite
By Ralph and Barbara Alterowitz
“We haven’t made love in the 11 years since I was treated for prostate cancer,” said the man to the group sitting in a circle discussing their sexuality issues. Impotence and some stress incontinence embarrassed him the first time his wife approached him after treatment, and they never tried again. They also never discuss it.>> more
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Sex and the Single Man
By Ralph Alterowitz
“I’m divorced and would like to get remarried. How do I build a new relationship given that I have been treated for prostate cancer and am impotent?” That’s a question Barbara and I had last week when we conducted one of our workshops for prostate cancer patients and significant others. >> more
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ARTICLES ON LIVING WITH PROSTRATE CANCER
Prostate cancer: Coming to terms with the treatment
From CBC News In Depth May 14, 2007
By Georgie Binks, CBC News
Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is upsetting enough, but finding out it's prostate cancer is a double whammy say survivors, therapists and doctors alike. The trouble is that removing prostate cancer usually poses another problem - impotence.
While men don't worry about the side effects of treatment initially, it often becomes an issue afterwards. >> more
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PSA Screening for Prostate Cancer
From: Medical Crossfire 2003
By Ralph Alterowitz
Opponents to screening offer up a number of reasons for their position: patient anxiety, incontinence and/or impotence caused by treatment, and the lack of a complete, proven cure for prostate cancer. And certainly, the cost. All of these are valid comments. But at best, they are only dealing with the elephant’s tail or trunk; in other words, they are not looking at the whole picture. As a prostate cancer survivor, patient advocate, and patient counselor, I start with the question, How can we identify as many men as possible who require treatment without causing unnecessary anxiety, pain, and cost to the people who do not need treatment? The answer demands a balanced three-part system: effective screening, doctors who know how to interpret the results, and appropriate treatment options. >> more
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What Is Meaningful
By Ralph Alterowitz
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As we were flying to Washington, my seatmate asked whether I liked Atlanta. I was going home, and he was going to a meeting of clergy to discuss the possible conflict with Iraq. He told me he was a pastor of 2,000-member congregation. >> more
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“Cancer Think”: Life Ain’t the Same, and Life Is Great
By Ralph Alterowitz
Prostate cancer means change. I certainly did not think about major changes in my life before treatment. Even after treatment, I did not think about permanent changes, probably because I did not expect to be around for long. I dwelled on my life coming to an end in about six months. My two priorities were getting my affairs in order and trying to decide which treatment to choose. But I thought it was kind of stupid to be particular about what treatment to sign up for if I was not going to be around for long afterward. >> more
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The Lost Art of the Diagnostician
By Ralph Alterowitz
There used to be a class of doctors that we called diagnosticians. They were the physicians who could put disparate pieces of medical information into a meaningful pattern and diagnose the problem. Or people would come to them with an ailment that the family doctor could not solve. >> more
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President's Note: Giving Back
By Ralph Alterowitz
In June 1995, a man was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His doctor said there were three treatment options: surgery, radiation, and hormones. “The decision is yours,” the doctor said, but very little information was available. Other doctors confirmed the three choices with recommendations biased by their respective area of expertise. >> more
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The Patient- Doctor Fit
By Ralph Alterowitz
Just before this note went to press, I attended two prostate cancer conferences. One of them dealt with awareness, early detection, and post-treatment options and care. In talking with attendees, one hears stories about their care and their doctors. One man was angry that his doctor told him he was okay because his PSA was under 4.0. When the patient saw the result was 3.98, he pushed for further tests and was found to have prostate cancer. Had he not pursued it, he would not have been diagnosed.>> more
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Motivation Begins at Home
By Ralph Alterowitz
Everyone, I suppose everyone knows about Tony Robbins, that good-looking 6’7” man who motivates people to climb Kilimanjaro or at least excel in their work, their relationships and attain the farthest-reaching goals in their dreams.
Tony is looking to expand whereby you get up in the morning put on Robbins’ endorsed exercise clothes and sneakers, do your exercises to a Robbins video or tape, drive to work listening to the Robbins tape of the day and while you are doing some of these things you would also be drinking special juices and drinks…you get the idea. Maybe someday, sit in a Robbins chair and sleep in a Robbins bed. >> more
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Happiness Exchange
By Ralph Alterowitz
It seems that people are always looking for ways to be happy. One group that says happiness eludes them are people with serious diseases such as cancer. Generally, most of us are interested in the ways and formulas people use to find happiness. Naturally, I was intrigued when I saw a recent Reuters report “The Formula for Happiness?” I wondered how one could make a simple equation that tells us what makes for happiness. Two British researchers created this equation for happiness after interviewing 1,000 people: H=P + 5E + 3H >> more
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