{"id":609881,"date":"2026-09-08T18:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/609881\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T18:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:42:12","slug":"living-with-the-long-term-side-effects-of-prostate-cancer-from-sexual-to-spiritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/609881\/","title":{"rendered":"Living with the long-term side effects of prostate cancer, from sexual to spiritual"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In this fifth episode of our Survivorship series<\/a> on Bench to Bedside and Beyond,\u00a0Fred Hutch News writer Bonnie Rochman talks to James DeLong, who has lived with prostate cancer<\/a> for 25 years, and Kelly Nelson, DNP, ARNP<\/a>, director of Fred Hutch\u2019s new sexual health<\/a> clinic, about how a cancer diagnosis can wreak havoc on\u00a0a person\u2019s sex life\u2014and why people no longer need to suffer in silence.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways:<\/p>\n

James DeLong has lived with prostate cancer for 25 years.\u00a0Diagnosed at 51 after a rising PSA<\/a>, he has undergone 11 treatments, including hormone therapies and multiple rounds of radiation<\/a>.Cancer transformed his emotional life and taught him to accept difficult feelings.\u00a0Rather than suppressing anxiety, DeLong learned to acknowledge it and let the emotions pass. He describes cancer as a \u201cteacher\u201d that helped him develop mindfulness, trust and emotional resilience.DeLong\u2019s career as a social worker and educator shaped how he copes with adversity.\u00a0He practices leaning into gratitude, connection and remaining engaged through exercise and dance.Physical and sexual side effects have been major parts of his survivorship experience.\u00a0After prostate surgery,<\/a> he had complete erectile dysfunction and later urinary incontinence. With professional help and his wife\u2019s partnership, he discovered new approaches to intimacy.Support and vulnerability matter.\u00a0Through Healing Circles<\/a> and men\u2019s support groups, he has found spaces where men can share emotions openly amid the presence of uncertainty and illness.Nelson created Fred Hutch\u2019s Sexual Health Clinic to address an overlooked side effect of cancer treatment.\u00a0After seven years in breast oncology, she saw that short oncology appointments left little time to discuss sexual health concerns such as low libido, vaginal dryness and painful intercourse.Cancer treatment can significantly affect sexual health and quality of life.\u00a0Hormonal treatments such as aromatase inhibitors and tamoxifen can cause menopause-like symptoms, including severe vaginal dryness, pain and reduced libido. Many patients avoid bringing these issues up because of embarrassment, limited appointment time or the belief that other cancer concerns are more important.The Sexual Health Clinic provides comprehensive, individualized support.\u00a0Beyond discussing medications such as vaginal estrogen and moisturizers, Nelson can connect patients with sex therapy, pelvic-floor physical therapy, and other resources, including recommendations for dilators and vibrators.The clinic began by treating breast cancer<\/a> patients, but Nelson intends to treat men too. There are plans to expand to gynecologic, genitourinary and gastrointestinal cancers and eventually serve all Fred Hutch patients as well as patients treated elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Find out about Fred Hutch\u2019s survivorship offerings<\/a>, learn more about survivorship issues from the American Cancer Society<\/a> and explore the National Cancer Institute\u2019s Survivorship Resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Listen to the audio interview<\/p>\n

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Tune in for more episodes of Bench to Bedside and Beyond<\/a>. And if you\u2019re interested in being a guest, please reach out to dmapes@fredhutch.org<\/a> or brochman@fredhutch.org.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Subscribe to Fred Hutch News You will receive a monthly newsletter from us about our innovative research…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[276258,168407,163,85,46,4296,3776,75904,59017],"class_list":["post-609881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-breast-sexual-health-clinic","tag-fred-hutch-podcast","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-podcast","tag-prostate-cancer","tag-prostate-cancer-screening","tag-sexual-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}