This is a shadow box I made for a charity auction a couple of years ago. A clock made with Viagra stuff that drug reps had given me over the years. The guy that bought it, brought by for me to autograph it. I called it …”Hard Times.” The plaque near the hammer says, “In hard times…break glass.” Ps…should have never sold it …it was too clever and valuable to sell.
- Does a prostatectomy change a man’s libido? No. Libido is in a male is a function of the hormone testosterone and that is produced by the testicles and hence not affected.
- My free PSA is low. Should I have a biopsy? Well, do put some credence to what your doctor recommended. Remember him or her? The lower the free PSA the higher the likelihood of a positive biopsy. When you get the report back there will be a percentage beside the free PSA that will give you your odds of a positive biopsy. It can be helpful in the patient reluctant to pursue a biopsy, i.e. helps “make the case” for a biopsy. As a matter of fact, a low free PSA was what did it for me. Mine was low and within a couple of hours I was having a biopsy during lunch. The low free PSA was the breaking point for me and may be of help to you. Caveat: I have a friend who had a high free PSA (unlikely to have a positive biopsy) and every core of the biopsy was positive for cancer. So take everything and I mean everything with a grain of salt.
Prostate Diaries 
John,
Funny artwork!
Your answer on libido may be technically correct, but prostatectomy (and all whole gland treatments for prostate cancer) affects the sexual couple. Sex becomes more of an orchestrated event (honey, where did I put my syringes?). Sexual relations can become so cumbersome that some couples give it up. It’s a very complicated situation with the spontaneity gone (unless you have a penile implant). So unless there is some real good communication between the couple and unless the couple experiments, a man’s libido is affected from a psychological standpoint.
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Well spoken… as I finished my little question/answer thing, I thought about the very same thing. I am often asked by men who cannot achieve an erection easily, why their libido is so low. And often I have replied that a mind game of sorts sets in i.e. why get interested if all I am going to do is fail in the attempt. It is a vicious circle and certainly libido is more complicated, particularly after having prostate cancer and the associated treatments, than just a male hormone. A fairer statement might be that testosterone is a physiologic “foundation” of libido and a small part of a bigger more dynamic picture. Thanks as always for your input. JM
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Reblogged this on Prostate diaries and commented:
Two questions and an art project!
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