Lung Cancer

Although lung cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer, there are few resources regarding your sexuality issues. In general, there may be several issues that may add to an altered self-image, which often results in a decrease in sexual intimacy. If you have been a smoker, you may have guilt feelings to deal with or to overcome. Even before the diagnosis, you may have been feeling tired, weak, and unable to contribute as a productive member of the family. If you decide to take chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, energy will also be needed to cope with side effects. A change in your body image may result if there is a large or rapid weight loss due to your inability to eat, or if hair loss occurs. One other factor that can affect your coping may be a decision to take no treatment. You may decide to withdraw socially both from friends and family as well as from your partner. It is no wonder that there may be little time, energy or desire to be intimate. However, this may be the exact time when a close relationship is most important to both you and your partner, because it is vital that you feel well supported and that you realize you will not be abandoned, and that you remember that regardless of your diagnosis, you are still the same person you have always been.