Personal Relationships

When couples are initially confronted with the cancer diagnosis, they may try to carry on as usual. This is a mistake.

Help for Relationships Challenged by Cancer

by Karen Kayser, MSW, PhD

Going through treatment for cancer can be a lonely experience. Those close to you may not seem to understand what you are feeling. But the stress and uncertainty of your cancer is often felt and shared by your partner. People who are coping with cancer do not always recognize that the experience can be just as scary and stressful for their partners.

Is There Sex After Cancer?

by Margaret Wilmoth, PhD, MSS, RN, FAAN

Many of you may be asking yourself just that question now that you have moved beyond the initial crisis of cancer diagnosis. What parts of my life have changed? How have my cancer treatments affected my ability to be sexual? Am I still allowed to be a sexual person and engage in sexual intimacy? Am I the only person with these concerns and unanswered questions?

Opening a Door

by Rabbi Ed Feinstein

No one is strong enough to handle life alone, much less a life-threatening disease. My isolation way up in the lonely garrets of stubborn masculine self-sufficiency deprived others who wanted and needed to help me. And while I built this edifice of stoic fortitude with its endless network of catwalks and trapdoors, I was blind to the fact that the cancer had spread, metastasizing to my wife and my children, to my family and friends.