Colo-rectal cancer

[Joecool1983]

So, I'm new here. Let me introduce myself. My name is Joe. I'm 33 years old. I live in Maryland. I was diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer on December 17, 2015. My symptoms started in July of 2015. I started having diarrhea and after I was finished, I would look in the toilet and the water would be bright red. I went to a Patient First clinic in August and had a stool sample tested for parasites. They said they definitely detected blood in the stool, but nothing else out of the ordinary. I went back to my normal life or the next 3 months without following up with a gastroenterologist. I figured the blood was die to hemroids or ulcerative colitis. Nothing too serious. The bloody diarrhea was definitely getting more frequent though, and I was feeling very low on energy. Then, in November, around Thanksgiving, the complete opposite. I was severely constipated. Couldn't pass a thing. I knew it was time to get checked out. I went to see my Primary Care Physician and told him my symptoms. He referred me to a gastroenterologist who performed a procedure called a flexible sigmoidoscopy. He discovered a mass at the rectosigmoid junction that was 3 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. From mid-January to mid-February I went through a combination of radiation and chemotherapy in pill form called Capecitibine/Xeloda. I had robotic, minimally invasive surgery to have the tumor removed and colon resected on April 11th. Now 2 months removed from surgery and I'm getting IV chemo infusions every 2 weeks. A drug cocktail called Folfox. I think the worst part has been my erratic bowel behavior and the sexual side effects. I'm able to get an erection now with Viagra, although not as hard as before surgery. I'm able to have satisfying sex and orgasm. But my orgasms have been dry. I'm not able to ejaculate/nothing is coming out. This has been weird to get used to.

[ASTEPHENS33]

Glad you found ColonClub. Its nice to have a group. I am older female, but I search online and found the following: http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/xeloda/erec ... sfunction/ There are so many side-effects from chemo.

[Buckeye]

My surgeon said that could be a possible side affect of the surgery for me. Fortunately I have had no problems, other than maybe a little less hard than it used to be. He said there are some things they could do, so I would talk to your colorectal surgeon about it. I might try viagra or some other erectile medication in the near future. Good luck.

[AussieAssCancer]

Welcome to the club. It'll help make the best of a shitty situation. I too have dry orgasms (called retrograde ejaculation). Think of it as not having to clean up afterwards

Hopefully your chemo isn't too brutal. I've managed to escape all but one (of 6 so far) pretty much unscathed.

All the best

GK