Thriving After Prostate Cancer's profile - supporters can see gallery

		Profile ID: 2471869
Age	52
Height	5'10" ft
	(178 cm)
Weight	168 lb
	(76 kg)
Sexually is	top oral receiving
City	San Francisco
Zip / postal	94102
State	California
Country	United States
Seeking	sex partner(s) friends
Prefer men aged from 50 and up

Profile text:

Thank you to everyone who's responded to my profile regarding prostate cancer. I'm now writing about prostate cancer on Medium.com. - Gregg Rodriguez. Please follow me there. If you contact me, lease let me know if I can share your story. I won't use real names nor locations. Currently setting up my prostate cancer website and eventually will launch my podcast. I'm also looking for a new job so that takes time. So stay tuned. I'll add the info here.

It's been great hearing from men who've had similar experiences, especially those who've never talked about it before. I know it feels good to finally express the emotions brought about by this kind of traumatic experience. It did for me-and that's why I'm continuing to do it, because I know it takes time to process and heal the impact and trauma. I'm still healing and learning to accept my life post cancer, but happy to report I'm doing pretty well for the most part and learning more every day about what it means to look beyond this experience, beyond the penis, to everything I still have. I hope you are too. Happy to hear more from you so please keep sharing the tough stuff and the good stuff, especially how you're overcoming sexual challenges and learning to live as a whole self, not just a sexual self. ! I hope to use all your knowledge and wisdom to help others too.

On the lighter side, I'm still a healthy sexual gay man, a mixed media artist, writer, poet, and marketing strategist. Fully employed and self-sufficient. I'm active and striving for physical, mental, and spiritual fitness. I work hard and play hard too!

On a more serious note, the reason I decided to share my story is because I'm looking for men who'd like to talk about their experience with prostate cancer. I was hoping to write a book, but because that will take time, I'm hoping to start a podcast and make it more immediate, and also invite men to share and have discussions with me and others about the emotional impact of going through this process. Something doctors don't prepare you for and I think as gay men, we need the support more than others. I went through the emotional isolation myself, so I know what it's like. Fortunately, I'm still able to have sex so I feel very good and grateful. Unfortunately, I hear many men are not able to have sex after their treatment, also there's no handbook for how to keep thriving beyond that. Looks like we'll have to create that handbook together!

while I still have a sex life, I know I'll never have the sex life I had before this happened so it's something I'm still working to accept and learn to live with because there's no handbook for that either.

The biggest emotional challenge for me, and probably most gay men, was not knowing if I'd be able to perform at all sexually post radiation. It made me wonder who I'd be as a gay man if I couldn't perform sexually. Especially since that's such a big part of gay life, and of being a man. Sex was certainly a big part of my gay social life. Unfortunately, we're measured by our sexual prowess, performance, popularity and penis, so when we lose any of those things, we suddenly don't know who we are or where to turn for answers.

I'm still dealing with the emotional <email hidden - non-supporting user - send a message instead> don't think it's a journey that ever really ends, so I continue to learn more every day, but I also continue to feel better about myself and who I am as a whole person, not just a gay man with a working penis, because at times it still doesn't work.

I hope all of you are doing well and finding the support you need. If you aren't, I hope you can start to find some here and later in the community I hope to build along with you. I'd love to hear from you. I think it's important to share.
Take care and be well. The journey does get easier in time. -

Feb 2024
But unfortunately the emotional part is still with me 3 years after treatment. It resurfaces each time sex doesn't work, whether it's stress related or anxiety related, it all feels like failure and disappointment. And each time I have to work through that. Fortunately, sometimes it is amazing! So I try to take the good with the bad. And just keep loving forward.

My doc said maybe this is where I've landed and it's definitely not a bad place, but it's only natural to want more. If this is as good as it gets. It is pretty damn good in comparison to others, so I won't complain too much, although I'm sure as gay men, or just men, you understand what I mean. Thank you for reading and keep taking care of yourself! And reminding others to get prostate exams. More to come..
Gregg

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