A rare disease diagnosis is isolating and impacts so many areas of life including the taboo subject of self-image and sexuality. After all, there may be no other factor as important in the ‘quality of life’ discussion as intimacy. Yet, patients and doctors tend to avoid the topic. Even healthy, fully functioning people find it uncomfortable to talk to doctors and therapists about libido, intercourse, and intimacy.
Adding the many complications of a brain tumor to such a taboo topic makes a tough situation worse. There is insufficient research on which areas of the brain and spine control sexual emotions, triggers, and function so being definitive or conclusive about sexual deficits from a brain or spinal cord tumor diagnosis is an inexact science at best.
Now that I've established that the topic is both unknown for your doctor and uncomfortable to discuss with your partner, I’ll remove a barrier and attempt to legitimize the topic. Besides, someone has to go first…
