The Impact on Surgery on Sexuality and Intimacy
When women are diagnosed with a gynecologic or reproductive cancer, often several reproductive organs will be removed or treated because of the risk of spread of the cancer to the other organs connected to the site where the cancer started. Often times women cannot understand why only the part with the cancer is not just removed leaving all the rest of the reproductive organs behind. Depending on situation, removing the correct organs will give the best option for curing the cancer. Ideally, the surgeon should be a gynecologist-oncologist who has extensive training in knowing which organs to remove in certain situations and when it is safe to leave organs to maintain better sexuality or even fertility.
If you have cancer in a reproductive organ, the type of surgery you’ll need will depend on:
- the type of cancer
- the stage of the cancer
- whether the cancer has spread
- your risk factors
- the goal of therapy
The reproductive organs are a series of organs that are anatomically connected and include (listed from head to toe)
- the ovaries
- the fallopian tubes
- the uterus
- the cervix
- the vagina
- the vulva
The three most common cancers in these areas are:
- cervical cancer
- endometrial or uterine cancer
- ovarian cancer
A cancer involving the fallopian tube or the lining of the abdomen (called primary peritoneal cancer) is often grouped with cancer of the ovaries.
This article outlines the common types of surgery for these cancers. It also talks about the effect a surgery might have on your sexuality and intimacy.