Guntpalli, S.R. & Karnich. (2017). Sex and Cancer: Intimacy, Romance, and Love After Diagnosis and Treatment. London: Rowman & Littlefield.
A cancer diagnosis and the process of treating it often have a profound impact on many aspects of a person’s life. In Cancer and Sex, Saketh Guntupalli and Maryann Karinch, focus on breast and gynecologic cancers and how they affect women’s sexual functioning and, in turn, color and cloud their intimate relationships. In disclosing that Dr. Guntupalli is Maryann Karinch’s gynecologic oncologist, the authors convey their personal investment in writing this book and their hope that they can help women living with these cancers.
The second half of this book provides many practical solutions, based on input from patients, as well as specialists. However, this book is more than a practical guide. To help readers arrive at optimal solutions, the authors explain why cancers and their treatments affect sexual functioning. They include exploration of the physical changes induced by these diseases and their treatments, the mechanics of sex, and the role of stress.
The information in this book is comprehensive and useful. But perhaps, even more critical is the hope that Guntupalli and Karinch offer women. They offer reassurance to women that they are not alone in encountering disruptions in their intimate life after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. And by suggesting a broader definition of sexual intimacy that is not limited to intercourse, the authors encourage their readers to be creative, open to a variety of pleasures, and to the possibility that they may arrive at a level of intimacy with their partner that exceeds the closeness they experiences prior to their cancer diagnosis.