Adjusting to Sex and Intimacy After Cancer
- Outspoken comedian Kathy Griffin, 61, has been giving fans generous updates of her complications after surviving lung cancer.
- Kathy Griffin can sometimes be perceived as “oversharing” or “inappropriate,” when in fact she is getting an important conversation started. Sex doesn’t have to be serious. We can laugh and talk about it.
- There is no shame in wanting to get back to pleasing your partner, and especially yourself, after cancer. It’s also okay to lose interest in sex. Your body has been through a lot, and it takes time to adjust to life after cancer.
We have been following this story closely, as Griffin just posted yesterday about her gastric emptying study procedure at the hospital, which is a test "to determine the time is takes a meal to move through a person's stomach," according to Cleveland Clinic. The L.A.-based Grammy winner shared that she had to have the procedure due to her complications swallowing, which she took as an opportunity to shock fans with a bit of sexual humor.
Read MoreView this post on Instagram
The oral sex update is a spin-off from yesterday’s quote that she shared on socials. ” … if Mrs. Kathy's gonna get back to given the husband a BJ she's gonna work on her swallowing," she (half-)joked while sharing her latest medical news.
View this post on Instagram
Thankfully, it looks like she received her approval! Just in time for the weekend.
Kathy's Lung Cancer Battle
While Griffin prefers to approach her cancer battle with a “vulgar” humor, what she went through was quite serious, but thankfully doctors caught the disease at an early stage.
Related: Lung Cancer in Smokers vs. Non-Smokers
Griffin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and was just as public about her diagnosis and cancer battle while going through it as she is now. She's a non-smoker and was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer, which indicates that the cancer hasn't spread to the lymph nodes or other organs in the body.
'The Big C' on SNTV: Laughter as Medicine & Tough Subjects for Cancer Survivors
Symptoms of lung cancer typically include:
- Sudden and unexplained weight loss
- Constant coughing that becomes painful over time
- Shortness of breath
- Changes in voice or difficulty speaking without getting winded
- Pain in the torso, mid- and upper-back, and shoulders
- Discoloration or a sudden change in color of mucus and saliva
Griffin had surgery to treat her disease, which, as she has shared, impacted her voice and her vocal chords. Lung cancer surgery impacts the body in various ways. It may cause fatigue, leaving the patient feeling weak and tired. There's also the risk of infection after surgery. Signs of infection after lung cancer surgery can include: shivering, feeling nauseous, swelling or redness around the surgical wound, and fluctuating temperature. Speak with your doctor if you experience any of these things.
Sex After a Cancer Battle
While some women make sex a priority while going through cancer treatment, many feel they arent up to itand both are totally OK. Griffin, is obviously ready to get back to business, but that’s not always the case for many survivors. It takes time. There have been changes to your body, not to mention the emotional wounds that you are healing from as well.
Sex After Cancer: Deciding When To Be Intimate Again
Cancer, needless to say, is a life-changing experienceincluding how a person handles their own sexuality. A lot of women, when they're dealing with cancer treatment, just don't feel interested in having sex. Others see little difference in their sexuality and their sex life. Just like there's no one right way to deal with treatment, there's no one way to think about sex during and after the cancer journey.
Related: Sex and Cancer: How to Communicate Your Desires & Fears and Create New Sexual Experiences
"In the setting of treatment, when a woman decides to be sexual again is really her decision," Dr. Jeanne Carter, a sexual psychologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, told SurvivorNet. "It's not uncommon for me to meet with someone in the post-treatment setting, and they'll describe to me that when they didn't have hair, they didn't feel sexy, and that it just wasn't the right timing for themwhich is completely appropriate and OK. I think people don't need pressure as they're going through treatment about those issues, and need to be able to talk to their partners about that."
Kathy Griffin, by what can be perceived as “oversharing” or “inappropriate,” is in fact getting an important conversation started. Sex doesn’t have to be serious. We can laugh and talk about it.
There is no shame in wanting to get back to pleasing our partner, and especially ourself!
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.