u/DigitalSamuraiV5

As a man... this is a conversation I sometimes find difficult to have with patients ... I can't help but feel like I'm talking to a possible future version of myself ... 🫥🫤.

We all know that certain diseases really plummet sexual function either through the disease itself, the treatment required or both.

Loss of sexual function in men is often treated as a joke in movies... but when you get into the medical practise you quickly realize, that it's actually a very catastrophic problem for male patients and can often lead to noncompliance to medications.

I don't think, I've found the best strategy yet to approach this topic.

I have seen diabetics and men with prostate problems cry. Yes. Cry, when speaking about this. Grown men in their 40s, 50s and 60s... break down and cry once the nurse is out of the room and they tell me what's really on their mind.

Doctor, it doesn't work anymore. My wife left. I'm just alone in my house

It's a difficult patient conversation to have.

Basically, how do you get the patient to still feel like he is "useful" and life is "worth it" even with the possibility of lost sex function with the progress of his disease ?

What strategies do you use when you broach this topic ?

Father Hypocrates forgive me, but I found this experience so funny, that I simply must share.

Keeping things anonymous for patient confidentiality of course.

An unaccompanied man walks into the A&E complaining that his catheter keeps blocking.

It really was blocked, so we changed it.

Folks. How do you think the man placed the catheter when he got dressed ?

(A) down alongside his leg. (B) around his waist. (C) something stranger.

The answer is C. The man took the catheter, spun the catheter and its collection tube around his waist, and flipped the drainage bag upwards over his shoulder.

So, I began explaining to him that urine flows downwards with gravity.

Then the man began laughing to himself, his eyes opened wide and he began shouting saying that I don't understand how physics works and that urine flows upwards.

It was at this point, I looked at my junior, looked back at the man, still laughing to himself, with a glow in his eyes that I last remember seeing in my psychiatry rotation... and realized we weren't going to win this argument ....

Wishing everyone here a successful month of May.

Pardon my naiveté if this sounds like a noob question. Just hear me out folks.

So ... a lot of online contests can be iffy right ? Sure. Even so, sometimes I still partake in certain contests to exercise the old writing muscle and to test how well I can write on a deadline with a specific prompt.

So I just got a notice from a certain contest, that I supposedly made their shortlist and my submission will be part of the anthology book.

Hurra right ? For the sake of the no self promo rule, I'm not saying what the name of the contest is.

Further down in the email, the contest organizers encourage us finalists to sign up to receive ARC copies of the anthology and review it on Amazon when it comes out.

Yea. Thing is... I'm not sure about that last part. I've generally tried to stay away from reviewing directly on AMZ, seeing as they have all these rules about review-swapping etc...

And I don't feel ...right, putting out a review about an anthology where I myself am in it. Wouldn't I be biased ?

What do you guys think ?