Welcome Lorna, nice to see the first woman on this site showing an interest in prostatitis.

No problem Lorna. I think its great to get a woman's point of view. Especially on the subject of erectile dysfunction. The trouble with prostatitis for the man's partner are the mood swings & pain that go with this disease & his inability to go out for a meal or to the cinema or anywhere that requires prolonged sitting. On the other hand, if the man decides to have an LRP, he and his partner whilst restoring their everyday life, may be affected by erectile dysfunction in its place. The decision process leading up to LRP is very stressful as I'm sure you can imagine-I think this may make a good discussion on the main board. It would be great to hear how most woman would react to risking their sex life for their man's everyday life..!!

Thanks for your detailed input Lorna. Its always reassuring to hear how different women are than men, in the way they think. If women thought like men on this subject we would have no chance..!! I think your right. My wife would much rather feel wanted with no sex than not feel wanted with sex. As men, from an early age we are brainwashed with false values often through advertising media about what makes us men. In the case of loosing our erectile function I think we would really have to re-learn the true values of what defines us.
There are definitely things we can do in place of penetrative sex to satisfy our partners. What I would worry about most is giving up and not wanting to because I could not get satisfaction myself-my own selfishness speaking!!! One thing my wife and I love now is giving each other massages (non-sexual) and I know we would use this as a substitute for sex in the event of impotence, you can reach a deep meditative/relaxed state through massage. Its another way of keeping close emotionally. I personally would still like to embrace my wife if I was impotent as I know she never demands or expects me to perform, which is great when you have prostatitis worsened by too much sex..!! I know some of my previous partners would have caused me to feel under pressure.
I feel personally if I had LRP and did not recover erections within a 2 year period after trying all non invasive methods, I would consider an implant-I have read they are very realistic these days with a high success rate.