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Chapter Eight
Where Do We Go From Rock Bottom
[CONTINUED]
As each day passed and the meeting with Dr. Rome drew
near, we both grew nervous. Neither of us had ever been to a psychiatrist and we didn't know what to expect. What was he going to
ask? How personal was he going to get? Would he think we were
okay?
As it turned out, our fears were groundless.
Dr. Rome was a gentle man, who, like Dr. Barrett, was
around our age. His gracious manner and calm demeanor put us
quickly at ease.
The session was an hour long, and would be divided into
three parts, he told us. First, Dr. Rome would meet privately with
Keith; then, since Keith was his patient, he asked Keith's permission to meet with me alone. Finally, the three of us would meet
together.
During our individual meetings. Dr. Rome asked us to talk
about cancer, death, healing, and recovery. He specifically wanted
to hear our impressions of how Keith was doing, but did let us set
our own agendas and talk about what was uppermost on our minds.
Not surprisingly, Keith and I later learned that both of us had spent
most of our individual time talking about the difficulties of dealing
with our blighted sex life.
In the last part of our session, when the three of us met
together. Dr. Rome gave us his impressions and recommendations.
"Keith, you exhibit some signs of depression, but nothing
that's out of the ordinary for what you've been through," he noted.
"Your depression isn't severe, and, personally, I don't feel you need
to take any medication for it. In fact," he added encouragingly, "I
think you're coping quite well with your cancer."
Keith and I both let out a long, loud sigh. Dr. Rome smiled
broadly at our precision timing, nodding at our obvious relief.
"But I am concerned about how you're handling your impotence," Dr. Rome said plainly. "And I'm troubled by what you
describe as your 'loss of libido.' I'd like to do some follow-up on
this issue. First, I want to rule out any possible medical reason for
your condition. We can do that by running some blood tests to
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