Uppsala resident Kim Höglund shares her journey to rediscover her sexuality after breast cancer treatment. The diagnosis came in November 2022 when she was 37 and had recently become a mother. She wishes healthcare had better informed her about changes in intimacy and sex.
Kim Höglund from Uppsala received her breast cancer diagnosis in November 2022, at the age of 37. She and her partner had become parents for the first time one and a half years earlier. The treatment changed her relationship to sexuality and intimacy, an aspect she wishes healthcare had informed her about in advance.
"It was like life came to a screeching halt with the diagnosis," says Höglund. She describes the process of finding her way back to her sexuality after losing one breast as a journey in itself. "Finding back to my sexuality when one breast is gone has been a journey in itself," she adds. For her, it is largely about feeling safe in one's own body, and together with her partner, they have worked to reconnect.
Today, Höglund is engaged with the Breast Cancer Association in Uppsala, a patient and relative organization at Akademiska sjukhuset. She is also participating in a new study on sexuality and intimacy after cancer at Uppsala University. "I wish healthcare had asked questions about how my home relationship was and how it has changed after cancer," she says. Through her involvement, she aims to highlight the importance of support in these areas for cancer patients.
