Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Z11

pearls before swine stephan pastis for better or for worse lynn Johnston shoe Gary brookins and susie Mcnelly rex MorGan, M.d. terry beatty fred basset alex GrahaM MarMaduke brad anderson rubes leiGh rubin the faMily circus bil keane ZiGGy toM wilson toM ii heathcliff peter GallaGher Janric classic sudoku instructions: Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 (no repeats). difficulty ratinG: Gold at left: Answer to puzzle dear dr. roach: I had prostate cancer, treated with freezing. I have not had an erection since, despite trying Viagra and injections.

Nothing has worked in two years. My doctor said it might last six months to a year. Could there be something wrong with me medically, and what can be done to fix my prob- lem? W.K.E. answer: Even when per- formed by the best doctors, there is a risk of permanent erectile dysfunction with any kind of prostate cancer treat- ment. This is true even with cryo- therapy (freezing treatment) for prostate cancer; the risk of losing sexual function still is significant.

Given a lack of effect with injections and oral medica- tions, you should talk to your urologist about a vacuum de- vice or a penile prosthesis. dear dr. roach: I am a 93-year-old retired nurse. I have a problem with time around Some nights I wake up warm and need to cool the room with a fan. I had a total hysterectomy many years ago.

The nurse in my health office said it is hor- monal, but said I am too old to take hormones. Do you have any remedies? S.H.S. answer: I hate to disagree with your nurse, but I am not as sure about what is causing your new set of hot flashes. It would be unusual for menopausal symptoms to recur after such a long time, so you should consider other potential causes for feeling hot. Thyroid disease, being in a room too warm, weight gain and anxiety are common causes.

Food sensitivities are an unusual cause, but given how intermittent your symptoms are, it might be worth keeping track of your diet to see if that correlates with the hot flashes at night. Low blood sugar at night can cause similar symptoms, as can rare tumors that secrete substances that make you flush. You need an evaluation before you decide on a rem- edy. Man cannot get erection after prostate treatment Send Dr. Keith Roach your medical ques- tions.

Write to him at cornell.edu looking for movie times? Go to democratandchronicle.com/section/movies for the latest times. dear amy: been with my partner for four years. We lived together for two years until his job took him six hours away. We have been maintaining our relationship, long distance. Our plan has always been for him to move this summer in order to be with me in my career following school.

Mar- riage has been a topic of con- versation for several years. In his world, we would already be He was on board with our plan to reunite until two weeks before my first day at work. Now, he is hesitant, and pos- sibly not going to move with me for several reasons: his son lives nearby him, and also every time he moves in his career, he has to start over at the bottom. We talked openly about my job locations and how far away from his son he was will- ing to live. We decided on an eight-hour distance.

My new job is just under eight hours, but now he feels it is too far away. Amy, he promised and con- vinced me that he would move when the time came. Although I understand his situation, I feel betrayed. Two years of long distance has been extremely difficult, and we always looked at this move as the light at the end of the tunnel. My job is very specialized and would be difficult to main- tain in his location.

I want to continue moving forward in our relationship, but scared there may be no future now. Scared dear scared: Your best-laid plans are falling apart, in part because this father does not want to live eight hours away from his child. When you first discussed this, it might have seemed doable for him, but two years of living so far away from you might have opened his eyes to the extreme chal- lenges of maintaining a long- distance relationship with his child. Do you think ideal for a child to have his father live so far away? Are you comfortable having a child engaged in a long- distance relationship with his parent, that has proven to be a huge burden and stress for you (an adult)? You can choose to feel betrayed, or you can grow up and realize that life is full of imponderables, loss, change and the compromises that partners occasionally have to make in order to be together. Let your guy state his needs, honestly and openly.

And then you have a choice to make. Base it on your own priorities and goals. Dad may have to choose between wife and child.