Episode Overview: 

On this episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa Hadley Barrett speaks with Steve Bartley, a 61-year-old filmmaker and television researcher, about his experience with advanced prostate cancer, hormone therapy, and rebuilding his sex life along the way. 

Steve's diagnosis in 2024 came out of nowhere. With no family history of prostate cancer, he only had blood work done after noticing unexplained, rapid weight loss. His PSA came back at 8, and his doctor was blunt: this could be cancer. What followed was a fast and frightening escalation, from an MRI scored at the highest level of concern, through to a biopsy showing a Gleason score of 9, one of the most aggressive grades. A PET scan then revealed the cancer had already spread beyond the prostate into his pelvic lymph nodes, moving him overnight from what he expected to be an early-stage diagnosis to low-volume stage 4 prostate cancer. 

Because the cancer had spread, surgery wasn't the standard option. Steve was referred for hormone therapy (androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT) alongside radiation, and describes the whirlwind of appointments, procedures and decisions that followed, made even harder by the fact that he was in a relatively new relationship at the time. 

Steve talks candidly about how his radiation treatment didn't go entirely to plan. Urinary urgency set in earlier and more intensely than he was told to expect, and after a difficult stretch without clear communication from his treating team, he sought a second opinion. That conversation, and his own research, led him to make the significant decision to stop radiation partway through and focus on hormone therapy instead, a decision he made largely on his own while his partner was overseas. 

Melissa and Steve also talk through the practical side of rebuilding erectile function after ADT and radiation, tablets, nasal spray, and injections, and why trying these options on your own first can take the performance pressure out of the equation. 

Steve's journey has also become the driving force behind a documentary he is producing, Prostate Cancer: From Crisis to Cure, featuring some of Australia's leading prostate cancer specialists and due for release later this year or early 2027. The aim, in his words, is simple: to give men and their partners hope, and to break the silence that still surrounds this disease. Subscribe to our newsletter and resource library for updates on when the doco will be released https://rshealth.com.au/resource-library 

In This Episode, We Cover 

Key message from Steve:  

 There's always a workaround, whatever you're facing with your erections, your relationship, your physical health, or your cure. And if there isn't a way through today, there will be tomorrow. Find the best people, ask questions, take notes to your appointments, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion if something doesn't feel right. 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist in the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too as an individual or as a couple. 

Resources & Links 

Click here to watch Melissa’s YouTube videos: Melissa Hadley Barrett 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free Resource Library, sign up for access here: https://rshealth.com.au/resource-library 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Episode Overview: 

In this episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa talks with Mark, a 56-year-old rural firefighter from the South West of Western Australia, about a prostate cancer journey that has had just about everything in it: an aggressive cancer, surgery, a rising PSA, salvage radiation, penile rehabilitation, one very memorable trip to the emergency department, and a bloke who simply refused to sit down and feel sorry for himself. 

Mark had never been crook in his life. He only asked for a PSA test because a mate who had been through prostate cancer kept nagging him about it. During a routine work medical, his mate’s voice popped into his head, and he asked the doctor for the test. The GP asked why. Mark asked for it anyway. The result came back with an elevated PSA, and as Mark puts it, he nearly fell off the chair. 

What followed was a biopsy in Bunbury, a two-hour trip from home, a Gleason 8 diagnosis, and a radical prostatectomy in Perth, four hours away. Mark and Melissa talk about the tyranny of distance in Australia: every appointment being a whole day, the cost of staying away from home, and the men Mark met who were driving four hours a day for radiation because they had nowhere to stay. 

Mark also talks about the parts nobody warned him about. The catheter that started leaking around the sides and scared the daylights out of him. The pads. The pelvic floor exercises he started before surgery because his mate Grant told him to, and which he credits with getting him dry within a few weeks. And then, months later, a phone call from his surgeon to say the PSA was creeping back up. Which resulted in radiation treatment. He declined the testosterone-lowering therapy that was offered alongside the radiation, because he did not want the fatigue and flatness during fire season. He worked right through his treatment, and three days after his last “nuking session”, as he calls it, he pulled up at work to get the job done. 

And yes, we talk about erections. Mark did the work: the daily tablets, the vacuum pump, and eventually injections. The first injection dose was too generous and Mark ended up in a country emergency department with an erection that would not go down and, by his count, six or seven people in the room having a look at his old fella. It is a very funny story and also a serious one. It changed how Melissa practises: every country patient now goes home with an emergency reversal injection so nobody else has to make that drive. 

This is a warm, funny, plain-speaking conversation about what it takes to get through prostate cancer treatment especially when you live a long way from anywhere, and about why looking after your penis is not optional extra credit. It is part of your body, and it deserves the same care as everything else. 

In This Episode, We Cover 

Key Message from Mark 

Mark’s strongest advice is to find someone who has been through it and will give you the whole picture, not the polite version. He says it is a bit like going to war: if you have not been there, you do not know. Having a mate who told him warts and all meant he walked into every appointment knowing roughly what was coming and what to ask. 

And when things go wrong, his answer is simple. You can sit there and cry, or you can punch on. Mark is a realist. He knows the PSA may go up again. If it does, he will deal with it then. In the meantime, he is back on the dozer, still getting tested, and getting on with life. 

Resources & Links 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist in the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free Resource Library, sign up for access here: https://rshealth.com.au/resource-library 

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Episode Overview: 

In this episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa sits down with Will McDonald, Channel 9 news reporter, PCFA ambassador, Ironman finisher, skydiver and father, for a candid and inspiring conversation.   

Will was 42 when he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that had metastasised to his hip. He was fit, active and had no urinary symptoms whatsoever. The first sign anything was wrong was a nagging pain in his left hip that simply never got better. Six weeks later an MRI revealed lesions that were almost certainly cancerous, and his PSA, when it was finally tested, confirmed prostate cancer as the source. 

What followed was hormone therapy, chemotherapy, radiation to his prostate, lymph nodes and hip, and the beginning of a very different kind of life. Six years on, Will’s PSA remains undetectable. He is still on androgen deprivation therapy, taking medication twice daily alongside a three-monthly injection. He describes the treatment honestly. He dislikes it, it changes your body, and there are days when it is genuinely hard. But he has found that resistance training, diet, mindset and refusing to make cancer the centre of his identity has made an enormous difference. 

The episode also covers Will’s decision to bank sperm before treatment, the five rounds of IVF he and his partner went through, and the arrival of their son Alfie in 2023. And then there is the Ironman: a 3.8km swim, a 180km ride and a 42km run, completed on ADT to raise funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, because sometimes the best answer to cancer is to go and do the hardest thing you can think of. 

This is a conversation about prostate cancer, yes, but it is also about identity, resilience, fatherhood, fear, gratitude and what it really means to keep living. 

Golden Tip: Prostate cancer is often entirely silent. Will had no urinary symptoms, no sexual dysfunction, nothing. His cancer was found in his bones first. Do not wait for a symptom to get a PSA test. 

 In This Episode, We Cover 

Key Message from Will 

His message is simple. Do not let fear of what might happen stop you from living. You cannot control the buses. You can control what you do with the time you have. 

Resources & Links 

For more information visit our websites: 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist joining the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too – as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free email list for updates, episodes, and resources. You can sign up via our website.  

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Episode Overview: 

In this episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa speaks with Kerry, whose partner Matt was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 41. Kerry was 33. This is her story, told from the seat we don’t hear enough, the partner’s. 

It starts with a motorbike. Matt has a vintage Honda CB750, his pride and joy and he is always looking for a reason to ride it. So, in September 2019 when they saw the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride advertised, they thought “let’s do it”. They bought suits, made their donation, and rode up the freeway in open-faced helmets. Sounds dangerous but this act may have saved Matt’s life. 

Before the ride, a couple in their late fifties or early sixties got up, reluctantly, and talked about their prostate cancer journey. Kerry listened intently taking onboard their powerful message. They rode, had the best day, went home, and Kerry said to Matt: you’re 40 now, next time you’re at the doctor’s maybe get a baseline PSA check. 

Four months later Matt was walking out the door to see his GP about headaches. Kerry called out as the door was closing “make sure you get a PSA added on”. His GP, thankfully, was pro men’s health and simply did the test. It came back around 7. For a man his age, it should have been under 1. 

What followed is a lesson. A repeat test three weeks later, was still significantly raised, so Matt was referred to a urologist for further investigation. An MRI was ordered; it came back clear. A less curious surgeon might have stopped there. This one however said there was still something elevating that PSA and decided to do a biopsy. Matt was completely asymptomatic, which is very normal with prostate cancer. Without that blood test, and without that biopsy, they would never have known. 

The result came by phone, because it was COVID, and Kerry was at work. Matt took the call alone and his two children, then 9 and 12, were the ones who had to comfort him first. Gleason 7. And a sentence Kerry has never quite shaken: if they had not found it when they did, they would have been looking at around ten years before it became terminal. Most men are not even thinking about their prostate until they are 50. 

Before the surgery, Dr Brown put children on their radar. Kerry did not have kids and was not certain she wanted them, and Matt already had two, but banking sperm beforehand was the best chance of ever having the option. Around the surgery they were well supported, most of it over Zoom because of COVID.  

Kerry is honest about what she carried in silence. In her early thirties, five years into the relationship, she was quietly terrified about what their sex life would look like on the other side and said none of it out loud. She was his rock and he was already carrying enough. So, she researched instead: continence underwear that looks like normal jocks, whether men can orgasm without ejaculating, how to be intimate without intercourse. She and Melissa unpack why “I just want him alive” is said with total love and heard as something else entirely. 

The good news is very good. Matt has been cancer-free ever since, and their sex life recovered further and faster than either of them dared expect. Their son Thomas, just over three, arrived through IVF using the sperm they banked, and carries the middle name of the great-grandfather whose prostate cancer nobody had joined the dots on. Matt’s diagnosis also prompted his own dad to get retested; he had prostate cancer and did not know it. Between them, Kerry and Matt have now walked at least fourteen men through this, and every year they polish the bike and speak at the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, because one reluctant couple with a microphone in 2019 is the reason Matt is alive. 

Golden Tip: Prostate cancer is not an old man’s disease. 

Key Message from Kerry 

Your life does not end at the diagnosis. 

Kerry’s message to partners is that whatever recovery looks like on the other side, it can still be full, and it can still be fulfilling. Intimacy does not stop at a prostate cancer diagnosis. It changes, and it takes work, and it may take time, but it is not over. 

Her message to everyone else is simpler still. It is one blood test. Matt had no symptoms at all. That single test set off a journey they were not prepared for, but as Kerry puts it, there is nothing as good as knowing you did everything you could to catch it as early as you possibly could. 

Resources & Links 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist in the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free Resource Library, sign up for access here: https://rshealth.com.au/resource-library 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Episode Overview: 

Jamie is 10 months on from a radical prostatectomy for Gleason 7 prostate cancer. He is single, in his late 60s, and refreshingly, bracingly honest about what the journey back to sexual function has been like. In this episode, Kate takes the hosting chair and draws out a conversation that goes well beyond the mechanics of rehabilitation and into desire, connection, what it means to pleasure a partner, and why prostate cancer recovery is never just about the man. 

Jamie's prostate cancer was under observation for a couple of years before it began to progress. When his Gleason score rose to 7 and additional spots appeared, surgery was the clear next step. The operation went well and his PSA is now undetectable. But as every man who has been through this knows, undetectable PSA and feeling like yourself again are two very different things. 

Post-surgery, Jamie had no erections. He experienced penile shrinkage. He was incontinent. And he had no idea, before surgery, that any of this was coming, because no one had told him in any real detail what to expect. He found Restorative Health Clinic through his prostate nurse a couple of months after surgery, and that is where things began to turn around. 

What makes this episode stand out is Jamie's willingness to talk about the emotional and relational side of sexual recovery, not just the clinical steps. He talks about what it felt like to have an erection again for the first time after starting intracavernosal injections. He talks about the difference between a soft-penis orgasm and an erection-assisted one. He talks about the joy (his word) of being present with a partner during sex, of being part of her pleasure. And he talks about what he wishes someone had told him before surgery. 

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did interviewing Jamie.  

 Golden Tip: Saying 'I just want you to be cancer-free' can land as rejection, even when it comes from love 

Key Message from Jamie 

To be able to get an erection again and just enjoy it for what it was — that was empowering, to say the least. You don't appreciate it until you can't have it." 

Jamie's other message, the one he wanted men to hear most,  is to learn to be a generous lover. Pleasure is not a one-way transaction. Being present with a partner, focused on her experience, is one of the most erotic and life-affirming things in sex. He learnt this more deeply through the experience of recovery, and he wishes he had understood it earlier. 

Resources & Links 

For more information visit our websites: 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist joining the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too – as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free email list for updates, episodes, and resources. You can sign up via our website.  

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Episode Overview: 

Steve Fisher is 77 years old, lives in Nebraska, and has been through more than most men can imagine. In 2020, he and his wife were both diagnosed with cancer at the same time. Her lung cancer surgery was followed by a catastrophic complication, and Steve lost her in late 2020, while still carrying his own prostate cancer diagnosis. 

In the first half of 2021, Steve went ahead with treatment: low-dose brachytherapy (permanent seed implants) followed by 20 sessions of external beam radiation, plus a short course of Lupron (a prescription hormonal therapy). His PSA is now sitting at 0.04. Cancer-wise, things are excellent. 

But nobody told Steve what was coming next. No one talked to him about erectile dysfunction, penile rehabilitation, vacuum pumps, constriction rings, or the emotional weight of losing sexual function on top of losing a partner. He navigated that on his own, with little support from his healthcare team. 

Then in May 2026, Steve stumbled across Victoria Cullen's website A Touchy Subject on YouTube, joined The Hub, and things started to shift. He ordered daily Cialis and a Soma OT medical-grade vacuum pump — the right equipment, with the right information about how constriction rings work in combination with a pump. Within two months, Steve and Carol were having penetrative sex again for the first time in years. 

This episode is also about the emotional and psychological side of this journey — the anxiety men carry silently, the male ego dimension of losing erectile function, and the importance of community, peer support, and simply having someone to talk to who understands. 

This is a warm, funny, honest, and genuinely hopeful conversation about grief, finding love again, getting information too late, and what happens when a man finally gets the right tools and the right support. 

 Golden Tip: How to use the pumps with a constriction ring successfully, including Steve’s tip about lubricant on the outside of the cylinder. 

 In This Episode, We Cover 

 Key Message from Steve 

Steve’s closing message is about the emotional and mental burden men carry through this. Cancer treatment gets you through the door. But the anxiety, the silence, the feeling that you should just be grateful you’re alive that stays with men for years. Steve wants other men to know it is acceptable to talk about it, to seek support, and to keep going. He had almost given up entirely. Finding the right community, the right information, and the right equipment changed everything. 

Resources & Links 

Book a telehealth consultation with our sexual health nurse practitioners: 

For more information visit our websites: 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist joining the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too – as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free email list for updates, episodes, and resources. You can sign up via our website.  

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Episode Overview: 

Melissa has been wanting to have this conversation for over a year. She first came across Cathy's work when two quite conservative couples independently told her a weekend tantra retreat had genuinely changed their relationship. Intrigued, Melissa enrolled (without mentioning what she did for a living) and attended with her husband. They both found it valuable. This episode is the result of that curiosity. 

Cathy has been teaching tantra for decades, having first encountered the philosophy at age twenty through a GP who introduced her to the idea of loving and accepting her own body. She trained in India, continued her studies in Perth, and now runs Sanctuary of Ananda, a platinum-approved, internationally certified tantra school offering couples retreats, individual sessions, workshops, and online programs. She is also a published author. 

 The conversation covers tantra's broader philosophy (think tree, not just its roots), how it applies differently across life stages, what we can learn from it, and why emotional connection, what Cathy calls "emotional sex"  is the cake, while physical sex is just the icing. Cathy also addresses the misconceptions head-on: no, it is not a room full of naked people. It is fully clothed, accredited, and grounded in self-knowledge. 

Golden Tip: Tantra is not what most people think it is. Tantra actually is a philosophy of self-knowledge, connection and embodied living and how its practices can help couples at any stage of life feel more connected, understood and alive.  

In This Episode, We Cover 

Key Message from Cathy 

 Cathy's work is grounded in the belief that every human being, regardless of age, gender, or relationship status, has the capacity for deep intimacy and pleasure. Tantra offers a practical pathway to get there, one breath and one honest conversation at a time. 

Resources & Links 

Book a telehealth consultation with our sexual health nurse practitioners: 

For more information visit our websites: 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist joining the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too – as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free email list for updates, episodes, and resources. You can sign up via our website.  

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

In this episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa is joined by Dr Eve Tiong, a radiation oncologist with Icon Cancer Centre in Western Australia, for a deep dive into how prostate radiotherapy has changed and why many of the horror stories people associate with radiation no longer reflect modern practice. 

Dr Tiong walks through the shift from older, broad-field radiation techniques to today's highly targeted approach, explaining how image guidance and modulated delivery now concentrate dose on the prostate while sharply reducing exposure to the bladder and bowel. She and Melissa unpack what this means in practical terms for urinary, bowel and sexual side effects, and discuss how rectal spacer gel is helping to protect bowel function during treatment. 

The conversation also covers how patients and their clinicians weigh up surgery versus radiation, the role of hormone therapy for higher-risk cancers, the difference between external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy, and the emergence of focal therapy as a less invasive option for carefully selected men. Throughout, Dr Tiong returns to a consistent theme: informed decision-making, honest counselling about trade-offs, and the importance of taking sexual health and quality of life seriously at every stage of the prostate cancer journey. 

In This Episode, We Cover 

Key Message from Eve 

A cancer diagnosis, including relapse, is not automatically a worst-case outcome. With the range of treatments now available, many men go on to live full, active lives for many years, and ongoing advances continue to expand what is possible. 

Resources & Links 

Book a telehealth consultation with our sexual health nurse practitioners: 

For more information visit our websites: 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist joining the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too – as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free email list for updates, episodes, and resources. You can sign up via our website.  

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

Watch the Webinar 

This episode was recorded live at one of Melissa’s free monthly webinars, held exclusively for our subscriber community. To watch the full video, including the implant demonstrations, head to: https://vimeo.com/1192108833?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci 

 If you’d like to be notified about upcoming webinars and other events from Restorative Health Clinic and Melissa, subscribe here: https://rshealth.com.au/#subscribe 

 In this special webinar episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa is joined by Shane, a highly experienced urological surgeon and founding partner of Perth Urology Clinic. Shane trained at the University of Western Australia, achieved his FRACS in urology in 1999 and completed an advanced surgical oncology fellowship at the Vancouver General Hospital/UBC Prostate Centre in Canada. His clinical expertise covers some of the most complex areas of urology, including bladder cancer management, Peyronie’s disease and penile implant surgery. 

The webinar begins with Shane discussing the basics: how a normal erection works, and how a three-piece inflatable implant simply replicates that process with two cylinders, a reservoir of saline and a pump tucked away in the scrotum. As he puts it, it is a bit like putting a new inner tube inside a flat tyre. Using actual demonstration models, Melissa and Shane show the difference between malleable (bendable rod) implants and inflatable hydraulic implants and explain who suits each type. (Don’t forget to watch the episode online at link above to see the demo). 

They then work through the practical questions that were sent prior to the webinar from Melissa’s subscriber community: Covering everything you ever wanted to know about penile implants but were too polite (or too nervous) to ask. Such as when to move on from tablets, injections and pumps; what surgery and recovery involve; what the implant feels like for the man and his partner; and what it all costs in Australia, both self-funded and with private health insurance.  

The conversation does not shy away from the trickier topics either, including sensation and orgasm after an implant, why the head of the penis may stay softer than the shaft, considerations for gay men, combining an implant with an artificial urinary sphincter after prostate cancer treatment, and the furure app-controlled implant (yes, really, and yes, the jokes write themselves). 

The overall message is a hopeful one: there is always a workaround for erectile dysfunction, satisfaction rates after implant surgery are very high in the research.   

Golden Tip: Shane says the thing he hears most often from his patients is that they wish they had not waited so long to take this step. 

Resources & Links 

Book a telehealth consultation with our sexual health nurse practitioners: 

For more information visit our websites: 

Need Support? 

At Restorative Health Clinic, we support men and their partners with: 

We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide and internationally, making it easier for men to access experienced, compassionate support no matter where they live. If Steve’s story sounds familiar, we would love to hear from you. 

Restorative Health Clinic also has a psychologist-sexologist joining the team. If you are struggling with the emotional or psychological side of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer recovery, or intimacy, we can support you there too – as an individual or as a couple. 

Listen & Subscribe 

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and review The Penis Project Podcast. Your feedback helps more men and their partners find these conversations. Search for The Penis Project Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app. 

We also have a free email list for updates, episodes, and resources. You can sign up via our website.  

Connect With Us 

We love hearing from real people navigating their health. If you would like to share your story or ask a question, get in touch. 

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

Instagram: 

YouTube: 

TikTok: 

@melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

LinkedIn: 

TEDx Talk: 

In this episode of The Penis Project Podcast, Melissa sits down with Don and Clare, a couple who have lived through the messy, emotional and often under discussed reality of prostate cancer recovery. 

Don was diagnosed just before his 65th birthday after his PSA rose from around 4 to over 9. A biopsy showed aggressive Gleason 9 prostate cancer, and within six weeks his prostate was removed. His PSA is now undetectable, which is the result everyone hopes for. But, as Don and Clare explain, being “cancer-free” did not mean life went back to normal.  

After surgery, Don experienced severe ongoing urinary incontinence. Despite doing all the pelvic floor exercises and following instructions, he was still incontinent 18 months later. Eventually, after further review, he was referred for an artificial urinary sphincter, which has made a huge difference to his quality of life.  

This episode is about more than leakage, pads, clips and surgery. It is about what happens when a man feels lost in the medical system. It is about the emotional toll of prostate cancer on both partners. It is about the importance of honesty, asking questions, changing teams if needed, and remembering that there is a person attached to the prostate. 

In This Episode, We Cover: 

Key Takeaway: An undetectable PSA is wonderful, but it is not the whole story; quality of life matters. 

Key message from Don and Clare:  

People need honest information. 

Don and Clare do not regret the cancer treatment. Don says the surgery likely saved his life. But they both wish they had been told earlier that his continence recovery was unlikely to happen without further intervention. Clare explains that people may not want bad news, but they do want the truth. 

That truth gives people options. It helps them plan. It helps them understand that they are not failing. And it can prevent months, or even years, of unnecessary suffering. 

Resources & Links: 

Listen & Subscribe 

Connect With Us 

 We love hearing from real people navigating penile health. If you’d like to share your journey or ask a question, get in touch.  

Email: [email protected] 

Websites: 

https://rshealth.com.au/  All genders 

https://makehardeasy.com.au  

https://melissahadleybarrett.com  

http://prost.com.au/ 

 Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/melissahadleybarrett/ 

https://www.instagram.com/restorativehealth.clinic/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@melissahadleybarrett  

TikTok: @melissahadleybarrett 

Facebook: 

https://m.facebook.com/p/Melissa-Hadley-Barrett-100085237672685/ 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085146627814 

Linkedin: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-hadley-barrett/ 

 TEDX 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHj1YTmLoA