Surgery 3.9.2018 - My story - New Video 23 hours later

Regulator said:

Steve,

Steve,

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm slowly learning that it doesn't much matter what methods or forms of treatment I might research or "look into"; the decisions are essentially made by others and its more than a bit frustrating. I'll know more in the next 3-5 days, but right now, opinions as to best treatment option are like belly buttons, everyone's got one. Thanks again.

It's your health and body and you CAN make intelligent decisions regarding treatment. Information can come from the medical literature, doctors (specialists mostly), friends, and internet folks that you have never met. Personally, I pay most attention to papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Advice from MDs is certainly worth listening to, but their recommendations will often be based on their expertise. For instance, urologists tend to favor surgery and often are not up-to-date on radiation therapies. Much 'advice' on the Internet should be considered anecdotal even if it is well-meaning (like most posts on this forum). However, several contributors to this forum do base their recommendations on medical science; you will easily discern those contributions.

Initially one may be confused. Just about every one who has been told to have prostate cancer is! Since you have a background in science, I recommend that you make an evidence-based list or spreadsheet detailing outcomes of the various treatments that appear to be suitable for your case. After you have gathered enough information, one therapy may jump out as the preferred one. 

PS: My own urologist did present me with radiation options after discussing my case (Gleason 9); bless his heart.

hopeful and optimistic said:

.

Regulator

To add, you are the CEO of your medical team.....your docs are  hired hands and work for you...............you , along with their input and science based information, are the decision maker.

Hopeful:

Thank you and no doubt! I can and should be the captain of the ship, but it's not always easy to shuffle things around in terms of expertise or team members, especially when you are seeing an array of different professionals in multiple (unrelated) facilities. Such has been the case in my journey, and I'll be providing far more information about this aspect of my diagnosis and future treatment options in my next posting to my original thread (https://csn.cancer.org/node/316458).

In addition, I'll add that its also hard to resist the perceived pressure to make a treatment decision when your overall numbers and diagnostic particulars (high PSA, high Gleason), are as alarming as mine appear to be.

Anyway, thanks again for your contributions.

I smell an Oscar!