deciding

You might need more info
The National Cancer Institute recently put an update online that may be helpful to you. I recently wrote about it in another blog: http://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/forums/blogs/cancer-research/archive/2010/02/28/new-recommendations-for-some-patients-with-prostate-cancer.aspx

For some people it is helpful to tell both the radiation specialist and the urologist that you are considering both and get each of their opinions about the pros and cons of going either way. It is probably worthwhile to recognize that each type of specialist may have their own bias.

Lastly, you may want to get a 2nd opinion at a University cancer center where different types of doctors work together to help patients create the best plan for their care. And as you pointed out, if you qualify for a clinical trial that is often the best choice of all.

Although this is obviously not something anyone wants to go through, hopefully it will be a blessing that you do indeed have good choices.

John Hayslip

jmw029 said:

more confused then ever
My boyfriend was diagnosed in dec'09 and we've been reading lots. We've also see the urologist and an oncologist. We have one more appointment with a DaVinci urologist in early April. But honestly we are more confused then ever when it comes to making a decision.

We both just recently joined the csn to see if we could get advice and opinions because we are having a hard time finding support groups in our area so any input is helpful.

jmw029
A lot of goes into the decision is personal choice based on age, psa, biopsy results. I am 47 and had a low psa (2.9) with only one core positive, 3 suspicious and the rest clear. When I weighed all the treatment options and side/after effects, the robotic surgery was the clear choice for me. If I was 20 years older, maybe my choice my have been different. There are many here who have tried various approaches (surgery, radiation, seeds), I can only speak from my own experience. The robotic surgery gave me a minimal hospital stay (1 day), about 2 weeks before I could start doing some normal things and about 4 weeks till I was up and running doing all the things I was doing before (working out, using a snowblower, bowling, etc). I have had some incontinence issues, mostly stress type like when I am throwing a bowling ball. But it has not been that terrible. All I can say is do your research. If you have specific questions about the surgery, I would be more than happy to answer them.

Take Care,
Joe

Have you considered proton
Have you considered proton therapy? Just type in these four words in the search bar:

proton therapy Loma Lnda

and find the web site for LLU medical center and request their free DVD and book. Why not?

There are a lot of happy former proton patients out in the world today.