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Hey there internet world. I am an organic farmer that has spent my life eating tons of fruits and vegetables..........with no cancer history in either side of the family..........BUT I have been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer 3 = 4 = 7, PSA 3.2
My urologist in Ft. Collins strongly suggests the Robotic surgery (he has done 300)
I went to Johns Hopkins and the surgeon (who was very confident and connected) suggests open as he can do both but like the tactile ability of open.
The Radiological Oncolgist at Johns Hopkins (was kind of indifferent) says any of the 3 inclduding Bracy therapy will all work ok. The surgeon types all say surgery for youger men.
This is my start.........to find other men that can help guide me
Welcome to the Club you never wanted to join, Andy. And thank you for sending in your "Join Us" form, which I hope to process later today. Incidentally you omitted your e-mail address from that form, so I wouldn't have been able to do anything if you had not posted here.
The one thing that we all learned very soon after diagnosis is that there is no 'one best answer' to the question "What should I do?" Diagnosis is a subjective art rather than a science and outcomes of the substantial variety of options (not simply the two you mention, but many more) are unclear. Them's the facts, unfortunately but overall you meed to know The Golden Rule of Prostate Cancer:
There Are No Rules
You don't mention your age - which I know is 53 from your input - or your staging which you do't mention at all. That might be an important input. I suspect you're T1c see STAGES OF PROSTATE CANCER .
Can I suggest for starters that you either go to the forst page of the Yana website at DON'T PANIC and read through the pages that follow or go to A STRANGE PLACE and download or read my booklet.
Doing that will give you a better idea of the basics of the disease and what your options might be - and it may help you underrstand some of the other information you will get from other folk.
Don't hesitate to ask any questions, either from us here or from your doctors.
The more research you do, the better able you will be to make the right decision for yourself and your circumstances. By joining this site and following Terry's lead you hsve begun that process. As you proceed you may find my ongoing journal helpful. I have fully documented my decision-making efforts and my experience with the option I selected; see
http://protondon.blogspot.com/
Best wishes Don O.
hi Andy,
It looks like your journey is just beginning.. i personally am closer to the finish line.. i think!!
I was stage T2B, Gleeson 7 and PSA 15...at the time i had no idea what these things meant !!... but i did the research as we all tend to do these days and opted for brachytherapy. i initially had some hormone treatment and had the brachy done on June/08/11.
to be honest and to date i have had absolutely no side effects... i was able to resume my usual diet within a couple of days and return to tennis within 7 days....the actual brachy procedure went flawlessly and lasted about an hour with a 2 hour recovery period.In my area i have not heard any negative comments about this procedure ..... however i dont know if it is for everyone (i.e what stage are you at to qualify for it)
hope that helps!!
Cheers and good luck
I have Gleason 3 + 3 T1C. I underwent brachytherapy on Jube 20 with 88 Iodine 125 seeds implanted. Virtually no side effect so far. Since brachytherapy is as good as surgery, it can be a good choice because of very little side effect compared to surgery.
