Hi Sully276,
I had a RRP at age 55 and a half. Looked into it thoroughly before deciding on the Robot. Was offered brachytherapy and A N other. AS was not offered to me. Would not have chosen that.
No regrets apart from actually having PCa, and not finding it sooner.
But, your outcome will be personal to you. Despite you having the same bits other men have in the same place "ish", and the surgeon doing their best, no one knows what your outcome will be. Until you are done.
Apparently, non invasive treatments have broadly the same outcomes as the various surgery options. Did not sway me back then, would not sway me now.
If there was a clear winning option in the PCa treatment choices, the NHS would stop all others. Surgery consequences are all potential and the most significant outcome from surgery is life.
I am not saying to you to go for one option or another. Only you can make that choice as only you will live with the consequences. Hopefully fo a long time to come.
What I am suggesting is, do your research. Make your best decision on the information you have at the time you make it, and don't look back.
Some make a choice on all the information presented, then when more information is presented later, regret that choice.
If you look both ways, don't see a bus, and cross the road, then get knocked down by the bus that no one saw, does not mean you made a bad choice. You made your best choice on what you knew or were presented with.
atb
dave
All we can do - is do all that we can. So, do all you can to help yourself, then make the best of your time. :-) I am the statistic. |
User
Hi having been monitored for PSA for many years after my Dad died of PC. When I was finally diagnosed following MRI and biopsy I was offered AS, surgery or radio therapy (of one kind or another). This was because my biopsy was stage 2 3+3. When I pressed the urologist (he didn't do surgery himself) he recomended surgery because of my age and family history.
He didn't recomend radiotherapy because of my young?? age.
He didn't recomend AS because of the family history.
He DID recomend surgery because:
You get a complete pathology which can influence later treatment choices
No risk of late onset radiological side effects (strictures etc).
Possibility of adjuvant or salvage radiotherapy (2nd bite at the cherry!)
I don't think things have moved on that much in 3 years so if I had my choices again the only thing I would have done different was to get a biopsy the year before when my PSA started increasing.
Re side effects from surgery - Make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing!! I am fully healed in all departments (well maybe 9/10 in the woody depth :-)) but there is no denying surgery ducks for a few months (years??).
User
Thank you for the update, my father recently died because of his PC spreading and my brother has had radiotherapy and hormone treatment, so there is a strong family history also. I was offered 2 choices AS or surgery. I chose AS and have been ok for 3 Years but I am now nearing that age when my brothers cancer was found and I am now questioning that decision