PC in Tirol

Thanks for your comments gents, it's good to get perspectives from other people with more experience. I am seeing the surgeon for the first time in a couple of weeks so that should be interesting, I will have plenty of questions for him.

For me during this time it seems important to keep busy, so I'm decorating the house and doing all the small jobs that always need doing.

And Ulsterman, ü on a British keyboard is ALT and 252!

Richard

True for many men but not all - as per the members we have had here who died in their 40s or 50s - and the couple of members in their 30s with extensive spread. Generalisation is useful but not if it fails to acknowledge the seriousness of the disease.

Hello Lynn, hello Tykey,

Thanks for your posts, firstly I think that I don't have the mental make up to 1- have the knowledge that I have cancer and 2- do nothing about it,  be able to put it to the back of my mind and carry on with my life as if nothing had happened, especially when other options are available.

Regarding brachytherapy Lynn, my understanding from the specialist that I have so far seen is that having the cancer treated (rather than removed) may compromise the option of surgery at a later stage should the initial treatment not be successful. As you will no doubt by now have surmised, I am no expert on prostate cancer and just want to deal with it in the most effective way possible (as I'm sure everyone else does to) because of my lack of knowledge I am largely being guided by the specialist who I do believe is competent.

I think and hope that for me surgery is the correct choice but the words of Mr. Kierkegaard seem very pertinent at this time, I wonder what I will think in 2,3 or 6 months time???

Regards

Richard

Which krankenhaus are you under? Is it one of the specialist Krebshilfe centres?

Edited by member 29 Aug 2018 at 13:18  | Reason: Not specified

Lynn comments above are really pertinent. On diagnosis with a large amount of low grade PCa ( G6 (3+3) by a surgeon my 54 year old husband was immediately recommended removal with the same reason re ‘I can do it now, but after further treatment I won’t be able to’. The full side effects were not explained but this site led us to understand them fully. In addition we read ‘ the invasion of the prostate snatchers’ so got a full history of the RP procedure.

We are lucky and were able to afford an alternative not available in the UK ( three consolutants all agreed he had to do something). Within the limits of NHS funding we would have explored brachi fully before making a final decision.

For us we were not sure my husband could live with the definite side effect of ED and the prospect of any incontinence makes RP a major major decision.

This decision should never be rushed in my opinion and only entered into when all other available options have been explored fully.

It all works out fine for some but is such a big decision with such a lot of quality of life implications I personally do not think surgeons should be allowed to give a diagnosis and immediately make a RP recommendation. The process should be much more considered.

Good luck with your decision making but Lynn made a really good posting and quick RP decisions always worry me.

Regards

Clare

Interesting, Richard to see slightly different practices in different countries.

The norm here is for catheterisation for around ten days or longer and discharge the next day or the day after following laparoscopic surgery. Moreover, they don’t usually test PSA for up to six weeks post-op (correction - just realised you were around seven weeks post-op for PSA, so the same). Great news on the continence front and PSA result.

So you were at the Landeskrankenhaus, Hall im Tirol? They seem to have done a good job. Were you offered the option of the Krebshilfe Tirol in Innsbruck, or is that more of a radiotherapy centre?

I must say, we have always been very impressed with the Austrian ‘NHS’ whenenever needed, due to various ski-ing ‘incidents’........no four-hour wait in A & E there, more like four minutes.

I did read a paper somewhere that there was little difference between short-term catheterisation and longer in terms of continence, as you are a case in point. Bet you were glad to be rid of the bloody thing!

Best of luck with your recovery. Climb every mountain!

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 01 Dec 2018 at 03:17  | Reason: Not specified

I have never heard of the dye / X-Ray catheter removal procedure before, so that must be an Austrian speciality, like kaiserschmarrn!