What to do? I am only a newbie once

Hi and welcome!

Speaking from personal experience I would go for the least invasive option - radiotherapy (RT)  The hormone/ RT route whilst it has its side effects I feel its the way to go. My history was similar to yours but my Gleason was higher as was my PSA ( 9 and 18 respectively).

Good luck in whatever you decide is best for you.

Thanks for your message, much appreciated

I was told by consultant that surgery and hormone radiotherapy had similar outcomes (85% survival at 10 years) but I know several who took the H/RAdio route and had awful SEs

I am still undecided

There are no other options? Surgery is so FINAL!

Best Wishes

Hi

I agree 're the finality of surgery, and thankful that they pushed me towards the RT route. In fact , when I asked what the other options were, they said RT was the best one for me.  I didn't question why surgery wasn't offered as, like you I feel, I didn t want it!

There are well documented details of the side effects for both, and if the effectiveness is the same then I would go down the RT route. ( Others may disagree of course!)

As an aside, and all please excuse my ignorance if I am staying something which is not possible, but if the RT /hormone therapy doesn't work can you still have the surgery? 

Keep safe

Regards

Stuart

You should be fine with Radiotherapy, with or without hormone therapy.

I had RT with no lasting side effects, u will be ok so long as u don't have existing bowel/urinary problems.

Just to pick up on Stuart's last point, surgery can be very difficult if not impossible sometimes after Radiotherapy.

Steve

Hi

Just 're read your post.

The RT side effects are not that bad providing , as Steve mentions, you don't have any other bowel or bladder problems.

The RT team will talk you through them ,and give recommendations on how to get round them. The main one for me was diet. If you go down the RT route make sure you ask for the dietary sheet and follow it religiously!

The side effects don't kick in for a couple of weeks so don't get lulled into a false sense of security and ease off if you seem not to be having any - most likely you will!

Some of the guys who were having RT, at the same time of me, were taking no notice of the sheet ( drinking alcohol) and I'm guessing that , maybe, this could be one reason why your friends side effects were bad.

As Steve suggested, they don't last long after the RT finished so I wouldn't discount RT/HT on the basis of the side effects only.

Regards

Stuart

You have a T2 tumour (T2N0M0).

This would always be defined as a 'curable' cancer; therefore, at this stage, you need to look at curative options.

PCa is a long-term disease (50% of us will die of something else before the PCa gets us). But as the years pass, it becomes less treatable; it won't always be curable if it survives your first treatment. So pick a treatment that is likely to deliver that cure, not one that sounds gentle, but will allow the cancer to return later. You've seen the movie trailers "It's back, and this time it's angry..."

With cancer, it's vital to aim for winning in the first round. Because otherwise it will always go the distance, even if you win on points.

Both surgery and radiotherapy are proven to be pretty effective (though a cure is never guaranteed with either). No other option comes close.