New to Community -Unsure which treatment to chose

If you read my profile you can see my husband’s journey. He had surgery just over 8 weeks ago.

Hi Mr Pip

sorry to hear , a difficult one I know.

Unfortunately there are no easy answers. .

Things to consider though, surgery is a major op with gen anesthetic. side effects can include ED and urinary issues but obviously not always.

RT and HT is simpler and with your stats being low hopefully u wouldn't need HT for too long.

No major side effects with RT and any that do happen should go away a few weeks after treatment finishes.

One reason for not having the RT is if you currently have bowel issues as the RT could make your issues worse.

In my mind the one downside to RT is that if cancer returns surgery almost impossible afterwards but not the other way round ie RT after surgery, as u have already pointed out.

lastly over the years that I have been on here think it's fair to say that I do read of more people with issues relating to surgery than RT.

If it's any help, taking all that into account I still went for RT.

best wishes

Steve

Thank you for your reply, your husband is lucky to have somebody like you to help and support him and I hope he recovers well soon. I wish  I had somebody to support me  and discuss things with but I am single at present and feel very lonely ...

Hello Mr Pip.

Sorry to hear of your diagnosis.

I initially thought about surgery but was advised to have HT and RT as I have other underlying conditions.

If it helps you can read my journey by clicking on the picture of my cat.

Good luck on your journey

Regards

Peter 

Thank you for reply Steve,it’s great to hear from somebody about  their experience and opinion,it all  helps in making a decision ! I am edging towards the HT/RT treatment at present , especially after attending a talk with pictures yesterday with other prospective patients of  the Radical Prostatectomy operation and the after effects it  entails.One of the men there actually had a panic attack and fainted.....

Thank you for your reply Peter,just read about your journey and it seems to be going fine-well done ! I hope if I go for it I’m as successful as you...

To be honest if u feel a bit on edge and u do sound it, understandably so, then I think keep it simple . So simple would be RT.

But see what others say , I could be biased because I had RT, arguably.

Let us know how it goes and we can give u more advice re RT nearer the time of treatment.

All the best

Steve 

So sorry to hear this. If it's any consolation to you although we have each other, I have also been lonely because our friends went awol and have only just started to reconnect in the last week. I sometimes find that strangers are more supportive than people we know well as they're not as worried about saying the wrong thing.

I don't know where you live, but in some areas there are support groups. Unfortunately in my town there's nothing. We have grown up children and 5 grandchildren but we haven't seen them since May as they live over 200 miles away. Normally they would come to us for some of the school holidays but we wouldn't have been able to cope with so many kids in the house.

Keep posting on here, especially when you are feeling low and I'm sure someone will respond and try to lift you up.

Thank you for your reply,I know what you mean about strangers being more supportive.I have just found a  local PC support group but the next. meeting is in 12 days time.I hope I don’t get a call about the operation date before then,would like to discuss that and RT experiences first before I commit myself !

I'm not sure that they will give you a date for the operation unless you have actively chosen that option. When my husband decided, he was given the consent form to sign there and then and he had to wait for a date. They rang him first to offer him the date and followed it up with a letter. Of course hospitals do things differently.

If you do get a date through and you still want to weigh up your options don't feel that you have to accept it.

I would also advise that once you have made your decision, not to question if it is the right one. Once you've had your treatment you only have other mens experiences to compare yours with, good or bad it may have been different for you.

I wish you well whatever you decide