Hi Peter - thanks for the note. We probably have similar systems for medical care. I know here in Canada what I did is asked to speak to my team and get a better understanding of who's on it and what they're thinking. It's very regional , so each area has some different rules . Like Vancouver , I dont think they would do it ( too busy) but on Vancouver Island, they were OK about it. They said that could be arranged ( took two weeks) and I did speak to, a few doctors on the team, urology, nurse and a couple radiation technologists. It was a brief meeting about a 1/2 hour , , but I got a lot out of it and it reassured me what they were doing . I was amazed how much work goes into the external beam radiation program. I never did it prior to my prostatectomy, but I should've. The urology guys/DR's at the hospitals have a lot of clout ! I am not a doctor so I can't give medical advice. Only personal experience. Ask your doctor for a good eye on pain control, and the anesthesiologist. Tell him when you wake up you don't wanna feel any pain and no pain for many days. My anesthesiologist was fantastic. I was on two different painkillers and I never felt thing. I was walking about 10 hours after the operation and continued walking every day for about 3 to 4 hours. Make sure you ask your doctor about nerve sparing procedures, and your wish that if he feels that the nerves have been sacrificed to please remove them. He would likely do this anyway, but you want to get that straight before you go and get the operation. I was 58 at the time, and I healed up really well. I went into surgery in very good shape to begin with, that helped. After surgery in my situation, my PSA did not go to absolute zero but hovered around 0.03 and 0.04 and started to climb ever so slowly. So, a year after surgery I got 22 sessions of external beam radiation. Since then, I have been really good and my PSA has, been going down from 0.14, to 0.072, now it is at 0.056, and I am due for a PSA check in two weeks. I have prostate cancer in the family. My father passed away from prostate cancer and so did my grandfather. I have always been on top of the numbers every year as a young kid because of my family history. So I caught my prostate cancer very very early that I went to Urologist every year just to make sure. You are definitely in the right place as there is some great ions and experience here. Let us know how you make out .... the first couple of weeks are 'trying' but things come together after that I found for myself . Best of luck with everything. God Bless Sir . James