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@retireditguy

As multiple others on this forum have said in the past, welcome to the club no one wants to join. My best piece of advice is go to a recognized "cancer center of excellence (CCOE)" if that's an option available to you. Google it and you'll easily find one. I did (Mayo Phoenix) and I was very happy I did. I felt the advice and care was outstanding. Also, I'd recommend Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer Paperback – October 3, 2023. It's on Amazon and it's the best $20 I ever spent. It really helped educate me on some key points in my decision making. It's organized in a way that makes it pretty easy to drill down on things applicable to your specific situation. One other thought I'd share is that for me (I was diagnosed on 3/2024) the more you educate yourself the better you'll be able to discuss treatment with prospective providers and the better you'll be able to make the decisions you'll have to make. It's like drinking from a firehose at first, but it's worth the effort to get knowledgeable as quickly as possible. I guess one thing that surprised me was I'd never really been seriously sick before, so I didn't appreciate that I'd have to ultimately select my course of treatment. Yeah, you'll get recommendations, but the final decision on how you proceed will ultimately come back to you. So it's pretty important to understand your options at each step as thoroughly as possible, especially since selecting an option might impact other options going forward. Also, even if you can't go to a CCOE don't hesitate to get a second opinion from one regarding treatment recommendations. Since there's nothing to be gained by an in-person physical exam, it's pretty easy to get a second opinion since they only look at your test results anyway. Best wishes.

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Replies to "As multiple others on this forum have said in the past, welcome to the club no..."

just got off the phone with mayo clinic in Jax Florida. One of the CCOE places near me. $5000 just for a consult. completely out of my range of available funding. guess let it run its course or let the VA hack on me are only two options.