Hans... this is the most succinct, on-point, insightful piece I have read on the subject. Not just prostate cancer, but cancer in general. I have always been on top of my health. Pretty good diet, no bad habits (social drinker I guess is one), exercise vigoruously and intensively my entire life, get checked regularly (every 6 months lab tests - including PSA). But I get diagnosed at 63 in July 2023. Stuff stuck into every hole in my body. Scanned in multiple machines. "Caught it in time" - "all I needed" was a radical prostatectomy. No "apparent" spread. Incontinence, ED, stomach pain, perineum pain followed - a measure of all still exists 18 months later - all activities in my life have changed. I go every 3 months for bloodwork to see if I'm still "good". No, there is nothing "good" about cancer. And I did completely feel inserted into a "system" with a template - a protocol. No nuance. No time to ruminate on alternative therapies. Heaven forfend I be a "science-denier". Please don't read this wrong. I am extremely grateful for some of the wonderful, kind, caring people I met along the way, and for the support of family and friends, and that we are adaptable as humans, and that I have the opportunity to carry on. This cannot be understated.
Then my brother, at 66 (also fit, never-smoker, exercise enthusiast), gets diagnosed out-of-the-blue, with stage IV esophageal cancer. He was immediately inserted into the "system". The template was invoked. Bombarded with chemotherapy that made him sicker than I'd ever seen him - throwing up, unable to move or eat. This continued for 9 sessions every 2 weeks - he had lost almost 70 pounds by then. An artificial esophagus (stent) was inserted into him. Within 6 months he had gone from a fit 170 pound man to 100 pounds. He passed last weekend. I believe the "template" may have killed him faster than the disease - and the 6 months that he did live, were brutal on him!
Cancer is, ultimately, a lonely journey for the person experiencing it (regardless of the support and love offered). I know that if I experience this again, I will be looking into alternatives, no matter how difficult the "system" makes it on one to do so ("advice", guilt, fear, no financial support or coverage, logistical challenges, etc., etc.). There has to be a better way than our current path.
Very best to you and everyone who takes the time to respond on this forum! The discourse is helpful.