The silver lining is that I never had to go through the agonising decision-making most of the rest of you went through, worrying about overtreatment, undertreatment, active surveillance, quality of life, etc etc.

I was suddenly flat on my back in a critical-care hospital bed with a bed pan. I *knew* it was serious, and I wasn't overly worried about extra side-effects from aggressive treatment. I just wanted to fight my way out of there.