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Do you regret having had a prostatectomy vs. radiation, or vice-versa?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Aug 18 1:23pm | Replies (64)Comment receiving replies
Welcome to the world where there are no clear answers for most of us. It would be so much easier if it was like a broken arm, where the fix is a cast. You have received all kinds of good feedback. My advice is to research your options, determine what makes sense for you at this point in your life, go forward with your decision, and never 2nd guess your choice. Anybody that chose surgery and then had recurrence/side effects likely feels he should have chosen radiation. And of course, the same rings true if you chose radiation and had recurrence. It is human nature to wonder about the road not taken, but nobody can tell you for sure if that other road would have been better. I chose neither the radiation or surgery route and went with Tulsa Pro. I did the research and determined this was the right choice for my 4+3. I went in knowing the risk of a new treatment, but was very confident in the extensive follow up process I would be in. I had my 1 year check today at Mayo Rochester and the Doctor told me I can consider myself cancer free for now, and get back to giving blood every 2 months.
Replies to "Welcome to the world where there are no clear answers for most of us. It would..."
I wish I had known about this. Thank you
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I got radiation (SBRT), fell in the unlucky small percentage with long-term side-effects, and *still* have no regrets.
Surgery wasn't an option for me regardless with a distant metastasis, but for stage-4 prostate cancer traditionally they either would give no radiation or just a low "palliative" dose to the prostate itself. I opted for a large "curative" dose of 60 gy (which was just emerging as new standard of care in 2021), nearly the maximum allowed, and while it did cause some collateral damage to my lower bladder and rectum, it may also have helped bring me many more years of life, so I can cope with a bit of mild burning and urgency (which I've learned to manage).
In fact, every time I feel the mild burning, I tell myself "That means the radiation spread beyond the prostate and took care of any local cancer there as well". If a few still-undetectable cancer cells were starting to creep into my bladder or colon, the radiation likely sterilised them.