I visited Texas Prostate in Dallas, Texas, and met with Dr. James Cochran. They are a private practice, and when I went, they did not take Medicare, so it was out of pocket for me. Take a look at WellSpan in York, PA... wellspan.org. They have done over 50 procedures by now, and the only reason I did not go there and have it covered by insurance is that I have no family to care for me after the procedure. I offered to hire a nurse practitioner, but they declined the offer. I am still bitter about that and consider them to be clowns. However, they appear to be competent with TULSA, so that is the only reason I would recommend them for anything. I hired an NP in Dallas for nursing care. Being fully mobile after the procedure, I did not require any nursing care afterwards, per se; however, it was helpful to have the nurse explain catheter care and its use. She was excellent and worth every penny, as she also helped me with travel and a few other matters. If you are married or have someone to help you, that is great. You will find that the after-procedure pain will be zero for most people; it was zero for me.

Calcifications can be an issue, but my understanding was that they could be worked around in some cases or could be removed with another procedure. I had one small calcification that was not an issue. Has your local urologist discussed the calcifications and any procedure that can remove them?

As for side effects, well, I had a total ablation, and my only side effect is dry ejaculation. At 69, I do miss that, but I also have no intentions of fathering children. The trade-off is being cancer-free. Every procedure for prostate cancer has some level of adverse events; the question is, "What can you live with?" I have minimal ED, due to low T, my Uro and I are waiting to see if my T increases; if not, then we will discuss treatment for that. I take 5mg of Cialis daily to encourage blood flow to the penile tissue. This morning, I woke up with a nice, hard erection.

Did Mayo give you a list of adverse events and tell you why those events would be worse than having cancer return if you did a focal therapy? You may have a prostate that is too large for current treatment standards, or perhaps for other reasons. I find it odd that 'side effects' from a complete ablation are the reason not to have the procedure.