@bobby1313 Waiting and choices are hard. I never experienced that, because I was in medical crisis and they had to rush me into the operating room to stop the metastasised tumour from continuing to crush my spine. After that, a prostatectomy wasn't an option (you don't generally do it when the cancer has already left the prostate), so it was just radiation to the spine, radiation to the prostate, ADT, and ARSI (so far so good, 4 years later 🤞).

I never went through the decision anguish most forum members have experienced, because things were happening too fast.

@bobby1313 It seems you are most concerned about the prospect of surgery. I was in the same boat and wanted to do radiation to avoid it and went nuts consuming ever more information.

If you are relatively young snd healthy, I believe that most people would opt for surgery with a Gleason 7 that is clearly confined to the prostate. Make sure to go to a center of excellence or a high volume center and ask the surgeon about their statistics regarding ED and incontinence.
The surgery itself is nothing to ve afraid of. You will only have minimal discomfort for a couple of days and the thing that will bother you most will be the catheter. There will likely be some incontience for a few weeks and ED for months. But next to nothing in terms of pain or restrictions on daily activities.

@bobby1313 I'm about 10 days away from surgery myself. After talking with many doctors and reading many different sources, I chose surgery. There is not just one correct path, it's complicated. But I'm at peace with my decision and am never looking back. Best of luck to you, guy!!

@bobby1313 I'm sure we were all were concerned before surgery. I had mine a year ago and it turned out well. Based on my research, radiation and prostectomy can have similar results at the 10 year mark. There appears to be indication of greater return at the 20 year mark with radiation vs RALP, but that also depends on multiple factors - my research focused on Gleason 7 (3+4) contained within the prostate. The variables matter. I was 53 at diagnosis and my friend who is an oncologist opined that I was too young to rely on radiation. His opinion had weight with me, but we all need to make our own decision - as tough as that may be.