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Radical Prostatectomy vs. Radiation therapy?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Apr 21 7:39pm | Replies (52)Comment receiving replies
@wwsmith " ... urologists are most often surgeons ..."
Source? Where is your source for your other stats, like "90% of the complaints on incontinence and ED came from RP patients"? Compiled from this forum???
My AGENDA is to provide one example of an excellent result. I am by no means the only one on this forum that has a story like mine. I don't argue against radiation because as previously stated, I have no experience with it. I do know what worked for me.
As for what urologists recommend, the one that diagnosed my cancer gave me John Wash's book, told me to read the pertinent chapters on radiation & surgery, & let him know which I wanted. I took the book's recommendation & found the area's most experienced surgeon (at U. Wash. / Fred Hutch Medical Center), who recommended radiation in my case. So personally, zero for two urologists recommending surgery.
Have you read John Wash's book?
You cite a lot of claims with no sources, & as I've already stated, your math is fundamentally unsound. I just don't like unsupported statements like "An RP surgery typically leaves you with only 5-10% of the sphincter muscle needed for continence." Given my source for "90% of men regain continence after surgery" (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3034651/ from the National Institutes for Health), I find your claim not creditable.
People can make of that what they wish.
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@readandlearn After you have read hundreds of case histories across multiple forums, patterns, trends, and percentages start to burn in to your memory. The 90% number of incontinence and ED complaints coming from RP patients versus RT patients is one such number. If I were to tally the actual count, I think it would be likely higher than 90%. Anyone can just do their own small sample tests on case history posts and see what I mean.
Concerning urologists often being surgeons, that too is a trend I picked up from reading so many case histories. So, of course, not every urologist is a surgeon and not every surgeon will recommend an RP for every case. There are certain circumstances where an RP or radiation is clearly the better treatment. However, a trend that I saw repeatedly was a patient being "railroaded" down a certain path, and most often down the RP path. Patients would often admit that this happened to them without them realizing what was being done. The advice from many such patients was to do your research, talk with as many patients and doctors as possible, and get as many perspectives as possible. As I began to do this myself, I came to the opinion that radiation would have been better for many cases that been steered into an RP. Of course, each case is unique and often either approach would often work well so it is not a cut and dried decision.
In my research, many patients complained that RP side effects are underreported in official statistics and that when you talk amongst many RP patients you get to see what the real statistics are on incontinence and ED. Reading accounts on the forums are a great way to do that.
Even today, the current statistics given by google on how long a man will typically live once diagnosed with metastatic cancer are completely wrong. Google will say something like 5 years to live is typical and yet virtually every metastatic guy on this forum will tout all the new drugs like Nubeqa that has let them live far longer than that. Not to discount the current studies, videos, and books, but the best information comes from real patients talking right now on forums.