Literally hundreds of thousands patients around the world have had surgery. Initially many patients prior to their surgery or radiation come onto the support groups to educate themselves about their upcoming decision and learn about the immediate aftermaths in terms of recuperation and how best to prepare and what to expect. By the sheer numbers you can tell most undoubtedly are happy with their decisions because they disappear into the background or drop off the support sites. You usually don’t hear from them except for the ones that want to stay on and encourage the others in their decision it’s not bad. Most support groups skew toward many patients that are enduring some very uncomfortable and unfortunate side effects that still need support and encouragement. I wanted to post this for any patients that might get discouraged from reading any comments, there are far more happy with their decisions than are not.
Now on another note everyone has heard the old statements that you meet with a surgeon he says surgery is the way to go and the radiation oncologist will say radiation is the way to go. Now with the advent of HIFU and Tulsa-pro new procedures have come online and get promoted in the same way as the others. Here is where it gets tricky, as everyone has different variables as to whether their cancer is best treated with the new procedures and that is why it is even more important to be sure about those treatments and you are an excellent candidate. They fail also. So what is your next plan. It is important to consider. If you are a good candidate but not the best, surgery is still available later, although not as nearly as difficult as salvage surgery from radiation but more challenging especially after Tulsa pro. Now radiation therapy is more challenging after HIFU. Are you just trying to buy yourself more time from concerning side effects from other procedures. Nothing wrong with that, people are on active surveillance for that reason. Medicare began approval for Tulsa-pro last year in January so it is still relatively new in numbers performed but is likely growing more rapidly now and being pushed more, now that more people are eligible. HIFU around longer. Those procedures are a good middle ground as many patients are concerned with the possible ED and incontinence. These are great procedures for some but also has added more difficulty in coming to a decision on treatment. Even the new surgical technique’s can substantially eliminate incontinence and improve ED. Everyone’s variables are different and no one jacket fits all and no one procedure is bad and anyone that tries to disparage a certain procedure overall is wrong. These are difficult decisions.