Side effects of brachytherapy: Anyone have urinary and bowel issues?

in reply to @heavyphil
It was extremely weird to experience this. This was a urologist at an NCI designated cancer center. I had been seeing a community urologist in a small town an hour away but I wanted to transfer my care to this center of excellence.

I had no idea what the best treatment was that I should accept. He described surgery or radiation as producing equal outcomes. He at no time said anything like he was advising against surgery. He advised that I also see an RO, I agreed, and he scheduled an appointment for me. I scheduled an appointment for surgery with him. The understanding was there would be no problem cancelling, but if, after see the RO, I made a decision to get surgery, I would be a bit further ahead in the line. The furthest I went to indicate a preference for surgery was to say, at this point I am leaning toward surgery. When I told him this, we both knew I had yet to see an RO.

A few days later I read his clinical note. In bold type, it said: "Despite my recommendation for radiation treatment given his age and high risk disease and possible increased risk of stress urinary incontinence the patient would really like to proceed with surgery".

I immediately wrote him to say please refer me to any other urologist at this place as I need a doctor who will level with me.

This was a very disturbing experience for me. I had delayed for months before I took my rising PSA seriously enough to start getting it investigated. It had taken months from when I made this appointment to this moment when I was telling this guy I never wanted to see him again. I assumed this cancelling out on this guy, meant more months of delay. The only thing that made sense to me was this guy was using this clinical note to cover his butt in case the outcome of his surgery, if he eventually did surgery on me, turned out terribly. He could point to this clinical note and say he warned me. I thought it was possible that no one else at this place would agree to see me now that I had cancelled out like this. My wife told me she had never seen me this shaken up over anything.