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First radiation oncology appointment today
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Oct 5 8:22am | Replies (13)Comment receiving replies
I did active surveillance for 15 years after being diagnosed with 3+4. During those years, treatment methods became more accurate and more plentiful. If you have low quantity Gleason 4, like 10% or less active surveillance is a good option.
Replies to "@jmgpdx68 I did active surveillance for 15 years after being diagnosed with 3+4. During those years,..."
@oldgreenpaint
That is a very good point. I was under active surveillance for non Hodgkin’s lymphoma 23 years ago, but they did not call it AS back then with that cancer, it was watch and wait, or watchful waiting. Just in a couple years new treatment’s, new immunotherapy drugs , radiation treatments and clinical trials were all coming out. I was able to mentally handle the cancer inside of me knowing of six month ct scans, blood work, but most importantly the likelihood of waiting ultimately was not going to impact my future treatment and results. I think you were definitely rewarded in the advancement of prostate cancer treatments by waiting. Who knows what could be here in two more years. However not everyone will want to for their personal decisions in wanting to go forward with AS and seek more immediate treatment. It is absolutely difficult knowing you have cancer inside of you, and today we all know many many cancers have a high fatality rate and we get scared, however there are cancers today that are treated as a chronic disease that will be with you for a long time. Prostate cancer is like that and my previous non Hodgkin’s lymphoma, life expectancy when i was diagnosed 7-11 years back then, today 20 years.
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@oldgreenpaint that’s true, and he did offer that as a perfectly acceptable option. I figure with my overall excellent health and age, it’s better to zap it now and be done with it!