Hi, lots of good questions. There isn’t a one-best path. I’m 73 and had surgery on January 7th, 2022. I had 4/12 biopsies with Gleason scores of 6 and two biopsies with 7s. Note, 7 is cancer, below 7, you do not have cancer.
My PSA was 4.3; it had double in the past year. I was thinking I wanted to have radiation treatment. It was the least invasive and you recover quickly. I got three opinions: surgery from all three doctors. I was experiencing urination urgency and frequency. I decide to have robotic surgery. I was in good health and physical condition; therefore, I was a good candidate for a good recovery. They did an MRI the day before my surgery and found a large tumor, which of course had to be removed too. The surgeon had to cut “wide” on one side in order to remove the tumor. My surgery lasted almost 4 hours: I was discharged the same day.
After my surgery, I was totally incontinent for a month. I’m about 98% continent now. I have no erectile function. In theory, is should it improve after 18 months. I had a PSA test after 6 weeks. My PSA level, was undetectable: <0.01. My next PSA test will be this month.
One of my hobbies is running. I ran a 1/2 marathon last month and got on the podium. Good luck with your decision. It’s not an easy one. Keep us posted. Thanks.