Good morning, pjw2, and welcome to a club no one wants to join. My own journey started almost a year ago with elevated PSA numbers. Repeat tests, Feb biopsy (one 3+3), scan (“that shadow shouldn’t be there), second biopsy (now 5 hits - three 3+3, one 3+4, one 4+3), negative bone scan, all culminating in a RALP 2 weeks ago.

As you’ll hear, there is no “one right answer” to your situation. Do your research. Dr. Patrick Walsh’s, Surviving Prostate Cancer, is the single best resource I found and I highly recommend getting a copy ASAP. Talk to friends and family who may have walked before you w PCa. My own analysis led me to the RALP and I have no regrets. The post-op report showed no evidence that the PCa had left my prostate. My surgeon is very talented and employed all the latest techniques which are making recovery palatable.

We don’t get to change the past, so let it go. We do get to drive our future, so take control. Find the best advisors you can access, ask a ton of questions, and read Walsh’s book. Your path will become clear to you along the way. Then, do the work. There will be no shortcuts to your recovery but your hard work will pay off!

I wish you the very best of luck. It’s no fun - sorry - but it’s not the end. Speaking for myself, it was wicked scary and I derailed myself emotionally a few times in the last year. That wasn’t helpful but, once I refocused on my facts, I knew what to do and it worked out just fine. Each day post-op is better than the last and I can see a bright day ahead!