Not that you would want to but if you could do it all over again?

That is what makes prostate cancer such an interesting area of discussion. The treatment road is paved with many forks.

Hmm, what would I do different? I’ve written elsewhere about my ‘journey’. Lots of serendipity. I think I may have bypassed a normal meetup conversation on all the modalities of treatment. Before and after my Mayo fusion guided biopsy I asked about freezing ablation treatment (experimental in 2020). I was ‘accepted’ but opted out when I heard the reoccurrence rate. I opted into PBT at Mayo Rochester which was doing (for my situation) 5 treatments over two weeks (prelims the week before.)

Probably the thing that I wish I had known was how to counter the side effects of my 4 month ADT shot. (Remember, about an equal amount of time to have it leave the body). Things like more focused regular strengthening exercises, maybe something else for low spirits, and possibly a routine to maintain penis size. Some of these are mentioned by others who write in this prostate cancer forum. Also several pretty good videos available through the prostate cancer research institute http://www.pcri.org (video’s on YouTube) talking about this.

Also, I didn’t know about the differences in the number of PBT treatments at different sites. Mayo Rochester was using the five treatments over two weeks protocol. I almost opted into Mayo Scottsdale (seemed like a more ‘fun’ place in January than Mayo Rochester.) I didn’t know that, at that time, that MScottsdale was using the ~25 treatments/five weeks. As it happened I finished my treatments in early Feb 2020, probably just before there was a Covid shutdown. Who knows what would have happened if I started five weeks of treamment at Scottsdale in early Feb 2020.

So all of us on this journey have made decisions based on the knowledge that we have at that time. It’s not a bad thing to do lots of asking, try to closely examine our ‘fears’ and assumptions and to proceed cautiously. It can be tricky to ask medical professionals about the side effects and efficacy of their suggested treatment. American medicine makes that more complicated when some doctors make more money delivering their ‘preferred’ method of treatment.

I think there was a joke about the patient asking the doctor about the impacts of treatment.
Patient: “After this treatment will I be able to play concert quality piano?”
Doctor: “Yes”
Patient: “After this treatment will I be able to run a five minute mile?”
Doctor: “Yes”
Patient: “Well then I definitely want this treatment because I can’t do those things now, so it must be quite miraculous. “