Treatment Options

Man o Man...it was like a buffet of treatment options to choose from. They ranged from doing absolutely nothing( that is called Watchful Waiting) to the extreme. More techno-eese to learn...HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) was one option. Two machines in the country are available for this treatment and one is in Charlotte. Thing is, it is still considered experimental by the FDA and not approved by insurance companies and with a cost of a mere $25,000.00 per treatment, I ruled it out right away. I told B I could have a real nice funeral for less than that...she failed to see the humor I had intended! Cyro procedures were mentioned and work opposite of the HIFU in that it freezes the affected area while HIFU heats it. Radioactive seeding, placing seeds directly into the prostate....I am not a good candidate for that because mine is to enlarged (mine is approx 65cc while most normal prostate glands are 35cc). The every popular radiation treatment....8 1/2 weeks of focused radiation. It would almost certainly kill the cancer cells in the prostate but the downside is that it may damage other areas and/or organs close to the prostate. Another downside to radiation, if future surgery is required in this area it would be difficult. I have analogized it as being like melting a milk carton over something and then trying to peel it off.

I had the opportunity to see a Radiologist/Oncologist, and he too was very honest about the possible side effects of radiation. I made an appointment to go and see my favorite doc, Dr Temple Day ( I just love her). She was patient and caring and gave me as much information as she could but like all the others docs, would not say what she thought I should do. She gave me a hug when I left and assured me it would be OK

Jerry and I were still working every day, between doc appointments and one job we went to was for a Mr Johnston. After a few hours there and some conversation I asked Mr Johnston what he did for a living, what was his claim to fame. He told me that if he had wanted to spend the money on one of them fancy license plates for his car, it would have said " 2 P C Me" I did not get the meaning right away so he told me he was a retired doctor, a urologist. God is still working aint he? I had about 4 days worth of consultation and countless stories about cases of prostate cancer that Dr Johnston had dealt with in a 40+ year career. Like the others, he never told me what I should do, just to take my time, weigh my options and do what was best for me.