What are treatment options for Stage 2C prostate cancer with bilateral spread?

Kenny — Know this above all else: Don’t decide too soon! Take all the time you need to gather all the information you want. Delay won’t hurt, it will help. I say this today, being 34 months post-diagnosis, 24 months post-treatment with 42x EBRT and 4 months ADT, and having found out too late that I was almost certainly over diagnosed and overtreated, with resulting 23 harmful side effects—urinary, bowel, sexual, psychological, emotional—some of which continue to degrade. It happened because I rushed my decision. I didn’t yet immerse myself in professional medical journal articles that tell the full and true facts of treatment side effects. I didn’t yet realize that the recommendations of physicians and others reflect what’s best for them and their institutions and that only I can act in MY best interests. That doesn’t mean you ignore physicians’ and others’ recommendations; it means you understand their biases and decide based on that understanding.

This is understandably a challenging time with many treatment decisions to consider. Both brachytherapy with external radiation and radical prostatectomy with lymph node removal are established treatment approaches that many in this community have experience with. Connecting with others who have faced similar treatment choices can provide valuable insights about what to expect and help with decision-making during this difficult process.