What are the pros and cons of prostate cancer treatment options?

Thank you for sharing your diagnosis journey and reaching out to connect with others who understand this decision-making process. Each treatment path has unique benefits and considerations, and hearing from community members who have walked these different roads can provide valuable insights as you work with your care team. The experiences shared here - whether from those managing active surveillance or those who pursued surgery or radiation - can help you think through important questions to discuss with your doctors. Your thoughtful approach to exploring all options shows great self-advocacy during this challenging time.

First off, you need to know how aggressive your cancer and where on the Gleason scale it is. Mine was a 9 grade group 5 so it was very aggressive. It took 4 biopsies to get it pinned down. My only real choice was surgery. If it returns after surgery you can always have salvage radiation. I have a friend whose chose radiation with a Gleason score of 9 and when it returned he couldn’t have surgery so they did cryotherapy. He now has a bag for the rest of his life. My surgery was fairly easy. It was a robotic surgery so less recovery time. I went home the same day. I had a Foley catheter for one week. I used pads each day for about 6 months then changed to shields. My surgery was 2 1/2 years ago and I have mostly full control of my bladder now. Every onX in a while I will leak when I bend over with a full bladder. Only a quarter size or less. I had all my nerves removed because the cancer had spread. Even with the nerves removed I can get an erection sufficient to make love with my wife. I use Tadalafil. I started kagel exercises before surgery and continued them afterwards. I was also walking 5 miles a day before and when healed started again. I believe this helped with recovery. I hope this helps. I am happy with my decision.