Guest post by Ronald Ennis, MD
You’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer. There is so much information out there, but how do you sort through it? The first thing is to take a deep breath. The vast majority of people with prostate cancer do not need treatment, and if they do, they are cured.
You will have choices to make and your doctor can help you sort through them. There are three main prostate cancer treatment options most men need to consider:
Surveillance, also known as watchful waiting
Radiation treatments, external beam types or implanted types
Surgery
There are also three prostate cancer treatment issues to consider:
Curing the cancer
The possibility of the treatment causing incontinence, which means that urine can leak involuntarily
The possibility that treatment may cause impotence or sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction
To help you sort through these options and issues you should:
1. Make an appointment to see two types of doctors—a urologist and a radiation oncologist. You should try to find a urologist and radiation oncologist who specialize in prostate cancer.
2. When you meet with each doctor you should:
Ask about the pros and cons of each prostate cancer treatment option.
Ask each doctor about his or her results treating your kind of prostate cancer.
Take notes during the meetings.
Leave each appointment feeling like the doctors truly explained each option and why each is or is not a good choice for you, given the treatment issues.
3. After meeting with the doctors, you should:
Not feel pressured into a choice.
Be satisfied after either appointment that you have a good understanding of how your case is affected by each prostate cancer treatment option and each treatment issue.
Seek second opinions from each specialty if you are still unsatisfied or unclear. Limit your search to just that—second opinions. Seeing more and more specialists does not necessarily lead to a better prostate cancer treatment decision.
Choose the option that seems best for you.
Be efficient and not let this process drag on. Generally, a month or so should be enough time to work through your decision.