Steve
B and Sonya live in Washington, USA. He was 40 when he was diagnosed in October,
2008. His initial PSA was 41.0 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 8 and although it
is not clear, it seems he was staged T4. He is undecided as to his choice of treatment.
Here is his story.
I have met with two oncologists. The first was all doom
and gloom, gave me the option of hormone therapy [ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy)]
and jumping right into chemotherapy to battle my cancer. The second oncologist
was much more positive and took the time to walk my wife and I through the bone
and CAT scans and gave us a more positive experience and outlook with a game plan
of hormone therapy and Zometa.
The first doctor was very aggressive but
not positive the second doctor very conservative but a lot more positive. I know
that being comfortable with ones doctor does make a difference but not sure if
we can afford to be conservative. How is a patient to know what is the best treatment
to choose? The hardest thing with finding out that you have advanced prostate
cancer besides sitting down with your 8 and 11 year old sons and telling them,
is most definitely choosing your treatment. There is a lot of information out
there, but nothing leads one to the correct decision for treatment.
I
just turned 41 yesterday, yes I am 41 and my PSA was 41.
Steve's e-mail
address is: byorick@gmail.com
