I'm sorry to start a new thread on our journey through the maze of PCa, but I couldn't find my original post to update it.
Last Wednesday we went to see Dr. Loblaw at Sunnybrook in Toronto. We were advised that this app't would involve pre-op and 'mapping' for the treatment we had chosen - brachytherapy. We were also told to expect an app't lasting 1.5 to 2 hrs. After only 40 minutes, Kurt was back saying that he wanted me to hear what he was being told. I walked down the corridor not knowing what to expect, and a 'consultation' was quickly organized in a treatment room.
It turns out that at this time the brachytherapy isn't an option for Kurt because, rather than being a more triangular shape, Kurt's prostate is a wide oval with his pelvic bones in front on both sides. One option was to shrink the prostate with hormone injections in the hope that a more optimal shape would be achieved. The second option was daily radiation for 31 days; the third was surgery, but it was the fourth option that appealed most to us, and that was high intensity radiation one day per week for five weeks. End of treatment. The side effects mentioned were urgency and frequency of urination as well as a burning sensation while urinating. All of those could/would be treatable with medication. The fatigue (minimal we were told) would subside with time.
Now that we've had time to think a little more about it, we're wondering whether this really is the way to go. There have been clinical trials dating from 2008 and all the patients are 100% clear of cancer so far (but that's barely two years).
Has anyone here heard of that treatment? If so, is it as effective and as free from harmful side effects as we were told?
A big thank-you for all your help so far in guiding us; I hope you will be able to help us with this.