Thank you all for your kind words.
I think the primary purpose of forums like this to support each other and exchange success stories as well failures so that we can all learn from each other.
Let me reflect on highlights of my treatment starting from biopsy on February, 2011. My urologists told me that he would do the biopsy in his office without any anesthesia. My pain tolerance is rather low. So I asked him about the pain. He assured me it would not be bad at all. Reading so many horror stories about biopsy in various forums, I was really petrified. My urologist was right. I did not feel more than sharp pin pricks. But does not mean all biopsies are easy. I suppose it depends on the skill of the urologist as well as the needles not hitting any nerves.
I was told about the diagnosis of T1C, Gleason 3 + 3 prostate cancer on March 10, 2011. I had no idea about prostate cancer. I naivly believed that removing the prostate will get rid of the cancer altogether. I suppose that would be so if the entire cancer is in the middle of the prostate and the surgeion removes the prostate intact with all the nerves connected to the prostate. That would, of course, leave one with permanent ED and probably life long incontinence. Modern surgical techniques can leave all or most of the nerves intact. However, it has to be very skillful slicing to remove the entire prostate and sparing the nerves. That is why anyone choosing surgery must make sure to get the most experienced surgeon. Inspite of that, one runs the risk of ED and incontinence, at least temporarily.
Surprisingly my urologists recommended brachytherapy, not surgery as most urologists are supposed to do. After reading Walshe's book I realized that the naive idea I had about prostate surgery being simple was wrong. Anyone over 70 should think twice before choosing surgery over other forms of treatment. So I took my urologist's recommendation and decided to go ahead with seed implant. Of course, in the meantime I have read at least 5 books on prostate cancer.
I had the good fortune of having a very experience radiation oncologists nearby who has performed close to 2000 brachytherapy. I had my volume study on May 3. It was a ten minute affair with no catheter. The brachytherapy on June 20 took hour and half. Subsequent CATscan showed all the seeds placed perfectly inside the prostate and one seed placed in the seminal vesicle (by design). There was no seed migration to lungs or anywhere. Now just after one year my PSA is down to 0.3 and no SE.
There happens to be a lot of miscoception about brachytherapy. Lot of people do not realise that brachytherapy is a simple procedure taking just couple of hours for the entire treatment and in most cases lead to very little SE. Proton therapy takes about 8 weeks and have very similar SE compared to brachytherapy. Some people may even think proton therapy is not radiation treatment. During brachytherapy the oncologist, the urologist and the physicists are all in the room very close to the patient. Whereas, for proton therapy every body (except the patient) leaves the room operating the machine remotely.
I hope newly diagnosed men would read all the brachytherapy success stories before choosing a treatment. Of course, the golden rule is one should choose the treatment he is most comfortable with.