Posted 10/3/2013 12:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi mandjk,
My husband had surgery and consulted with a few surgeons before he had his surgery. We do have the advantage of being in NYC, so had access to some highly regarded doctors. Your comment "discussed op. possible to leave nerves in but chance there could be cancer there. so up to me." is of concern to me. No doctor asked my husband whether he wanted his nerves spared or not. The goal for all of the doctors we spoke with was to spare the nerves while removing all of the cancer. The decision of how much, if any of the nerves to take was to be made during surgery. My husband chose a very experienced doctor who had an excellent track record for getting clear margins, maintaining potency and continence.
During his operation my husband's surgeon found that the cancer had escaped the prostate in one area. He saved about 75% of the nerves, and was able to get clear margins.
In the US, all of the well regarded doctors have a goal of preserving nerves, if possible, and make the decision during surgery of how much of the nerves to spare. Of course, the first goal is always to remove all of the cancer. It would be unusual to ask a patient to decide before surgery if he wanted his nerves spared or not.