making my own decisions

I was in management my entire working life; in other words, a decision maker and was comfortable in that roll.
I feel that I will be faced with further treatment in the near future, so I will face making certain decisions about how to proceed. I feel that way due to the two positive margins and rising PSA.

So far, I have three doctors involved; my long-time GP, a urologist, the DaVinci surgeon. The GP is with the Swedish Hospital in Seattle and the other two with the Swedish Urology Group which is associated with the Swedish Hospital. Swedish is a world renowned hospital with associated groups.

I have taken all their advice to date and am comfortable with that.

But, moving forward, should I, a lay person, consider making decisions that may (or may not) conflict with these three doctors.

If I am given two or three options, I will looking to you fine folks for opinions.

I am scheduled for another test in two weeks; ordered by the surgeon due to the increase from 3 to 6 months PSA rise.

I am very happy to have found you guys and gals!

I'd use everything you've ever learned about good decision making. Most likely you'll get a couple of different opinions so you'll have to sort out which one to take. I think you know the drill - gather the facts, sort out which ones make sense and are backed up by real data, know which expert opinion to trust, etc...

Of course, we're always happy to help with our own opinions and experience.

The hard part is that sometimes in the PC world there aren't any really good solid answers - just two or three paths that are possible and all may work but no solid science saying one way is better than the other.

Still, I suspect you'll do just fine making the decisions needed.
Andrew

Longjr
You found a great site, these guys and gals are amazing with their knowledge and compassion. Good luck with your decision making.


Hey f8, I like your comment about the watches, I have several; good thing I only wear one at a time.(lol)

Sure, you make the call after you gather all the relevant data. Who cares about you more than you?

Regarding "all the relevant data", with that Gleason 7 (4+3), the "4" may be enough to solicit advice from an oncologist or two, not just uro/surgeons, once your PSA starts to rise.

Making a contact now to check on compatability even if it is as you say getting ahead of yourself, would not be a bad thing to do.

Part of decision making is developing a relationship to point you think you can trust the advice. In mgmt, you don't have to be a subject matter expert in everything, just need a good BS Detector.

LupronJim

Longjr,

I think you have some of the best docs in the world right up there in Seattle and there's probably no need to go farther. My good friend used Phillip Chapman at Swedish, and I thought he advised my friend well (i.e., I agreed with everything he said). Robert Meier is an RO who specializes in SBRT at Swedish (probably not what you need now) whose work has impressed me too. They've got Thomas Green there too.There are a host of world class docs at Fred Hutchinson too, and they are at the cutting edge of much of the top research. Of course the world's best brachy guys are in Seattle as well (also not what you need now). An abundance of great medical resources closeby.

- Allen