Congratulations on your 7-year mark. Mine is about
the same...I'm sure I could find the date somewhere in a file of my medical records, but I think mine was also in about
March or April of 2009.
I also find it interesting to reflect on the changes over time...
You mentioned the growth of AS, but I see that as the natural outcome from the revolt against PC overtreatment.
It is PC overtreatment (and not the PSA test) which gave prostate cancer a "bad name." Strong credit goes to Dr Mark Scholz for is 2010 book "
Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers: No More Unnecessary Biopsies, Radical Treatment or Loss of Sexual Potency" for raising awareness about
patient empowerment/education, and for helping to shed light and shame his urological peers for the dis-service they brought to favorable-risk men. The
recent growth of AS—and indeed it has taken several years after this book—has come as the patient education has spread and sunk in.
I also see the growth of "smart" PSA testing as a positive. The doctors (at least those who could see the big picture) certainly understood that the notion of testing everyone every year was unsustainable and unhealthy as a "screening program." We would have identified closer to 36M men (in the US) with PC instead of the roughly 2M men we currently have...and then what?
It'll be interesting to see what the next 7 years brings...
Post Edited (JackH) : 4/26/2016 9:30:10 AM (GMT-6)