How do I find a good surgeon ?

Hey guys,

I posted here for the first time a couple of days ago.  I was just diagnosed on 9/12 and still trying to digest a lot of info.  Not sure yet which treatment I will choose, but am leaning strongly toward surgery, because I'm 53.  Like all of us, I want a very good surgeon because you only get one chance to do this right.  

Questions :  How do you find an excellent surgeon ?  Is there some place where you can find a ranking of prostate surgeons with statistics like what percentage of their patients get back to "normal" or close to normal urinary continence and erections ? 

I'm lucky to live near what is supposedly a very good urology department at the University of Kansas Medical Center.  US News and World Report ranks it among the "best" in the US, and says two of their urologists are in the top 1% of urologists in the US. But I want SURGERY experts, not necessarily "top" urologists.  KU Med Center has 3 Da Vinci machines and they told me on the phone that 4 of their surgeons each perform 1 to 2 RP surgeries per week.  I have also read that the research hospitals connected to universities have the best track records with surgeries.

The urologist I started out with is great, and very easy to work with, but he does only about 2 Da Vinci surgeries per month, and he is a young guy, so I know he has not done a ton of them. 

I've even thought about going for broke and heading to MD Anderson, Cleveland Clinic, or Mayo.  Or is KU Med Center good enough, if I can get the best surgeon there ? 

Thanks again for the help.

______________________________________________

Diagnosed 9/12/12

Age 53

PSA 2.0

T2A ( small nodule left apex )

Gleason 6

2 core out of 12 cores positive ( one 15%, one 5% )

Father diagnosed at 62 with advanced Pc, now 84 and fine

  

With your numbers you have plenty of time to consider all options before making a decision. Even Active Surveillance is a viable option for you. I for one am a prime example on how one educated themselves for all options. I arrived here like you favoring radical surgery then began to lean more to brachytherapy. That was tossed aside upon learing of a far eless invasive option called TFT Targeted Focal Therapy. It's when they only target and destroy the cancer not the entire prostate. Of course one must be low risk to start with as your numbers are now. Then a 3D saturation biopsy must be done and passed  to best locate the Pca in the gland. Bottom line is I was treated over 4 years ago with the only side effect being a maybe 60% loss of ejaculant. I stil have all my valves thus I'm as continent as I ever was. Also where to go for this is not that far from you it's in Denver. Below is a link I suggest you investigate along with radiation and AS. Don't rush to radical surgery until you are sure that's what you really want to do and risk. There are no do overs..

http://3dprostate.com/

I would think you could find an excellent surgeon locally. If KU's website has bios on their docs, you might want to peruse through those. Somebody who is publishing a lot of research would be a good bet.

It's a little bit of a crap shoot, but pick the best looking horse and go talk to him. Don't be shy about asking how many surgeries he's done and what his stats are for complications and side effects.

Failing that, you can always go out of town, but that complicates an already complicated business. This is a good time to keep life simple. I wouldn't go to some hack just to keep it simple, but I guess I am recommending that you beat the bushes locally to see who is available.

Best of luck with your treatment, whatever you decide. And don't freak out; you've got great numbers. Chances are excellent that you'll be fine.

Jonathan

My uro told me that after 50 Da Vinci procedure a surgeon shoul dbe competent and you want one that has has hundreds done.