Too much pushing?

I don't have the years of experience on this forum that some of you guys have ... I've only been here a little less than a year. However, in that realtively short time period it feels to me like there is a LOT more advocating for specific treatments; more bickering over opinions; overall less balance and facts.

I thought I'd start a poll to see if others feel that there is too much pushing of specific treatments.

In my opinion saying what you have had done and the benefits, disadvantages, and outcome are great but when someone says this treatment or that treatment is better they are stretching it.  It may be better for them and that is great.  What may be great for one person may not be great for the next.  For example I don't want to have the LDR Brachytherapy because it leaves a small amount of material in your body that radiates.  It may be small but I don't want that because I travel to some foreign countries that have very sensitive detection devices in airports.  It would be hard to explain to a guard that barely speaks English that I had cancer and there are seeds in my prostate that are radiating.

David

Interesting and valid observations. However, there are no medical professional members (even if a doctor joined, he would have to keep postings to personal experience with his own PCa), and we do not profess to be a knowledge-base.

The primary focus is support, and we do that from our own experience, so it can't be anything but biased based on the overall membership experience. 

There are those who preach just a bit too much (ok, some to extremes) on specific treatments, diets, supplements, and that causes me more headaches than you can imagine, and not just as a moderator. Sometimes that actually negates the support we should be aiming to give.

I vote "no", everyone has his opinion on treatments but have not seen a particular treatment being pushed more than the others.

I have to say that I have found everyone to be informative but not pushy. Maybe it is because I am more focused on the advanced prostate threads and the options are considerably fewer. I find everything very well balanced

No,
When I first joined 4 years ago there was 1 guy that did focal treatment, about 3 that did seeds and no one on AS. Basically it was a one treatment option site and one main point of view. Today it is much more balanced and I think that many have persued other options based on information gathered from this site, and that what makes it valuable.
"Information is either useful or not useful" You can always choose to ignore what you feel is not useful, but to deny others information that they may find useful is to limit their options.
Many come to this board to listen to the experiences of others, both good and bad. It is normal if you have had a good experience with a certain treatment you will be a cheerleader for it. Treatment bashing used to be the norm for this site and it has all but disappeared. To state the facts concerning various treatment options is information, not pushing, and if those facts are misrepresented other members are quick to jump on it. This is pretty much a self policing forum with not a lot of misinformation.
Unfortunately we all have deep set beliefs about things and these include the best treatment. When presented with facts that challange these beliefs, we become uncomfortable and look for rationalizations, such as "they are pushing their treatments".
I applaud all that have had successful treatments and they should tell of their experiences so it may benefit others.
JT

it gets a little pushy sometimes but i don't see it as anything but human nature.  we're all old so you know that means stubborn and opinionated .

ed

I voted no, by the way. While I don't always share the enthusiasms of the Lullaby League or the Lollypop Guild, the Land of Oz would be less merry without them.

Excellent thread.
I vote No. I really have seen no pushing. A few years ago, I could see the name of the poster and predict the push.

People are much more respectful. Also, note that AS has become a much more legitimate way to go under some circumstances and it does not men DO NOTHING!

Mel

Stubborn, yes; Opinionated, terribly, but try not to show it (if I were not a moderator, wow, that's scary); Old, 6 years before Medicare, so I'll say no.

 

It has been my experience that the real 'pushers' are the people who make money on a given procedure. I was fortunate enough to have a post-career job where I came into contact with lots of old farts like myself. I had lots of real life accounts to consider. My choice was clearly made by what I didn't want.
I think that the real-life accounts are the most valuable service that this or any other forum can offer. If you are satisfied with your treatment, the others may be also. If you are less satisfied, that can be important to a newcomer as well. Also, anonymous posters may be more prone to honesty than someone you question face to face. I know that some guys I talked to were not happy at all with their results, but would still not admit that perhaps they made a mistake. I suppose that is human nature.

Excellent thread.

I can remember a few years ago, after I had just joined, one member referred to surgery as "butchery".

Certainly nothing like that recently.

Upsate Guy:

Thank you for starting this thread.

I didn't vote because I am a newbie, so I can't really answer the question.

HOWEVER ( surprise, surprise), I would like to weigh-in with a few comments.

I understand that many treatment options will results in about equal results in terms of life-span. I guess that's the bottom line for most cancer survivors. But I also think that it's a fact that the different treatments statiscally have very different complication rates and severity of complications. Sure, there are individuals that have had RRP and no incontenance or ED problems after several months , but statiscally that's not too common. And RP is not the Gold Standard for treatment. Surgical removal of the prostate is no guarantee that there aren't CaP cells outside the prostate already and reoccurance rates aren't any better than other treatments. How many urologists FREELY tell their patients that when recommending RP ?

My heart goes out to the patients that "grab onto" the advice of the first urologist they get referred to or may hold hope on the "cut-it-out-and get-rid-of-it-forever" , school of thought.

I'm a CyberKnife advocate because I believe it's an effective treatment ( see the 5-year studies and Dr. Katz's info. at his website ) with very low short or long term side effects, that only requires 5 high dose treatments. The entire process ( fiducial placement, CTScan, MRI , & treatment ) takes only two weeks.

So , it seems to me the QOL results are very good for treatment that is less invasive than the others. Almost seems too good to believe - just my opinion.

We all are entitled to OUR decision, and that means too, we are responsible for our complications. But I must say I'm very happy with my decision. I don't believe in over-treatment.

BTW, the first CK patient ( in the U.S. ) is a neurosurgeon that was treated in 2003 and the lastest news is that he is doing fine.

I advocate CK on this site because I believe I may be the initial source for CK info. that some posters have. I don't consider that "pushing" CK, but helping a poster make an informed decision.