Meeting with the RO helped us to make a treatment option

Wow!! Do we feel better this afternoon. We had an appt with Dr. Ash, a RO from St. Josephs in Orange, CA. My husband didn't really want to see a RO as he was leaning towards surgery with Dr. Ahlering so he thought why bother. I said he needed to check out all options.
Well, he couldn't have been more professional or thorough. He gave my husband a more in depth physical check up than our first unnamed Uro. We were desperate for some clarity. That fairy on my husband's shoulder saying this was the way to go. Well, based on my husband's excellent health, the tumor being confined based on the MRI and the Gleason 8 score he felt my husband was an excellent candidate for surgery. He did tell us that the although the biopsy shows just 5% of 1 core in the left apex the MRI shows some action in the center of the prostate. I didn't expect that. He was honest about the chance of secondary bladder or rectal cancer based on the his age of 61. Something about it increases the chance by 10%. So that if my husband lived until his late 80's ( his unhealthy father just passed at 85) his chance would rise to 30%. My husband is a general contractor and he said that the ADT therapy would probably make him tired. He also explained that if he chose SBRT and the cancer came back he couldn't get more radiation.
We are so happy that we went to this appt. If we had not met with a RO we might have always wondered what our options would be. We have another meeting tomorrow with a dr. at Hoag Hospital tomorrow. He specializes in robotic surgery so I would imagine that is the direction that he will direct my husband to. We are moving forward little by little. God is good.

It seems somehow more valid when a doctor encourages you to do something that doesn't line his pocket. An RO recommending surgery weems reassuring, and it sounds like you're developing confidence in your choice. That's great!

My urologist was cautionary for me about surgery; willing, but not very encouraging of it. He was quite in favor of my interest in radiation, and recommended an RO to talk to about it. That attitude helped my confidence in talking with an RO, since I figured if the surgery guy was soft-peddling it, that indicated another course might indeed be preferable.

Every case is different, with so many factors to consider. I'm pleased for you that you're becoming more comfortable with your plans.