Brian's Story

Ethnicity
White British
Age
70-79
Work
Retired
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Geography
Wales
Relationship status
Widowed

Active Surveillance

How this treatment impacted my life the most

I am on Active Surveillance and on diagnosis I was also given the choice of surgery or radiotherapy. Obviously the actual diagnosis is a bit difficult to hear but once I had accepted that, the decision to go for Active Surveillance was relatively straightforward.

If I had to do it all over again, would I choose the same treatment?

Yes

Why did I give this answer?

I was diagnosed with a Gleason score of 6 (3+3). Since diagnosis I have read that there is a feeling among some urologists that this should be treated as pre-cancer and studies have shown that the outcomes for patients who have had Active Surveillance, Surgery or Radiotherapy are largely the same. Obviously with Active Surveillance there are no physical side effects. My PSA level has gone down since diagnosis and is pretty stable so I am sure I made the correct decision. The protocol for my Health Board is that I should have another trans-rectal biopsy which I am not too keen on, I found the previous one quite invasive and took some time to recover from. My consultant is currently considering whether another MRII would be appropriate.

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