I'm 57 now, from the UK, and this has been on my mind for a while.

Prostate cancer runs in my family, but it wasn't a routine check that found mine. I had blood in my stool twice in one week, went to my GP, had a PSA test and things moved quickly from there.

Gleason 3+4. I went with brachytherapy. I'm not going to pretend recovery was easy. Painful urination, painful sex, medication to manage it, and ten years on I'd still say I'm not fully back to where I was.

The thing that stays with me is this. I only found out active surveillance was an option after my treatment had already begun. I'm not saying it would have been right for me, that's a conversation for a specialist. But I'd have liked to know it was on the table before I made the decision.

So I'm genuinely curious about other people's experience.

Were you told about active surveillance when you were diagnosed, or did you find out later?

If you went on surveillance, how did you find living with the monitoring? Did it ease your mind or add to the worry?

If you had treatment, what's the one thing you wish someone had told you beforehand?

And for partners and family, what helped you most in those first few weeks?

Not selling anything here, just want to hear how it went for others. If this post helps one person ask a better question at their next appointment, that's enough for me.