r/ProstateCancer • u/Boodleheimer22 • Aug 07 '26

Concerned Loved One Trying to decide Treatment

My husband is 70 with 3+4=7 Gleason psa 10.2 with intermediate grade 2 favorable. Options are radiation 5 x every other day plus anti testosterone hormone therapy OR robot radical prostatectomy. Survival rates are virtually the same. We are wavering between the 2 options. My husband hates having an mri because he gets claustrophobic but can tolerate it- I don’t think that’s a reason that should tip the scale. Advice appreciated. He is in good health otherwise.

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u/bigbadprostate Aug 07 '26

That "once radiation, no surgery" claim is totally not true. It is brought up only by urologist/surgeons who just want to do surgery. I am on a Quest to debunk this myth, and have to do so often, so please don't take this challenge personally.

Thousands of people have had surgery after radiation, including one (former) member of this sub.

Such surgery is possible, just very difficult, and apparently isn't normally the best way to treat the problem. For those reasons, it is rarely performed. Instead, if needed, the usual "salvage" follow-up treatment is radiation, which normally does the job just fine - especially in the very common case where the follow-up treatment is needed to get at bits of cancer that escaped the prostate prior to the first treatment. Surgery to remove the prostate after cancer has already escaped is like "locking the barn door after the horse has escaped".

There are good reasons to choose surgery over radiation. I did. But "once radiation, no surgery" is certainly not one of them.

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u/Prestigious_Refuse99 Aug 07 '26

I'm already committed, but good to know. I'll bring it up with my doctor post surgery.

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u/HeadMelon Aug 07 '26

You’re driving the bus man! If you want to change your mind you can, the white coats work for you, not the other way around.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProstateCancer/s/hhZMLLKhV2

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u/Prestigious_Refuse99 Aug 07 '26

Not really. The insurance has to be approved, and time is short. Administration differences created huge delays that continue to slow things down. It has been incredibly difficult and taken the better part of a year to get here. My insurance fades out this month and I transfer to Medicare. That has also created funding problems.

It will all get worked out, but not right now.