1.) How did you choose who to see to discuss your options and diagnosis?
I started with my Primary Care Physician. We talked about the RSO and he did not discourage its use. He then recommended a second opinion with Moffitt Cancer Center.
2.) How did you decide on the specific approach to treatment?
I ruled out surgery based on the surgeon who performed the biopsy. He was a DaVinci robot driver and he was coming across as a marketer of the above. I chose radiation.
3.) Do you have any regrets?
I have no regrets.
4.) Any complications arise from your treatment, and if so, were thy resolved?
Incomplete bladder emptying was the only complication from the radiation. Kegel exercises helped.
5.) Level of disability and time period of duration, post treatment?
I had 9 weeks of treatments. Fatigue set in about the 4th week of treatment. I slept a lot. It was probably close to 3 months before I began to feel awake.
6.) Fears and anxieties during the 'sorting phase'? Inhibitions?
The fears and anxieties were extreme during the 'sorting phase'. Everything I learned about one process was countered by information from another source. I wore myself out thinking of the "what ifs" I had to consider.
Inhibitions ranged from "Is this my ticket out of here?" to "I don't want to do this."
Teddy boiled it down with his statement,
I swallowed, looked at the Surgeon whom I did not like one iota ... and I decided to trust him.
The fears, anxieties and inhibitions were my companions all along the way.
Trust yourself to make a decision and decide to trust the decision you make.
I started with my Primary Care Physician. We talked about the RSO and he did not discourage its use. He then recommended a second opinion with Moffitt Cancer Center.
2.) How did you decide on the specific approach to treatment?
I ruled out surgery based on the surgeon who performed the biopsy. He was a DaVinci robot driver and he was coming across as a marketer of the above. I chose radiation.
3.) Do you have any regrets?
I have no regrets.
4.) Any complications arise from your treatment, and if so, were thy resolved?
Incomplete bladder emptying was the only complication from the radiation. Kegel exercises helped.
5.) Level of disability and time period of duration, post treatment?
I had 9 weeks of treatments. Fatigue set in about the 4th week of treatment. I slept a lot. It was probably close to 3 months before I began to feel awake.
6.) Fears and anxieties during the 'sorting phase'? Inhibitions?
The fears and anxieties were extreme during the 'sorting phase'. Everything I learned about one process was countered by information from another source. I wore myself out thinking of the "what ifs" I had to consider.
Inhibitions ranged from "Is this my ticket out of here?" to "I don't want to do this."
Teddy boiled it down with his statement,
I swallowed, looked at the Surgeon whom I did not like one iota ... and I decided to trust him.
The fears, anxieties and inhibitions were my companions all along the way.
Trust yourself to make a decision and decide to trust the decision you make.