EXPERIENCES: LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY -

ROBOT ASSISTED (DA VINCI) AND MANUAL

When this site was set up, there was a belief that there is tremendous value in reading of other people's experiences with prostate cancer and also recognition that it might be helpful you find someone to 'talk' to; someone who had dealt with the same issues and problems.

Most of the men who have told their stories have volunteered to act as Mentors and have provided their e-mail addresses. They invite you to mail them for any further information you might want. They may not always be able to help you directly, but may well know where to direct you.

The accounts on the site are based on information received from our contributors and they may not be completely accurate.We hope they may provide you with an insight into how others have dealt with the issues that you now face. The stories and charts provided are for your information only, and show a brief summary of what others have done. They should not be used for making your own treatment decision. Please be aware that there is much more to the decision making process, as you will see if you go to Treatment Choices.

If you would like to join those who have shared their experiences, please go to JoinUs , if you are a returning visitor and you would like to update your story, please go to UpDate.

This tag shows stories that have been added or updated in the current month or previous month.

Indicates stories that may be of particular interest.

You will see when you go to the contributors' stories that there are the following flags:

BRONZE

Men diagnosed less than 5 years ago ago have a bronze bar.

SILVER

Men whose diagnosis was between six and nine years ago have a silver bar.

GOLD

Men diagnosed more than 10 years ago ago have a gold bar with a star for each year beyond 10.

PLATINUM

The long term men - survivors of 15 years and more have a platinum bar .

Some members of the gay community have asked to be identified by this symbol.

This tagshows the men who will help answer your questions.

Most people are looking for information about one specific type of treatment, so the stories are initially grouped and indexed by:

TREATMENT but are also indexed by:

PSA :

AGE AT DIAGNOSIS :

GLEASON SCORE and

YEAR OF DIAGNOSIS

It is also possible to see some of the stories indexed by country of residence. In the case of the USA, some entries are indexed by State of residence. In time all will show State of residence. The link is PLACE NAME TABLE

TREATMENT

The stories of men newly diagnosed men are here

NEWLY DIAGNOSED/UNDECIDED

These are the links to the stories by treatment:

ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE - often referred to as WATCHFUL WAITING :

(ADT) ANDROGEN DEPRIVATION THERAPY- often referred to as HORMONE THERAPY

CHEMOTHERAPY: There are no men who have had Chemotherapy as a primary treatment

CRYOTHERAPY:

HIFU :

LAPARASCOPIC SURGERY, including Robotic Surgery often referred to as Da Vinci:

NORMAL (OPEN) SURGERY

RADIATION: BRACHYTHERAPY :

RADIATION: (EBRT) EXTERNAL BEAM RADIATION , including Prostascint® and CyberKnife®

RADIATION: PROTON BEAM