New Members

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The following new members have joined in today:

hornyhairybears elhorizonte@... who

says: have recently been diagnosed with pc, need knowledge or information to

make the right choice

and

honestrick honestrick@...

who says Recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and considering the da

vinci robotic prostatectomy. Would like to read about others and their

experiences. Thanks...

Welcome to the club you never wanted to join and

welcome to the Prostate Cancer Support Forum.

This can be a frightening time and it is important to

bear in mind what Dr Jon Oppenheimer, one of the leading pathologists in the US has

to say on his blog at http://theprostateblog.blogspot.com/

For the vast

majority of men with a recent diagnosis of prostate cancer the most important

question is not what treatment is needed, but whether any treatment at all is

required. Active surveillance is the logical choice for most men (and the

families that love them) to make.

You might find it useful to visit YANA

- You Are Not Alone Now www.yananow.net

a site set up for newly diagnosed people. The first section gives some basic

information in plain language with links to more complex and technical sites.

There is a section dealing with the management of the disease, including some

dietary hints at http://www.yananow.net/MyersManagement.htm

there is also a section suggesting the questions that you should seek answers

to before making any treatment decision at http://www.yananow.net/questions.htm

The second section of the site is where men are

invited to tell their prostate cancer stories and how they arrived at their

decisions regarding treatment. Many people have mailed to say how useful they

have found this, especially because most of the men are happy to respond to

specific questions. The section of the site can be found by clicking the link

labelled Experiences or going to http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html

The sections of the site dealing with the Da Vinci

procedure are at http://www.yananow.net/choices.htm#laprp

and http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html#lrrp

If you have a female partner, they might also be

interested in joining the special Ladies Only Forum at http://www.ladies-prostate-forum.org/ladies/

for the womenfolk of men with prostate cancer. It is closed to men so

I can’t verify the quality of the discussions, but from all reports the

women who go there get tremendous support and I know that Judy Thurman who

is the Moderator of the site lost her husband, so she can relate to the

issues you touch on very well.

But in any event, please post some details of your

diagnosis – Age, PSAs leading up to the diagnosis, Gleason Score and

Staging (these terms are all explained on the YANA

site) and any questions you might have. Just remember – there are no dumb

questions. We all started off where you are now, but we’ve collectively

learned a lot over the years.

All the best

Terry Herbert

I have no medical qualifications but I was diagnosed

in ‘96: and have learned a bit since then.

My sites are at www.yananow.net

and www.prostatecancerwatchfulwaiting.co.za

Dr

“Snuffy” Myers : " As a physician, I am painfully aware that most of the decisions

we make with regard to prostate cancer are made with inadequate data "