JustJulie ~ Brachytherapy Special Request :)

bluebird

Veteran Member

Joined : May 2006

Posts : 2542

Posted 1/24/2007 4:01 PM (GMT -6)

Hi JustJulie & Loved One,

With us coming on board in May feeling my way around… We had no idea how important this forum would become to us! Over the past 10 months you have been sharing on different threads… your experience “Your Journey”… and Jetguy and several others have educated us to the world of radiation. Over the past few months we have become more Knowledgeable because of all of your postings…. Caring Enough to Share ~ Teaching us!!!

I’m sending a “special” Hug to Both of You!

and a

“WOO HOO” and yee haa!!!!

Partial quote from you… 11-06

My husband just finished his 6-month treatment and he's doing great. His PSA dropped from 3.74 to 0.95 (3-months) to 0.61 (six-months). Doctor says everything looks great!

A full year is just around the corner….. and knowing what the next step is in regard to this treatment, testing… etc…would be so helpful to have the complete picture…. As time permits……. Would you post a Journal Entry for all of us and newbies. Sample Title: Brachytherapy Our Journey or Journal or Diary….

Your journey is very important and to have it all on 1 Thread… would be wonderful and so helpful!! I’m thrilled Jetguy is posting his journey on 1 thread and editing the 1^st post each time to update so it stays at the top… !!! This will be so helpful to so many future friends…

You have given so much positive information about Brachytherapy ~ to so many forum friends… on different postings… It would be great to have it all on your personal thread!!

Please consider this!!!

Sharing of your KNOWLEDGE

Makes us all more POWERFUL

in making DECISIONS on treatment!!!

Keeping you close in thoughts and prayers

And a very special Thank you! for you!!!

In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy

mama bluebird - Lee & Buddy… from North Carolina

Link to our personal journey…>>> Our Journey ~ Sharing is Caring

April 3, 2006 53 on surgery day

RRP / Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy with "wide excision"

PSA 4.6 Gleason 3+3=6 T2a Confined to Prostate

June 29th ~ PSA Less than 0.1 Non-detectable

JustJulie

Regular Member

Joined : Mar 2006

Posts : 355

Posted 1/25/2007 12:26 PM (GMT -6)

Thank you - you have no idea how much your thoughts mean to me. It has been a tough journey for us and I am thankful I found this board at the beginning of that journey. I believe knowledge is power and although we would have liked to have been in a position of "remove it and move on" unfortunately we were not. We thought every option was open to us and then, slowly, doors began to close and we discovered the decision would not be an easy one.

If I can make one person's mind rest just a little easier and take the doubt away from their decision then I feel like I'm helping in some small way. With everyone pro surgery we began to panic that we would be compromising health by chosing something else. We soon learned that surgery is (a) not for everyone and (b) not the only option. We have been blessed with a great Brachytherapy doctor and superb staff at the cancer hospital in Toronto and we were relieved that her report that Brachytherapy results are almost identical to surgery results so we could rest a little easier.

My advice is this - investigate all the options available and make the decision that is right for you - not every procedure is for everyone and we're just thankful that there was more than one option.

Bless all of you for helping me and many, many others through this ordeal - I think I've learned more than I've taught thanks to all of you.

bluebird

Veteran Member

Joined : May 2006

Posts : 2542

Posted 1/25/2007 11:50 PM (GMT -6)

JustJulie's Brachytherapy Journey

(direct link ~ just click on the title! Reminder to click on the REFRESH icon once there)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear Julie ~

You are so very welcome!! Each time you posted over the many months on this forum ~ something kept staying inside me each time I read them.

I eventually went back and copied each one separately ~ so I could see the whole picture. And then I thought!!! We need this Journey on 1 Thread…

Thank you… Thank you… Thank you…

You have made many mind’s rest easier my dear friend…. In more ways than one!!! Truly!

Yes ~ pro surgery is very evident but it is only 1 Stone… out of many Stones (options) to choose from.

And how fortunate we are to have these options…

I think the thing that ~ made me really stop and re-visit my own thoughts and why I had them ~ was a comment by Jetguy early on in his postings.

**Partial Quote from Jetguy:

I have not yet decided what course of treatment to pursue and since none of them are ideal, I'm really working on it. It won't be popular on this site, but I'm looking hard at radiation. If that is my decision, I'll be sure to stay here so others who have the same interest can share my experience. This is such a great place that I want to encourage those who choose other than surgery.

How wrong he was and time has proven it!!! His threads have 2669 total views.

What does this tell us!!!!

And he has stayed true to his decision to allow us to walk with him on His Journey… by posting regularly on his 2 threads I’ve linked below….. Thank you! Bill *Our Jetguy

This is another reason why it was very important for Your Journey to be told.

Thank you!!!! Julie

Keeping you extra close at this time!!!

In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy

**(direct links ~ just click on the title! Reminder to click on the REFRESH icon once there)

Jetguy's Page... Welcome Friend :) (2243 views as of 1-25-07)

Radiation - a journey (426 views as of 1-25-07)

mama bluebird - Lee & Buddy… from North Carolina

Link to our personal journey…>>> Our Journey ~ Sharing is Caring

April 3, 2006 53 on surgery day

RRP / Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy with "wide excision"

PSA 4.6 Gleason 3+3=6 T2a Confined to Prostate

June 29th ~ PSA Less than 0.1 Non-detectable

BenEcho10

Regular Member

Joined : Jan 2007

Posts : 133

Posted 1/26/2007 10:23 PM (GMT -6)

Hi Julie,

You are absolutely right that there are many treatment options, not just surgery. All the options have their advantages and disadvantages. You are also right that a lot of people (me included) on this forum have had surgery. But lots of people on this forum have also done other treatment options. I am sorry if the "pro surgery" bent on this forum made it sound like that is the only option. It definitely isn't.

You have to consider all your options, do your research, and make the selection that is best for you after weighing all factors.

This is a great forum. There is lots of useful information here for everyone. Even now, someone else who really wants to do radiation rather than surgery is probably reading this thread and it is helping them.

Ben

DIAGNOSIS: 09/25/06. Age 49. PSA 4.6. PSA free 2%. Clinical pathology: Gleason 10. Stage T2a.

SURGERY: 11/08/06. RP at Johns Hopkins. Surgical pathology Gleason 10. Stage T3a (positive margins.) Negative seminal vesicles, lymph nodes, and bone scan.

POST OP: 12/15/06: First post op PSA was 0.00.

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JustJulie ~ Brachytherapy Special Request :)

I’m sending a “special” Hug to Both of You!

“WOO HOO” and yee haa!!!!

mama bluebird - Lee & Buddy… from North Carolina

Link to our personal journey…>>> Our Journey ~ Sharing is Caring

April 3, 2006 53 on surgery day

RRP / Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy with "wide excision"

PSA 4.6 Gleason 3+3=6 T2a Confined to Prostate

June 29th ~ PSA Less than 0.1 Non-detectable