Hi again 1588!
i am glad that you consulted a top 10 surgeon in NYC which I assume is Manhattan. however, your message rambles on somewhat incoherently such that most of us will not understand the philosophy your are espousing or what decision you expect to make. i am not sure that your analogies fit in your present situation--you are talking about
your life and its future after major surgery. an hour trip to Manhattan is nothing--I commuted there for many long years and enjoyed the train ride! if the best surgeons are there--go for it. you don't need your local surgeon to gain more practice by doing your surgery. i say that with "tongue in cheek" because every surgeon has to get experience, but the patients are always at a greater risk until the surgeon has a sufficient number of surgeries behind him or her. when some robotic surgeons have done 1000 to 2000 or more of them, then 50 doesn't seem like many. please cut let us know what your final decision is--the suspense is killing us! we are on your side and want your operation to be a great success. good luck!
Dave
p.s. sorry to be so tough on you!
further p.s. after writing this i saw one of your posts elsewhere indicating how burned out you are from research. i know how you feel--at thanksgiving time last year, after 2 1/2 months of iintensive research, i was totally burned out, disgusted and some what depressed. at this point, take a brief rest, think things over, and finally go with your heart as to who does your surgery. i didn't mean to get so carried away with my advice.
68, Biopsy 9/27/06, Stage T1c, PSA 7.1, Gleason 6 [less than 5% in two areas], Gleason 7 (3+4) [less than 20% in third area], negative DRE, bone scan and MRI. Starting proton radiation therapy 2/22/07.
Post Edited (pcdave) : 2/12/2007 11:30:46 PM (GMT-7)