New comers to Prostate Cancer Support Forum

[Guest guest]

We have had a number of new members join this week

and I’d like to say 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.org 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 one link to the NCCN Guidelines at http://www.nccn.com/files/cancer-guidelines/prostate/index.html#/1/

- downloading those guidelines will give you a good decision path. Many people

have found that the booklet “A

Strange Place” has been helpful –

that’s at http://www.yananow.org/StrangePlace/index.html

There is also a section with resources specifically for women at http://www.yananow.org/ProstateCancerWomen.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.org/Experiences.html

There is a section dealing with the management of the

disease, including some dietary hints at http://www.yananow.org/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.org/questions.htm

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

Prostate men need enlightening, not frightening

Terry Herbert - diagnosed in 1996 and still going

strong

Read A Strange Place for unbiased information at http://www.yananow.org/StrangePlace/index.html