Prostate Cancer

My father is dying of prostate cancer. He turns 70 on August 5th. He was diagnosed about 6 years ago and chose not to have prostate surgery. I think he realizes now that it was a mistake not to do the surgery.

A warning to any man who is diagnosed -- in my opinion, getting the surgery is the lesser of two evils. If you take the course of inaction known as "Watchful Waiting", then you will suffer a slow, agonizing, painful decline to inevitable death. I don't know if doctors make this clear as they tend not to advocate one way or another since none of the choices are ideal, and they'd rather not be held accountable if the advice turns out to be bad.

Really, only you, the paitent, can make the decision. If I'm ever diagnosed with prostate cancer, I will not wait. I will get the surgery rather than wait for fate.

You just don't know how bad this disease can get until you see it happen to someone you love and care about.