QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR
1. What is the clinical stage and Gleason score of my cancer?
2. Is my cancer low-, medium-, or high-risk?
3. What treatment do you recommend?
Active surveillance
Surgery
What type of surgery? Can the nerves be spared? How often do you do this procedure? What will my recovery be like?
Radiation
What type of radiation? What are the risks? What can be done to reduce side effects? What is my recovery? What are you doing to limit radiation to other structures?
4. What are the short- and long-term side effects of this treatment?
5. What are my chances of:
Becoming incontinent?
Developing erectile dysfunction?
Having other bladder or bowel problems?
6. What are the chances of the cancer coming back if I have this treatment? What are the short- and long-term side effects of this treatment?
7. What are my chances of survival?
8. May I have a copy of my pathology report?
9. If I want to have another pathologist look at my prostate biopsy results, how do I get the slides?
10. Should I get a second opinion, and if so, with whom?