Patients reflect on making treatment decisions, balancing current and future therapy options, and the importance of having a strong support system. Together, they emphasize that informed decision-making, advances in prostate cancer treatments, and the encouragement of family and loved ones can help patients navigate their journey with greater confidence.

Jeff Pawlak:

She referred me to an, I would call it oncology surgeon who also works in the urology department. And we sat down, went over the options. And in reality, the only option was surgery. I couldn't do watching or Lupron wouldn't work. So it came down to doing a robotic prostatectomy. So I took a couple of months to get a handle on that and schedule it.

And because I have been married to an oncology nurse who works in the GU clinic, the same place that I was going and I knew a lot about prostate cancer. The sad thing for me, or maybe it was even good, it was a double-edged sword because I would hear stories of the good outcomes and then I'd hear stories of the not so good outcomes.

So the only few questions I had was I was concerned about sexual intercourse and about leaking because I had always heard for both of those, how you are now, this is not going to improve it. So I'm not going to have better function sexually or I'm not going to stop leaking if you have those kind of things. Making the decision about the orchiectomy was the first time I felt that I really made the decision and I had control over my body.

Henry Cornelius:

With regard to future treatment options, lutetium 177 is an option. We were talking a moment ago about PSMA directed therapy and that smart bombing, for lack of a better word, is something that I hope continues to improve. It's only recently been approved I believe here. And I hope that it continues because that will probably be in my future when I recur. And the other option is chemotherapy.

Docetaxel as a result of the PEACE-1 trials over in Europe we know has shown great promise in guys with visceral and bony metastases. We talked extensively with my team here and I advocated for it at first. I think they got like, "Here we go, another docetaxel question from old Henry." But as I've learned more, it's the right call not to do it right now. But that day may come from me or apalutamide, darolutamide, there are options in the future that the longer that my tumor responds to ADT and abiraterone just gives me more time for the next therapy to come along.

And the truth is that guys in my position, if I were diagnosed five years ago or 10 years ago, the expiration date would probably be fast approaching, but fortunately I'm going to have other options.

Brian McClouskey:

The role that my family has played over and above the things that I can control with physical fitness and diet is that they've been so supportive of me. I have a wife and three kids ages from 17 to 25 and they all play different roles. The common denominator is moral support. They're there to pick me up when I'm not having a great day. They're there to take care of the daily activities. It could be basic things like household chores and cooking and things like that.

And then also I have an athletic family, so everyone is very oriented towards exercise. I work out with my kids or I surf with my kids. And so those things are sort of like the bedrock that give me the strength to exercise and to take care of myself. So having a support system like that is so important. Also, we talk probably a little bit more about treatment options, what I should be thinking about.

And then the other thing too, because I'm a patient advocate and I am helping other patients through the prostate cancer lab get educated about their disease and to get treatments, my family's also very aware that I need to take time for myself. And so they're good about just sort of helping to keep perspective on what's working and what I should be focusing on.