Mostly because, even though I was totally asymptomatic throughout, once diagnosed obviously there was anxiety, not least because my father had the same thing at the same age but sadly succumbed to secondaries because his was diagnosed too late and had already metastasised too much. (No PSA tests in those days - PSA monitoring is what saved me but that is for another discussion.) But having the radical prostatectomy early on, as I did, meant that I could almost certainly expect to be prostate cancer-free in an instant. The lifting of that anxiety was priceless. My surgeon really was 'my hero'. I should also add that the ABSENCE of the side-effects of this surgery we are all warned of turned out to be literally negligible in my case which in itself impacted on my life. Positively.
Yes
In my case I was given the choice of surgery or oncology (chemo and/or radiation of one kind or another). I chose the surgical option mainly because of its immediate effect and, I imagined, knowing that the surgeon could have a good look around the site 'while he was in there' to see if any visible signs of possible problems nearby existed in the area. Also, the histological examination of the removed tissue was able to show if it might have spread as well as allowing a more accurate Gleason 'Score', which turned out to be worse than the biopsy results had produced. I really felt I had 'dodged the bullet'. As it turned out I made the right choice. My pathway was annual PSA monitoring from middle age, which led to a scan, biopsy and surgery and I am now free of it and here to tell the tale 7 years on.
It SAVED my life. 100%! It wasn't so much treatment as monitoring. Because we lost my father to prostate cancer I chose to do an annual PSA blood test every year around my birthday (so I would remember to do it!). My PSA score was always low. One day it started climbing and did not stop which alerted me to seek further investigation. That led to discovering a nasty aggressive cancer that was removed leaving me cancer-free. The PSA score was never very high at all, but the sudden and steady climbing trend was the sign. And it was RIGHT!
Yes
All I can add is that despite the chances of false positives with PSA tests, on balance I am convinced DOING the test is miles better than not. But to get the best out of it, the earlier you start them the better as, like in my case, it wasn't a 'snapshot' of a high PSA but a low PSA that ceased being steady and started to climb. Prostate cancer can be cured in a number of ways, but, like most cancers, the key is to catch it early. In my case I had NO symptoms at all, ever, and had I not been doing the simple and quick PSA tests I would certainly not be here today.
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