What was diagnosis like for you?
Share your experience of being diagnosed and how things changed as time went on.
It was an emotional event for me because "cancer" is so connected to death in my experienced. The more information that I obtained on my specific diagnosis and the effort I made to connect with others who had been down this road, the quicker my panic turned into hope.
spanky327, being diagnosed with any cancer can be a scary experience at first because of its connection to death. Many members of the community have said they felt alone and overwhelmed. I'm glad to hear you have connected with others down the road which turned your panic into hope. You might be able to relate to this article which is a compilation of reactions to diagnosis (https://prostatecancer.net/living/reactions-diagnosed). Thanks for sharing with us. -Sarah (ProstateCancer.net Team Member)
I have a very good doctor who has kept me informed since day 1 about whether I had cancer, how much and what my choices were. I had plenty of literature to read ahead of time from him too, as my diagnosis progresses from "you seem to have some cancer and we will need to biopsy to determine how extensive it is" to " you have a Gleason score of 7 and we should probably do something about it". While it was somewhat emotional (not having dealt with this before), my wife was VERY affirming and supportive as was my surgeon who agreed with my decision to go with surgery. We BOTH read a lot and BOTH asked questions of the doctor as we felt that two heads were better than one. So support is critical!
, this is the way to do it. I'm really glad you had a responsible and responsive doc to lean on. The support of spouses, family and friends can make all the difference, for the emotional toll and the information-gathering. Thanks for commenting! - Nina, ProstateCancer.net Team 
Hi remmurdd. Let me echo Nina's thoughts that your plan for working with your medical team sounds great - take a second set of eyes and ears to appointments, be prepared to ask questions, and build trust. Best to you. Richard (ProstateCancer.net Team)
- Support is such a critical factor, as is your oncologist. Sounds like you’re in good hands and it’s great that you’re learning asking. That’s so important! And a doctor who takes the time to answer you questions, also great. I work with my doctor and we make some decisions together. She knows I do my research and I have complete faith in her training and judgement.
