Elliott Etheredge
The genetic testing is oriented towards identifying risk factors for me and my kids. It was not used as part of the cancer treatment. It was done through NorthShore and was an added benefit to overall treatment plan.

Elliott Etheredge
I did have a formal second opinion but I also spoke with a lot of doctors through out the process. I also spoke with other people that had prostate cancer and talked to them about their treatments. I had a ton of questions and found that all the conversations and opinions really helped me decide what treatment was right for me and helped me understand what to expect as I was going through treatment and fighting the disease.

Elliott Etheredge
Generally speaking you are looking for urologist. More specifically, however, there are urologists that focus on prostate cancer. Dr. Brian Helfand is one such doctor and he is who I used at NorthShore. The good news is that there are many excellent prostate cancer doctors in the Chicago area. Your next step should be to get an appointment to sit down with one or more of these doctors and review your case.

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
The rule is that no one can be declared "cancer-free" for 10 years! Regular tracking of the PSA, however, is used to evaluate the recurrence of any cancer and is a very good indicator of being cancer-free. I have had my PSA tested every three months for the last year (my surgery was in August of 2015) and so far all the results have been great. The frequency of testing will now start to slow down for me, but I will be watching for quite some time!

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
That is a really interesting question and one that I could probably write pages about but I have 1000 character limit! For me, I was so focused on trying to learn about the disease and find the right treatment that the fear of it was often pushed aside by the need to focus on finding a solution. Interestingly, the gravity of my situation did not really hit me for about a year after I was diagnosed and treated. It is very overwhelming when you learn you have cancer and I think in my case, my brain went into a protection mode where the fear was pushed out so I could focus on learning about my case and finding the right treatment. My wife was very involved in the process with me and I think she would have like for me to have been more open about my emotions. But the truth is, yes, I was scared but I knew that if I made the right decisions I would be ok - so I focused on that.

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
I found that a lot of people did not know how to engage with me when they learned I had cancer. I think they were concerned I might breakdown or it was too personal to discuss. The truth is, I really appreciated it when people would ask. When you have cancer there is the opposite side of the discussion which is as the person who has it, you don't really want to lay it on other people. So with people not wanting to ask and you not wanting to put it on others, there can be a lot of silence. I found that talking about was a great way to relieve the stress. My suggestion would be to launch right into it. Specifically ask him how is he holding up?, what does he think of the treatment options? Does he like his doctors? You do have a right to talk about it and my guess is that most people want to talk about it but they also don't really know how because they likely have never had to deal with this before either.

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
You have touched on one of my favorite topics! It is crazy how much I learned about the impact of diet on cancer. You don't "have to" change your diet, but diet has a big influence on preventing and treating cancer. There is a really great book called "Anticancer: A new way of life" that focuses specifically in the impact of diet on cancer. I highly recommend it!! For people who chose chemo as a treatment option, this is even more important to help the body withstand the impact of chemo and increase the effectiveness of the drugs.

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
My father had prostate cancer and I highly recommend you get tested. My dad was diagnosed at age 64. I found out I had it at age 45. Based on the guidelines, it was early for me to get tested but given my history, my internist ran the PSA test and sure enough - it was high. Thanks to that, it was caught early and treated effectively. I often think about how fortunate I was to not have waited until it was "time" to be tested. There is no telling what my situation would have been at that point.

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
I am pretty active. I run and play tennis mainly. I also do a lot of hiking. It is true that exercise after treatment is very important, even if it is just walking. It really does speed the recovery process. However, I will say that despite being a very active person and young for the disease (45), I was surprised how long it took to get back to my pre-surgery activity level (about 10-12 weeks). While this was not my case, I do know a woman that bought a dog to get her husband moving as dogs need to be walked....

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
Yes we did talk about re-occurrence. Fortunately for me, my cancer was confined to the prostate and had not begun to spread to other parts of my body. Nonetheless, I very actively still monitor my PSA (every three months). I am not concerned about dealing with prostate cancer again but I was concerned as to whether or not getting it young (45) meant I had some larger disposition to get cancer. It does not mean that. However, I have become more conscious about my diet as a means to ward off any other cancers and other malignancies just in case.

Elliott Etheredge (Winnetka, IL)
I did not go to any groups but I did reach out to a lot of people that had the disease. Some were people I previously knew, some were people I met after I found out. I found everyone very willing to engage in the conversation and share their experience and would highly encourage you to do that as well.