Don ’t Underestimate Patients

By GEORGE BERGER, PHD I was diagnosed with aggressive but localized prostate cancer at a major Dutch academic hospital. My parameters were PSA 29 or 31, Gleason sum 4 + 4, and stage T2c. Fortunately, there were no detectable distant metastases. The specialist drew a simple image of my urinary tract and told me I was excluded from brachytherapy, which I had never heard of before, because of the size of my prostate. I had to choose between external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and radical prostatectomy (RP). How on Earth could I choose rationally while knowing so little about prostate cancer? However, I had studied maths and physics and could learn necessary medical science about my condition. The Dutch healthcare system was privatized in 2006 by a special arrangement between the Health Ministry and the private insurers. This was the first healthcare privatisation in the European Union (EU). The effect of privatisation was, in my opinion, mixed. By the time I was diagnosed I already had much to distrust about the privatisation. I sought a second opinion in Uppsala Sweden, where I had spent a lot of time as an academic visitor. Its Akademiska Sjukhuset (The Academic Hospital) has an excellent oncology division. I consulted two specialists. They offered me a treatment that would solve the prostate size problem while being more effective than EBRT or RP alone. The treatment was by then world – class and in use in Norway and America. It is a trimodal technique involving EBRT, H...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized ADT Dutch Health Care System Gleason Prostate Prostate Cancer Sweden Source Type: blogs