[.ca] Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer (ISBN 0446679143)

Understanding and some guidance:
This book was recommended to me by Oncology Doctors and Nurses. I found it very helpful to read after the blur of diagnosis. It helped me to understand what was happening to me and what outcomes might be in my future. I found myself re-reading sections of it to gain a deeper understanding of all the new medical lingo. It helped me formulate the questions I should ask. Only "weakness" is that since it is written by a Urologist, the surgical options are covered most extensively while other, newer options are only lightly covered. So you will need to continue reasearching treatment options. Well worth the investment of money and time. A sincere thank you to Dr. Walsh for making it all comprehensible.

Be an informed patient...:
An extremely well written book referred to me by my urologist. Many of my friends also referred this book to me once they learned that I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. While cancer is fearful, knowledge will lessen that fear and provide you with a course of action. Reading the book will enable you to more readily understand and validate the advice of physicans. Understanding this disease will also help you in asking the right questions about what you will be facing in the future. The book is written for the lay person to easily understand prostate cancer. The subject matter is organized in a manner that will enable you to initially skip some chapters depending at what stage of the disease you are at when you acquire the book. For example, if you already know that you have cancer as the result of a biopsy, you can go immediately to "your options to fight the disease" without first reading what the prostate gland is and where it is located. You can save the basics for a later date. Even if you don't have prostate cancer I would highly recommend this book to any man. If nothing else, it will inform you why your annual physical consists of a digital exam and a PSA analysis of your blood. Knowledge of the prostate is important to all men...be informed. I am greatful to my urologist and friends that they recommended this book to me. In return, I have recommended it to other friends and I recommend it to you. If you have prostate cancer, I wish you the best. It is highly curable.

A worthwhile "first opinion":
The book is very thorough, and does have a noticeable bias toward surgery. BUT it does an excellent job with that viewpoint, and surgery is indeed the "gold standard" for cure in many cases. That being said, I'd suggest buying this one but also reading "A Primer on Prostate Cancer" by Stephen Strum and Donna Pogliano, which is the best overall PC resource book I've seen, and better balanced.

A pioneering resource for the field of men's health...:
Not satisfied with having revolutionized the field of prostate cancer surgery, Dr. Walsh has teamed with Janet Farrar Worthington to produce a book that may well be the gold standard for communication about the disease and its treatment. Their lens is wide, embracing discussions about the epidemiology of the disease (e.g. variations among population groups, risk factors, associated lifestyle patterns, trends), the diagnostic tests available, the current approaches to staging the disease, the treatment options, and the experience under those options with potentential side effects, like incontinence and impotence. They draw fully upon the available medical literature and offer substantial detail on the anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology, analytical chemistry of the disease and its diagnosis, as well as the approaches to treatment. Detail of this intricacy could be tedious or confusing, yet the authors present it in an unusually accessible fashion. For the curious, the book offers an informative and thought-provoking review of the role of possible dietary and lifestyle triggers in the etiology of prostate cancer. For those sorting through--and preparing for--treatment options, the book offers important insights and practical guidance. Because prostate cancer is a disease fraught with uncertainty, and much is being learned daily about its possible causes, about the diagnostic limitations, and about the effectiveness of various current and emerging treatments, the book is aiming at a moving target. Written in 2002, there are 2004 elements the authors would no doubt add. But, as is, Dr. Walsh's Guide is itself a pioneering resource both for those with immediate concerns about prostate cancer, and for the nascent field of men's health. It is a wonderfully helpful contribution.

A must-read book!:
This book is a must-read for anyone who has a prostate or knows someone who does! It provides complete, up-to-date information on all aspects of the prostate. The chapters are organized so that you can read the material that is most applicable to your situation. It answers any type of question that you may have - from prevention to the treatment of common prostate problems. The material is presented in a compassionate, caring way by a doctor who has dedicated his career to saving lives and to helping patients maintain their quality of life. Dr. Patrick Walsh is urologist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins whose urology department was ranked #1 in the country in a recent U.S. News & World Report analysis. Dr. Walsh is also known for his pioneering work in the development of the anatomic approach to radical prostatectomy, which involves nerve-sparing techniques that have reduced the possibility of impotence and incontinence. This procedure is widely regarded as the "gold standard" for prostate cancer treatment. So, the information in this book is simply the best available material on this subject. Does the book always recommend radical prostatectomy surgery? Definitely not! It offers useful information on radiation -- both external-beam and radioactive seed treatments. It discusses the use of hormone treatments. It helps you sort out which procedure is right for your situation. It also covers basic information about the prostate, prostate enlargement and prostate infections. Perhaps most importantly, it provides tips on maintaining a healthy prostate and testing procedures for detecting prostate cancer. And if prostate cancer is caught early enough, the book emphasizes that it is completely curable. A must-read book for all men and for the people who care about them!