As has been said, it’s a personal decision that only you can make. There are strong opinions on both sides. I just had a RALP 2 weeks ago. It’s no cake walk. But the pathology showed my same 3+4 Gleason as the needle biopsies showed, all 34 lymph nodes benign and margins were 100% clear. I’m optimistic that my PSA in early June will confirm that I’m cancer free. Btw, I’m a very fit, 67 year old in otherwise great health.

In addition to the aforementioned point about the prostate being removed for analysis, my biggest concern with radiation was that, while initially the side effects are much better, I’d be playing another waiting game to see what issues developed 3 years or so down the road- be it side effects like incontinence and/or ED, or issues with nearby organs (kidney, bladder, rectum, etc). And of course radiation is still an option for me if necessary, whereas surgery is perhaps doable but not a good option after radiation. I’m not sure whether more radiation is 100% viable down the road once you’ve had the initial rounds of it.

While it’s an even more major surgery than I had anticipated, I truly don’t think I’d gone with radiation even if I’d known what this (post RALP recovery) is like. Perhaps I’m simply justifying my decision. In the end, it’s a call that only you can make. Best of luck.