ðŊThree Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. Track progress in your Course and Skills Lab.
ð Learn It Content type
Concepts to absorb.
ð Live It Content type
Daily skills and habits.
ðĢ Share It Content type
Teach, advocate, carry forward.
ðĄïļYour Force Field — 16 Squares
Deeper detail lives in the Prepared Patient Prostate Cancer Survivor course.
What Prostate Cancer Was
Many men have it; most don't die from it. Grade and stage drive everything.
Learn ItHormonal Therapy
Lowers testosterone. Effective. Side effects significant.
Learn ItSpinal Cord Compression
Severe back pain + leg weakness or bladder/bowel = 911. Don't wait.
Learn ItLate Effects
Urinary, sexual, bone density, CV risk, fatigue, mood.
Learn ItSurveillance Plan
PSA, imaging, sometimes bone scans. Personalized.
Learn ItHormonal Therapy Discipline
Often years. Side effect management ongoing.
Live ItBone Health
ADT accelerates bone loss. DEXA, bisphosphonates or Prolia.
Live ItCV Health
ADT raises CV risk. BP, lipids, exercise matter more.
Live ItExercise as Medicine
Reduces fatigue, preserves muscle and bone.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring PSA log, symptoms, hormonal therapy side effects.
Live ItYour Care Team
Oncologist, urologist, PCP, sometimes radiation oncology, PT.
Live ItApps + Tracking
PSA tracking, symptom logging, support communities.
Live ItInsurance + Coverage
Hormonal therapy and surveillance generally covered.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Newly diagnosed men benefit from frank conversation.
Share ItAdvocate
Equity in screening (Black men higher risk). Research.
Share ItResearch & Trials
PARP inhibitors, immunotherapy, novel hormonals, MRI-guided surveillance.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
Prostate survivorship is mostly slow-paced surveillance. The ladder catches important changes.
Handle at home
- Stable PSA
- On surveillance or maintenance
- No new symptoms
Log it. Surveillance schedule is everything.
Call the office / message the portal
- Rising PSA pattern
- Hormonal therapy side effects bothering you
- Running low on meds
- New urinary or bowel symptoms
Same day. PSA trend matters more than absolute number.
Urgent / Acute care
- Significant new bone pain
- Persistent urinary obstruction or incontinence
- Sexual function concerns
- Mood drop or fatigue trend
Urgent care or urology/oncology.
ER NOW / call 911
- Severe acute bone pain with weakness
- Inability to urinate (urinary retention)
- Spinal cord compression signs — severe back pain with leg weakness or bladder/bowel changes
- Severe pelvic pain
- Suicidal thoughts (hormonal therapy can affect mood)
Call 911. Spinal cord compression is an oncologic emergency.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
What is it?
Plain words.
How bad?
0-10.
When did it start?
Time + what you were doing.
What made it worse?
Movement · food · meds.
What helped?
Even a little.
What else was new?
Fever · med · supplement · stress. The forgotten detail often shifts the diagnosis.
“Severe back pain for 5 days, a 8 worst, started after lifting groceries, worse lying flat, ibuprofen barely helps, and my legs have felt heavier the past day.”
Questions worth asking
Four for every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for Prostate Cancer Survivor:
- “What’s my PSA trend — and what defines biochemical recurrence?”
- “Am I on the right hormonal therapy — and for how long?”
- “Bone health on ADT — DEXA, bone-protective therapy?”
- “What rehab is available for urinary or sexual function?”
- “Late effects screening — cardiovascular risk from ADT, second cancers?”