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They offer options based on statistics analyzed with an individual’s particular medical characteristics in mind. Statistics are useful if you are not looking for guarantees or seeing outcomes as absolutes for your particular situation. You have likely heard that if there is a 1% chance of something going wrong (or right), and what goes wrong (or right) indeed happens to you, it is 100% for you. Unfortunately, we are likely light years away from a Star Trek healthcare system where diagnostics, prognostics, and treatments will come with iron-clad guarantees after the wave of a wand.

Discussion of the pros and cons and the worries that went into each treatment option helped each of these men come to a decision so they could move forward with their individualized treatment plan. I would argue that regardless of the outcome in 3 months, 3 years, or three decades, they each made the RIGHT decision for themselves, given the thought, research, and consultation they put into the process. I also believe that these pretreatment discussions helped them accommodate whatever outcome they would face.

You will learn strategies to deal with feelings of regret or fear that you made a wrong decision because it differed from someone else’s. Flip to the more rational, glass half-full aspects of your life and health circumstances, often beginning with the word however: “However, I sought expert opinions and asked around and I read a lot of material. I am feeling pretty healthy otherwise. I’ve made excellent decisions in the past. 49 As noted earlier, information from other patients and the Internet can be very useful.