Mr Robert Ashdown
urological surgeon
Direct; prefers definitive treatment
Second Opinion
One doctor recommends surgery; another suggests active surveillance. Gordon, a retired engineer who trusts numbers, must decide with incomplete evidence, and live with the decision whichever way the next two years go.
Planned · not started yet
Health & medicine Hard choices Living with uncertainty Competing advice Hospital or clinic Tense Reflective
The premise
One doctor recommends surgery; another suggests active surveillance. Gordon, a retired engineer who trusts numbers, must decide with incomplete evidence, and live with the decision whichever way the next two years go.
The protagonist
Gordon Achterhof-Bryce — 61-year-old diagnosed with early prostate cancer
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Dr Leona Fairbanks-Oyelaran
clinical oncologist
Calm; comfortable with surveillance
Dr Emil Strandberg
decision-aid researcher
Neutral; helps Gordon weigh his own values
How the story moves
The decision and two years of consequences; Gordon’s choice is tested by a rising test result.
What readers take away
- PSA testing and its limits
- Cancer grading and staging
- Active surveillance
- Surgery and radiotherapy options
- Risks of side effects
- Absolute versus relative risk
- Questions to ask clinicians
- Living with uncertainty
- Understand MRI and biopsy in diagnosis
- Use a decision aid for treatment choice
- Plan for continence and sexual-function support
- Prepare questions for a multidisciplinary team
The books
- 1The test Planned
- 2The options Planned
- 3The decision Planned
- 4Two years on Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.