HIFU Testimonial from the Schwab Family
Richard Schwab: You know, at first it's like a kick in the gut, you hear you've got cancer and you really never think you're going to be the one that has cancer and you do; in about five minutes you get over that and go, ""Well, what do we do, what are we going to do about this?""
Narrator: Dr. Richard Chopp of the Urology team believes that prostate cancer patients deserve to know about an innovative new treatment option: HIFU, high intensity focused ultrasound.
Richard: Initially, Dr. Chopp first just had me go look at other options. Theres a lot of ways to remove cancer. We can do radiation, surgery, freezing and theres eight ways to get rid of prostate cancer. Were talking about a quality life. Because I can get rid of cancer lots of ways. But getting rid of cancer and preserving the quality of life, that was all our discussion, thats what it was all about.
The first time when I learned I had cancer, I got the diagnosis, there were a couple concerns, one of course is treating the cancer and eliminating the cancer, but the other is Ive got a very active lifestyle and I was concerned what that meant to my ability to maintain that lifestyle.
Denise Schwab: That would so impact Dicks life if he was not able to get back to where he was, to work out at the gym, to be able to play golf with his friends, that was a very big concern.
Narrator: HIFU is non-invasive and addresses patients concerns about impotence and incontinence. HIFU has been shown to result in a faster return to sexual function, with lower rates of incontinence when compared with other current procedures.
Richard: A quality life is, I think, big for anybody and thats the reason initially I chose HIFU as my procedure because when I really learned about the possibilities of incontinence and impotence with surgery and radiation, frankly that scared me a little bit and I just didnt want to live the rest of my life dealing with those issues on a daily basis. I can tell you my experience has been very good in that regard, we have a normal life, I dont experience either incontinence or impotence.
Denise: Then it all turned out so successful that he is able to be back at gym, back at the golf course, back at the office, all of the things that make our life what it is. It just couldnt have turned out better.
Richard: The scheduling of the procedure was pretty amazing to us. We had the procedure; we flew down to Mexico on a Friday. The procedure was first thing Saturday morning and on Saturday evening we were back in the room having dinner and up 5 a.m. Sunday flying back to Austin.
As a matter of fact, I recall Im watching a football game Sunday afternoon in my living room in Austin and it just seemed surreal to us. I remember looking at Denise going, Did we just go down and get rid of cancer and come back and watch a football game? She was like, Yeah, thats we did. It was just amazing how easy, how quick it was over.
I was on the golf course 10 days later and I was back to the workout, beginning work out again; lighter workout but within 10 days. And within about three weeks, I was back to full workouts, just like before the procedure.
The insurance part of this whole process was interesting, we went into it really not knowing if we would get reimbursed; we simply returned here and got all the documentation together, we got a letter from Dr. Chopp and sent it in to our insurance company on an international claim form.
And, quite honestly, had forgotten about it and five, six or seven weeks later, Im not sure how long it took, but not too long a period of time, we got reimbursed for 90% of the cost of the entire procedure. If anyone asked me if Id do this again, absolutely is the answer.
It was the most non-invasive, easiest procedure, easier than I would have ever imagined; I am cancer free at this point and I cant imagine going through radiation or surgery with this option available.
Denise: Were happy our youngest daughter is going to have a baby and to know that grandpa will be here to enjoy the child is just icing on the cake.
Richard: Thats an amazing thing, its wonderful enough that it happens and now Im going to get to enjoy that grandchild and its just going to be amazing.
Narrator: If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, call Dr. Richard Chopp and explore the new HIFU treatment option.