If you are reading this evaluation, you are undoubtedly concerned about your recent diagnosis and treatment. Hopefully, you have supportive family and friends who can help you get through this difficult time of your life. In any case, be positive and do your at most effort to make the ‘right’ decision for yourself.
When my family and I learned about my diagnosis from my urologist, whom I had visited over the previous four years for the irregularities and somewhat PSA number, we were quite surprised to learn of the cancer’s severity—a Gleason score of 9! It was quite a shock.
In the immediate aftermath, my life suddenly became consumed with worries and the difficult task of selecting a treatment plan. Dr. Pavlovich was the last of the many surgeons that I visited. I reached out to him directly by email explaining my situation at 10 pm soon after my diagnosis, and was pleasingly surprised to receive a very supportive response from him at about 10:30 pm that directed his secretary to contact me for an appointment. We visited Dr. Pavlovich 2 days later! Although, he did not try to diminish the degree of aggressiveness and urgency of treatment, both my family and I felt hopeful and confident about the possibility of curing my cancer following our visit with him. In addition to his mannerism, we became impressed with his competence and confidence about his work, and the fact he is an active researcher in the area of understanding and curing prostate cancer. Hence, although Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center was by far the farthest distance from our home, and we had to wait over one month for the surgery, we felt it was the right decision for me.
The surgery went very well; i.e., I did not have any complications beyond the normal side effects, and after the first day, I did not have any pain. My family and I are thankful of Dr. Pavlovich for the rest of our lives. I am very hopeful that his excellent work will result in curing this disease. My pathology report was all negative (in spite of the expectation of spread of cancer cell in the vicinity of prostate and needing the follow-up radiation), and my follow-up test of PSA was undetectable. I attribute this to being lucky and excellent work of Dr. Pavlovich. No matter what, I am always thankful for his efforts and work, and recommend him with at most confidence. He is an outstanding physician, surgeon and human, and is making important contributions to the mankind.

Submitted Aug. 23, 2017