Jim's ENT surgeon told him the same thing - "I won't be happy until two years have passed without recurrence because if it comes back there's not much more we can do." NOT what a cancer patient wants to hear after enduring months of treatment. Couldn't he just have left that part out? But we quit paying attention to his gloom and doom attitude after my dear spunky friend who is a 14-year survivor of breast cancer which has come back twice in different places, told me her surgeon told her the same thing. According to his statistics she was supposed to have died in 3 months, and that was 10 years ago. Heck she seems and looks a lot healthier than I do.

Now Jim's oncologists on the other hand have never mentioned percentages or survival rates which we appreciate very much. They just deal with the problem at hand and administer the treatment. Maybe it's just a difference in bedside manners. Some want to prepare you for the worst I guess.

We put our faith in the Lord and get encouragement from all the nice people on this board who have experienced so much and are living proof that this is a battle but we can continue to fight.

Debbie