Alpaca,

First of all...your Dr's a dick and you should kick him in the sack the next time you see him. Seriously. This is a prime example of why Dr's shouldn't be allowed to speak to patients...well at least the stupid ones, which unfortunately is a large population of Dr's.

If we learn nothing from these forums is that we are ALL unique biological entities and statistics mean nothing to an individual. I remember when I was "first" diagnosed, the businessman/poker player in me pestered EVERYONE and their mother for "my odds" of beating this disease. Thankfully none of my medical professionals were frickin stupid enough to give them to me. My RO gave me the best answer out there...he looked at me point blank and said "Eric, it's either 0 or 100%, you're either going to beat this shit or you won't.". I love that man for that answer...it set me free from worrying about odds.

Live your life...live everyday like the gift it was meant to be. Feel good about yourself when you give your surgeon the finger and tell him where to shove those statistics because they don't apply to you and next time shut his yap and learn a little tact.

Do what makes you happy, it's your show, your dime, get your money's worth.

Eric