Amy,

You can drive yourself crazy with statistics -- and often you can find a set of statistics to support what you're hoping to conclude, but you're still dealing in the abstract with something that may have little or no bearing on YOUR LIFE. Statistical data can't give you any assurance about your own prospects for healing.

DaniO makes some good points about the chance you take when you "save radiation for later" and rely on surgical advice alone. I can assure you that there were plenty of us here who desperately wanted to get on with life right after surgery, but you aren't doing yourself any favors if you don't get the input of a qualified oncology team that will look specifically at your pathology reports, not at statistics.

Cathy