Wolfgang Dear Heart, I had to quit school while in kindergarden & go out and earn a living. I'm not sure I understand all of what you said. So these queries will fall in the category of dumb questions. Do your satistics cover all types of cancers, whether in the ducts or not? Would there not be a greater percentage of "successful" masectomies if the C. had been confined? Where does estrogen dependency fit in? The others that died despite the procedure,did they die because their C. had already spread? Were these patients NOT having yearly mamograms? Your line--"the larger number wouldn't have died even without the masectomy." Ergo, that larger number could have had the cancer go undetected & the mortality rate doesn't increase?

Can you dumb it down for me? Or have you already dumbed it down? I take 6 medications daily & concentrating is getting harder & harder.   

Thank you Wolfgang for your interest. How do you come by your expertise? I've one last Q.-You said,"With more info. you might have made another decision." Please explain.

Spaw, my thanks to Karen for her work ethics, and seeing that I'm kinda wide in the beam, I've been considering an assectomy. If they keep hacking away at me-I may actually weigh 130 pounds by planting time. Thanks to all for your kind words.