Well he rolled the dice, because from what I understand the treatment at the time still had some % of serious complications. If he elected to do so and unluckily suffered some complication after the procedure in 2004, very little, if any, of the subsequent events would have occurred.
Alas, not so at all -- the treatment he should have had at the moment of diagnosis was simple and much less radical, with far fewer side effects, than the treatment he had nine months later when it had spread.
I correct this story not to be rude or to say he was an idiot (he was not, at all -- just scared because it is terrifying), but to try to counter the unrealistic things people still hear about Jobs beating the pancreatic cancer odds.
Even the simpler treatment for his special type of curable cancer would have had some % possibility of severe complications, correct? That is why I imagine he decided not to risk it at that critical juncture and instead bet on his alternative treatment regimen.
